Coach cars

[Guest_shanghaiamtrak]

Why did amtrak quit using the heritage cars on the east coast? i dont like the amfleet near as much as the heritage ones. What trains use the horizons? Will Amtrak put superliners on the cardinal or any other east coast trains anytime soon?

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Heritage cars are the oldest equipment of all. These were the cars Amtrak inherited form the private railroads. Most were built betwen 1945 and 1955. Now-----they were the "best" of the oldest--they lasted longer than other inherited cars and were refurbished in several ways to try to keep pace. But, bottom line, they were the oldest.

 

[Trogdor]

Superliners are too tall to operate on the Northeast Corridor. The main problems are tunnels in Baltimore and New York, but also catenary is a bit low (I think the catenary was raised a bit on the track that the Capitol Limited uses on approach to Washington, DC). So, Superliners won't be running on the East Coast any time soon (except for the Auto Train, where they already run).

The Cardinal probably won't go back to Superliners soon (and, if it did, it would have to end in DC and not New York) mainly because Amtrak doesn't have the equipment to spare to put Superliners on there. That's why the Cardinal became single-level 2 1/2 years ago.

Horizon cars are mostly used in the Midwest. Some also make their way up and down the West Coast (including Pacific Surfliner trains 798/799 right now). Horizon food-service cars, and the occasional coach, can make their way onto eastern long-distance trains.

 

[lepearso]

Amtrak had to quit using the heritage cars because they were more and more expensive to maintain mainly because parts had to be specially ordered and custom-made. I agree that Amfleets are not as nice, but they are acceptable, especially when they are in good repair. Amtrak's long-term plan, if it ever materializes, is to introduce a new generation of single-level cars. When and if this happens, it seems practical that Amfleets will operate below the snowbelt because they tend to have freeze-up problems in the winter.

 

[Guest]

I beleive that the new sincle level fleet will probably be amfleet clones.

Our single level fleet blends together pretty well right now. Just the Heritage/Horizon cars stand out. I see the amfleets and viewliners as 1 fleet in a way.

 

[Guest_shanghaiamtrak]

So Amtrak continues to use Heritage dining and baggage cars?

 

[Trogdor]

Heritage dining cars are still found on the Lake Shore Limited, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and Crescent.

It is Amtrak's desire to replace them with cars based on the Viewliner design, but that is subject to the funding whims of congress.

Amtrak also operates Heritage dorm cars on those same trains, and Amtrak also wants to replace those within the next five years (provided there is funding for them).

To the best of my knowledge, Amtrak doesn't (yet) plan on replacing the entire Heritage baggage fleet, though some Superliner-equipped long-distance trains could wind up losing their baggage cars in favor of coach-baggage cars (some of which have been coach-baggage cars since delivery, and some of which were converted to smoking coach cars and are now being converted back to coach-baggages).

 

[GG-1]

Heritage cars are the oldest equipment of all. (snip) Most  were built betwen 1945 and 1955. Now-----they were the "best" of the oldest--

Aloha

In My Opinion, at least as far as the sleepers, I think my best nights (only 2) were in these cars.

One Night on the Broadway Limited and one night between Jacksonvile FL and Washington DC.

 

[battalion51]

Another big thing was the requirement of the government for all cars to have retention tanks. The retention tanks were expensive to install in the cars, and heavily contributed to their demise. The Dining Car and Crew cars do not require large retention tanks, and the bag car doesn't require one at all.