Yes.So in other words are the 2 that went in the shop when this thread started back on the line now and the "protect car" now being rotated through maintenance?
Yes.So in other words are the 2 that went in the shop when this thread started back on the line now and the "protect car" now being rotated through maintenance?
EXCELLENT! Thanks for the update.Yes.So in other words are the 2 that went in the shop when this thread started back on the line now and the "protect car" now being rotated through maintenance?
:hi: Greetings from Drying out Central Texas Chris! How was the Arrival/"Layover" in LAXUS, is the Traxx Lounge open earlier for those catching the CS off the Eagle??? Ill be there in 25 days , look forward to your always interesting Reports!I just boarded 14 here in LAX and there IS a PPC!! Yay! I'm going to go sit in it.
Thank you for the update...we're scheduled to be on #14(23) next Monday. Hope they hold up til then. Have a good trip!I just boarded 14 here in LAX and there IS a PPC!! Yay! I'm going to go sit in it.
I'm on 14 next week and am looking forward to having a PPC as I am taking my parents this trip and have told them about the PPC (excited). I will not be devastated if we only have a CCC. As someone has mentioned before, those purple chairs sure could use updating. To me that seems like such a low cost/ great bang for your buck move by Amtrak.Thank you for the update...we're scheduled to be on #14(23) next Monday. Hope they hold up til then. Have a good trip!I just boarded 14 here in LAX and there IS a PPC!! Yay! I'm going to go sit in it.
I was on the old El-Cap "Sky Lounge" in the 1990's. It was still a 1950's Budd product, although reupholstered. The PPC today is full of really awful barcoloungers and Home Depot To Much Is Never Enough trim.I disagree. Any SCA who claims that a CCC is "better" than a 1950's era PPC is not the smartest of the bunch. It's like saying a Greyhound bus is better for going cross country than your private car because it carries more people!
I do hope the inward-facing booths get swapped out for traditional 4-person booths. I think the current CCC design of those booths is absolutely atrocious....not to mention the small surface area of the tables. I know there are a dozen threads on the subject but let's get rid of those CCC booths sooner rather than later. Yes, I am dramatic!No law at all. And the "choke" point isn't inexplicable. It was done to separate the dining car side from the cafe car side. As well as to give the cafe attendant a bit more space, without expanding the area into the space needed by the dining car side.Is there a law or directive from congress that says "The car must include an inexplicable choke point in the middle and some of the bench seating must face inward?" Most of the problems I have with the CCC are unlikely to have come from Congress, although I've certainly been proven wrong before. I think whatever favorable comments the CCC has received probably come from the simple reality that the CCC is the first "new" car we've seen on a Western trains in ages. Everything else is decades old and looks every minute of it.While the CCC may not have been the best idea ever, I do think it important to remember that Amtrak was sort of forced into giving us that car. It was Congress and they're typical micro-management that caused Amtrak to seek out solutions to the costs of food service, which is what led to the CCC.Let's hope the six Parlor cars will be PPC substitutes, as similar to the originals as possible, including the swivel chairs, which are closer to a plum / thistle than purple.* That's a lot to ask from the company that gave us the CCC,,,
Besides, there isn't a dining car in the fleet that doesn't have a choke point. On a Superliner Dining car, basically every employee must stop doing anything every time people try to walk through the prep area. Ride a single level diner and you have that narrow, 1 person only hall all along the kitchen, complete with 2 90 degree turns.
As for the seats facing inward, that's not something that Amtrak came up with either. I just rode in a dome car on the Saratoga & North Creek RR two weekends ago. The dome car had at least 4 or 5 tables set up in a similar fashion. I'm not entirely sure why they do that, although one thought is that it may help to avoid the odd man out that happens when you have a party of 3 in a traditional booth.
I personally don't like it or agree with the idea of that type of seating, but it's not something that Amtrak dreamed up all on its own. And I believe that I heard recently that Amtrak is actually working to remove those booths and replace them with the traditional 4 people booths.
I'll still go with the PPC any day of the week. I wonder if it would have been possible to turn today's CCC's into sleeper cars instead. If so they certainly wouldn't be sitting around wasting away in Chicago.I was on the old El-Cap "Sky Lounge" in the 1990's. It was still a 1950's Budd product, although reupholstered. The PPC today is full of really awful barcoloungers and Home Depot To Much Is Never Enough trim. At least the CCC has a coherent decorating scheme, even if it is missing the upper windows.
Here's one I uploaded to YouTube last year or two, if you search on YouTube, you'll find many more, better tooIs there any way of determining in advance whether there will be a PPC on #11 December 31? Or do I just have to wait and see? I strongly suspect the latter, unless the two out-of-service cars are now back in service.
Also, I have been searching for a video of the interior of a PPC that I'm sure I saw a couple of years ago on this forum, but be darned if I can find it now. I'd love to show it to a friend whom I'm trying to convince to travel with me. Can anybody direct me to it?
Many thanks........
It's always a wait and see.Is there any way of determining in advance whether there will be a PPC on #11 December 31? Or do I just have to wait and see? I strongly suspect the latter, unless the two out-of-service cars are now back in service.
FWIW, I was on the CS northbound 12/5 and the PPC was missing in action. A diner-lounge was substituted.Is there any way of determining in advance whether there will be a PPC on #11 December 31? Or do I just have to wait and see? I strongly suspect the latter, unless the two out-of-service cars are now back in service.
Also, I have been searching for a video of the interior of a PPC that I'm sure I saw a couple of years ago on this forum, but be darned if I can find it now. I'd love to show it to a friend whom I'm trying to convince to travel with me. Can anybody direct me to it?
Many thanks........
Saw 14 this morning at Van Nuys with PPC.FWIW, I was on the CS northbound 12/5 and the PPC was missing in action. A diner-lounge was substituted.Is there any way of determining in advance whether there will be a PPC on #11 December 31? Or do I just have to wait and see? I strongly suspect the latter, unless the two out-of-service cars are now back in service.
Also, I have been searching for a video of the interior of a PPC that I'm sure I saw a couple of years ago on this forum, but be darned if I can find it now. I'd love to show it to a friend whom I'm trying to convince to travel with me. Can anybody direct me to it?
Many thanks........
Don't jinx me Dave! I will be on the CS out of LAUS on July 4 and certainly hope to get a real PPC. My luck was not with me in December 2012 and got stuck with a SSL. I hope my luck is better this time around especially since the PPC seems to be on the endangered list!I have been on the CS twice when there was not a PPC. As noted, if that does happen they add either a SSL or a CCC for the sleeping car passengers. (I've had both.)
Since the PPC is over 60 years old and Amtrak only has 5 of them (with 4 needed at all times), if 2 are out of service at any time there is no choice but to substitute another car. Thus it is not possible to say for certain if there will be a PPC on a certain day in the future. I hope not, but you can't even be certain if there will be one tomorrow out of LAX. They may prepare the CS for departure and discover problems with 2 of them.
Enter your email address to join: