Amtrak Info from NARP

[Amfleet]

Every month or so I recieve a newsletter via mail from the NARP. Some of the info they put in their mailed newsletter regarding Amtrak is not always posted online. So here are a few items that may be of interest.

1. The Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago Union Station will be doubled in size and redecortated.

2. Three Heritage Diner rebuild kits (Temoinsa???) are still in storage at Beech Grove, which in turn means 3 more Heritage Diners will be rebuilt.

3. The FY2004 capital budegt is $532 million, which will go to the installation of 181,000 concrete and 35,000 wode ties and 101 miles of rail; 202 passenger cars are to receive either heavy overhauls or remanufacturing, 10 passenger cars to receive wreck repairs, and 64 locomotives to receive heavy overhauls.

4. New Sleeping Car Amenities: Each room gets two bottled waters; more by request. From 6:00-9:30am, coffee, tea, and juice (orange and apple) are offered. Coming soon are "tent cards" the attendant will sign, telling passengers what to expect such as named items plus "evening turndown service," USA Today on weekdays, local papers on weekends. Sodas and cranberry juice ended January 1; estimated savings is $500,000 a year.

5. The shortage of single-level Viewliner sleeping cars comes while Amtrak adresses three major problems with past maintenance practices:

- Damaged pipes due to disabling of relief vavle designed to prevent such damage. The vavle dumps water when the car lacks electric power and the temperature falls below a certain level.

- Terrible odor from sludge collecting in the retention tank due to lack of clean water rinsing cycle that is supposed to happen when tank is emptied.

- Improper adjustments to the cars' suspension system, which must be fixed.

 

[AMTRAK-P42]

Amfleet, I am a member as well. Did they happend to mention when/where the next meeting is? I cannot find my copy.

 

[Amfleet]

You should be receiving a newsletter in the mail within the next day or two as I just got mine today. The meetings depend on what region you are in. You can go to www.narprail.org to find out when different events and meetings are help. You may need to login, however, with your user number and password.

 

[AlanB]

1. The Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago Union Station will be doubled in size and redecortated.

Hmm, one has to wonder where they plan to get that extra space from. On west side of the lounge you've got the hallway leading to the North waiting area, of course on the north side you've got the North waiting area. On the east side you have the run through tracks and on the south side you've got the south side waiting area.

Now while I'll readily admit that I've never seen the north waiting area packed, I suppose that it is possible that it fills up. The south waiting area is often overflowing with passengers, so one can't steal space from there.

So I have to guess that they will steal space from the north area, however if they plan to double the lounge, that will take a huge chunk out of the north waiting area. I don't think that the north area can afford to loose that much real estate.

Of course they seemed to have missed the most important thing for the lounge, air conditioning. While the lounge does have A/C during the weekdays, come the weekend when the building above the station is closed, none of the waiting areas including the lounge have A/C. This often makes conditions unbearable for both the passengers & the workers.

 

[AlanB]

You should be receiving a newsletter in the mail within the next day or two as I just got mine today. The meetings depend on what region you are in. You can go to www.narprail.org to find out when different events and meetings are help. You may need to login, however, with your user number and password.

You can also check here on OTOL, where Kevin Korell maintains a list of all regional meetings.

Kevin actually belongs to every regional NARP in the country, except for one DVARP.

 

[Amfleet]

1. The Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago Union Station will be doubled in size and redecortated.

Hmm, one has to wonder where they plan to get that extra space from. On west side of the lounge you've got the hallway leading to the North waiting area, of course on the north side you've got the North waiting area. On the east side you have the run through tracks and on the south side you've got the south side waiting area.

Now while I'll readily admit that I've never seen the north waiting area packed, I suppose that it is possible that it fills up. The south waiting area is often overflowing with passengers, so one can't steal space from there.

So I have to guess that they will steal space from the north area, however if they plan to double the lounge, that will take a huge chunk out of the north waiting area. I don't think that the north area can afford to loose that much real estate.

