Consist for Silver Meteor #97 and#98

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Grandma B

Train Attendant
Joined
Sep 2, 2007
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97
Location
Nassau County
We are traveling via Amtrak from NYP to WPB in November. My husband wants to know what the typical Silver Meteor to Florida consists of and which of Amtrak's engines is used. Also, how long is the stop in Washington, DC? The schedule shows a departure time, but not the arrival. Thanks for any help you can give us. :)
 
Typical consist would be two Amtrak P42 engines, 1 heritage baggage car, 2 or 3 Viewliner sleepers, 1 heritage dining car, 1 cafe car or perhaps a Diner Lite car serving as a cafe, 3 or 4 Amfleet II coaches.

Now depending on just when in November you are traveling, you may see a bigger than normal train. Starting on November 6th for about two months, Amtrak is partnering with GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, to provide a special premium service between Washington and Miami, with two intermediary stops at Orlando and West Palm Beach. This partnership will see an additional 7 luxury cars attached to the train. All reports indicate that these special cars will be at the head end of the train, directly behind the engines.

You will not be able to visit these cars, as they will only allow the paying guests who have reserved space in those special cars into that section of the train.

Usually the stop in DC is about 20 to 30 minutes, but it can be shorter or longer depending on the arrival time.
 
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Between NYP and WAS you'll typically have an HHP-8 or AEM-7 electric engine. Every now and then they'll do the engine change at Philly, but this doesn't happen very frequently anymore.
 
Thank you so much AlanB for the information. :) I'm sure my husband will be checking the Internet for pictures of the P42 engines. :rolleyes: Are these the Genesis engines?
 
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QUOTE(Grandma B @ Sun, Sep 2, 2007, 07:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Thank you so much AlanB for the information. :) I'm sure my husband will be checking the Internet for pictures of the P42 engines. :rolleyes: Are these the Genesis engines?
Yes they are Genesis engines.

Here's a picture of two of them, and me standing by one of them in the second shot.

I'm sure that you can find many more in our Travelouge section, as well as elsewhere on the net.
 
They are indeed part of the Genseis series. The Genesis series includes Amtrak's main road engine the P-42 (#1-207), the P-40 (800-843), and the P-32 AC-DM (700-717). P-42's are also owned by VIA Rail Canada, and Metro North owns several P-32 AC-DM's. The P-42 is a 4250 HP motor which is the workhorse for many mainline Amtrak trains. The P-40's are mostly stored, although some are on lease to NJT, CDOT, and Metro North. The P-32 AC-DM's operate mostly between New York Penn Station and Albany (and some Empire Corridor services to Niagra Falls, Montreal, and Rutland). The AC-DM's in addition to a diesel motor are outfitted with 3rd rail electric shoes to pick up electricity for movement in the New York City area.

There are several websites with a number of P-42 pictures including Railpictures.net and my Website.
 
:) Thank you so much for the pictures and links. My husband is one happy camper. :rolleyes: Hopefully, I can drag him off the computer! :lol:
 
Also, how long is the stop in Washington, DC? The schedule shows a departure time, but not the arrival.
Click to expand...
The reason it doesn't show an arrival time, only departure, is that those trains do not supply transportation to passengers between stations within that corridor. They only pick up, and do not drop off, passengers there. So only the departure times are relevant to that service. South of Washington, passengers can get on or get off the train, so arrival times are shown there. If you look at the actual schedules from Amtrak, you will notice an " R " next to the time for each stop in the NY-Washington corridor for those trains, and down in the explanation of symbols, it explains the " R " means that the train "Stops only to receive passengers". By the way, at the other end of your trip, in the Southeast Florida corridor from West Palm Beach on South, those trains stop only to discharge passengers, and there is a " D " in the schedule next to those station stops. Interestingly, those trains "heading in to the barn" in South Florida frequently make up time while in that corridor, because they don't take on any passengers for those last six stops, and if there are no arriving passengers for one or more of those stations, they don't even stop at those stations. And if they arrive early at any of those stations, they don't have to wait for a scheduled time before they depart.
 
The same is true on the NEC. It is possible to make up some time, but there is a lot more padding built in on the Florida side AFAIK.
 
Thank you for explaining the "R" symbol on the Washington, DC stop. I noticed that Richmond, Va and a few other stations further South indicate an arrival and departure time, but have no symbol. That's why I questioned the Washington, DC stop. :)
 
At most intermediate stations, you will only find one time listed. The train will leave the station no earlier than that time, generally, even if it arrives early. At the stations where both an arrival and a departure time are listed, that generally (but not always) means it is a crew-change point, where a new engineer and conductor crew takes over operation of the train. For those crew members, there are federally mandated limits on how long they can be on duty, and it takes a few minutes to change those crews. Also, at some of those stations the engines will be refueled, and supplies may be added or water or wastewater may be taken on or removed. At some stations, like Orlando, there is a very high average passenger count, and those stations may have both arrival and departure times as well.
 
A cool site to find all kins of rail-oriented pictures can be found here:

http://www.railpictures.net/

I visit this site often and find pictures I like, and then make them the background on my work and home computer monitors. People often peek into my cube to see what picture I have up.
 
frj1983 said:
People often peek into my cube to see what picture I have up.
Click to expand...
Goodness gracious, you must be a prisoner of "cubicle land!" That enviroment would drive me nuts! Of course the locomotive cab could be sort of a cubicle I guess. Thanks for the link....

OBS gone freight......
 
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QUOTE(Grandma B @ Thu, Sep 6, 2007, 08:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
frj1983 said:
A cool site to find all kins of rail-oriented pictures can be found here:

http://www.railpictures.net/

I visit this site often and find pictures I like, and then make them the background on my work and home computer monitors. People often peek into my cube to see what picture I have up.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great website. My husband is one happy camper! :lol:



I hope that you can pry him away from the computer for the actual ride. :lol:
 
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