Amfleet
Engineer
This is quoted by Gene Poon from Trainorders.
Amtrak Roadrailers will be gone by Oct. 1. They are reportedly going to TripleCrown (NS) for their own use.
Cost of maintaining them for passenger train speeds with mandatory yearly overhauls has been too much, and they don't seem to last even THAT long. A lot of them have failed mileage inspections on #3 at Albuquerque lately; the whole block needs to be set out even if only one bogie has a fault; then the problem needs to be fixed, usually with parts trucked in from LAX, and then the block gets picked up by a subsequent train; IF it can handle the added cars and the overall size of the train does not exceed what is allowed in the Amtrak contract with BNSF.
The use of Express Boxcars and Baggage Cars will continue, and this puts more of a demand on the dwinding and deteriorating Heritage baggage car fleet.
-GP