Of course they seemed to have missed the most important thing for the lounge, air conditioning. While the lounge does have A/C during the weekdays, come the weekend when the building above the station is closed, none of the waiting areas including the lounge have A/C. This often makes conditions unbearable for both the passengers & the workers.

It could possibly be made into a two-floor lounge? I'm not sure what's above it right now, but that is another possibility.

 

[AlanB]

1. The Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago Union Station will be doubled in size and redecortated.

Hmm, one has to wonder where they plan to get that extra space from. On west side of the lounge you've got the hallway leading to the North waiting area, of course on the north side you've got the North waiting area. On the east side you have the run through tracks and on the south side you've got the south side waiting area.

Now while I'll readily admit that I've never seen the north waiting area packed, I suppose that it is possible that it fills up. The south waiting area is often overflowing with passengers, so one can't steal space from there.

So I have to guess that they will steal space from the north area, however if they plan to double the lounge, that will take a huge chunk out of the north waiting area. I don't think that the north area can afford to loose that much real estate.

Of course they seemed to have missed the most important thing for the lounge, air conditioning. While the lounge does have A/C during the weekdays, come the weekend when the building above the station is closed, none of the waiting areas including the lounge have A/C. This often makes conditions unbearable for both the passengers & the workers.

It could possibly be made into a two-floor lounge? I'm not sure what's above it right now, but that is another possibility.

That would be the food court & the bar above the lounge, so they aren't going in that direction, unless they kick the tenants out. Plus then you'd need stairs and an elevator too.

 

[Amfleet]

Isn't there a service hallway to the right as you walk out of the lounge? I wonder if there's any avalible space in that area as well as the north waiting area?

 

[battalion51]

This "tent car" service caught my eye. Is this going to be a step up from Coach, (similar in concept to Palmetto bug Business Class) or what?

 

[Amfleet]

This "tent car" service caught my eye. Is this going to be a step up from Coach, (similar in concept to Palmetto bug Business Class) or what?

Oops, my bad. That should say "tent card". It will be like the cards left by the maids in a hotel room explaining the services that will be provided.

 

[battalion51]

Ah. ^_^

 

[AlanB]

Isn't there a service hallway to the right as you walk out of the lounge? I wonder if there's any avalible space in that area as well as the north waiting area?

If you are thinking of the front door to the lounge, then the hall to your right upon leaving the lounge is the corridor to the north waiting area.

If you are talking about the rear door, then all you have in either direction is a boarding platform.

 

[Amfleet]

Isn't there a service hallway to the right as you walk out of the lounge? I wonder if there's any avalible space in that area as well as the north waiting area?

If you are thinking of the front door to the lounge, then the hall to your right upon leaving the lounge is the corridor to the north waiting area.

If you are talking about the rear door, then all you have in either direction is a boarding platform.

Well then, I can't think of expanding the lounge any other way without some major reconstruction. Something Amtrak can't plain afford. Also, whats directly in front of the lounge on the northside? Does the wating area start right after the lounge or are there some other various rooms there?

 

[AlanB]

While I didn't walk into the north side waiting area this trip, I believe that it starts right at the wall of the Metro Lounge. If there is a closet there, then it's not very large.

So I have to believe that they are going to gobble up some of the north waiting area, but even then I'm not sure if they will be able to double the size of the lounge.

However, any increase in size would be welcome. Even room for another dozen seats would be helpful. If they can do more, then great.

In an aside to this topic, let me also comment on the fact that both time I was in the lounge there were nice helpful attendants on duty. So I can only hope that Amtrak at least reassigned the old ones, if not having fired those useless people.

Also Amtrak has changed the baggage policy in the lounge since my last visit. The new policy now in effect is as follows. All luggage for passengers boarding trains 3, 5, 30, 48, 448 (when it returns) must go to room 341. Room 341 is that locked luggage room on your right as you walk into the south side waiting area.

Passengers for all other departing trains place their luggage in the ante-room off of the Metro Lounge. Even the red caps are following this procedure and there are no exceptions.

Frankly having spent most of Monday in the lounge this did seem to help the normal chaos that used to occur in the small luggage ante-room. Granted however, I was not there at peak season.