Acela gone Arrow?

[battalion51]

I was browsing through the VRE page regarding Amtrak today and saw an unusual image. Here's the page. Does anyone know if Acela was going to look like this when the first renderings came out?

 

[PRR 60]

I was browsing through the VRE page regarding Amtrak today and saw an unusual image. Here's the page. Does anyone know if Acela was going to look like this when the first renderings came out?

A very definite maybe.

That photo is a PR rendering by Bombardier GEC Alstom (the “Consortium”) prepared during the developmental phase of what would become Acela. This particular illustration, along with several other interior and exterior views, appeared in Amtrak and Consortium literature. It pre-dates the demise of the pointless arrow and the introduction of the pointless brand, Acela. Whether Amtrak designers had any input or the Consortium illustrators just ad-libbed. I do not know. So I have no idea whether Amtrak intended that to be the original design. Except for the arrow (I NEVER liked that logo), it doesn’t look bad at all.

It is interesting to see how much that fictitious livery resembles some of the Amtrak liveries in use today. That might be a clue that Amtrak has some input.

 

[Viewliner]

Personally, I like the look with the arrow, too bad it couldn't have been kept and at least incorporated in the Acela look. I have a poster of that in my room

 

[AMTRAK-P42]

Yeah I agree, the arrow and the blue streak adds a very nice look to the already sleak train. Oh well.

 

[Anthony]

That was the image that Amtrak used to promote "new high speed service coming in 1999"... I have a couple wall posters of it from a few years back.