Midwest Venture introduction

[TransitTyrant]

Are the business class cars full coaches? I thought they were going to be half business/ half economy coaches married to economy coaches?

Probably closer to 60% coach and 40% business class.

 

[rs9]

Probably closer to 60% coach and 40% business class.

I've seen a diagram of the business/eco cars but I can't find it - that said, at least by space taken up, the car is about 75% business class seats.

This document states 52 total revenue seats in the business/eco cars. https://assets.new.siemens.com/siem...enture-Passenger-Cars-Data-Sheet_original.pdf

Trying to recall visually, I believe there are 5 rows of eco seats (20), ten rows of business class seats (30), and one additional row of 2 business class seats with the single spot open for a wheelchair. That is an estimate, but I definitely remember the eco section is small.

Now for my elitist comment: perhaps IDOT has data to support it, but it feels like a really silly idea to have eco seats in a business class car, because it's no longer a business class car. Make it a separate car with a greater probability of peace and quiet.

 

[thully]

Someone on the Facebook group “Amtrak Michigan Line” posted a picture of 350 running with 4 Venture coaches. Happy to see them back - perhaps I will plan a trip soon…

 

[TransitTyrant]

Wonder if those are the cars recently released from Beech Grove.

 

[TRA_Thom]

Someone on the Facebook group “Amtrak Michigan Line” posted a picture of 350 running with 4 Venture coaches. Happy to see them back - perhaps I will plan a trip soon…

Happy to see the 350 and 355 back in general too.

 

[thully]

Just did a day trip on 350 and 355 - Ann Arbor to Troy and back. The consist had 3 Venture cars and 2 cafe cars. It had 4 Ventures when 350 went back into service on Wednesday, but I heard one of the had problems, apparently necessitating the swap. Figure the extra cafe must be for axle count or similar reasons. Overall, the experience was what I expected - it is nice to have newer equipment, though as others have indicated the seats aren’t as comfortable as the older cars. I posted a full trip report in that forum:

Day trip on the Wolverine - a Venture adventure

I’ve been wanting to check out the new Venture cars on the Wolverine, and finally got the opportunity today. I had previously booked train 350 as my return from the Empire Builder trip after they started using Ventures on that, only for equipment to be swapped around due to a service disruption...

www.amtraktrains.com

 

[Steve4031]

Rode 318 back from St Louis today. It was a complete venture consist except for lounge car. There were automated messages for the stops. And the digital overhead signs in each car showed the stood like on some of the newer subway cars. At Chicago all doors were open. I was on the last car and got of at an unattended door. So the doors and steps worked as designed in this instance.

 

[TransitTyrant]

Rode 318 back from St Louis today. It was a complete venture consist except for lounge car. There were automated messages for the stops. And the digital overhead signs in each car showed the stood like on some of the newer subway cars. At Chicago all doors were open. I was on the last car and got of at an unattended door. So the doors and steps worked as designed in this instance.

That’s interesting then, because for months the automated announcements and digital signs weren’t operational.

 

[Cal]

It was a complete venture consist except for lounge car.

Wait, business class cars are in service now!?!?!

 

[jis]

Rode 318 back from St Louis today. It was a complete venture consist except for lounge car. There were automated messages for the stops. And the digital overhead signs in each car showed the stood like on some of the newer subway cars. At Chicago all doors were open. I was on the last car and got of at an unattended door. So the doors and steps worked as designed in this instance.

During our visit to the Brightline OIA maintenance facility we got to see one of the new trainsets demonstrate how things would work if the train operated at a mixed platform height station. Some of the doors had temporary platforms adjacent to them and other did not. Doors that were open at the temporary platforms had the trap down and the bridge plate extended to fill the gap between the train and the platform. The doors that were at the low level platform had the traps up and the steps down all the way to the platform, no stepping stool required. Then they shut all the doors. All the deployed hardware withdrew into the body of the cars and the doors closed. Very impressive.

I am sure when things are working properly that is how the Ventures will be in the Midwest too.

 

[Steve4031]

Wait, business class cars are in service now!?!?!

Please forgive me for the confusing post. I was lazy when typing the information in on my iPhone. It was one amfleet business-class dinette car and the rest of the cars were venture cars.

During our visit to the Brightline OIA maintenance facility we got to see one of the new trainsets demonstrate how things would work if the train operated at a mixed platform height station. Some of the doors had temporary platforms adjacent to them and other did not. Doors that were open at the temporary platforms had the trap down and the bridge plate extended to fill the gap between the train and the platform. The doors that were at the low level platform had the traps up and the steps down all the way to the platform, no stepping stool required. Then they shut all the doors. All the deployed hardware withdrew into the body of the cars and the doors closed. Very impressive.

I am sure when things are working properly that is how the Ventures will be in the Midwest too.

That is what I saw in Chicago minus the need for exiting from different levels of platforms.

 

[Steve4031]

Wait, business class cars are in service now!?!?!

Please forgive me for the confusing post. I was lazy when typing the information in on my iPhone. It was one amfleet business-class dinette car and the rest of the cars were venture cars.

During our visit to the Brightline OIA maintenance facility we got to see one of the new trainsets demonstrate how things would work if the train operated at a mixed platform height station. Some of the doors had temporary platforms adjacent to them and other did not. Doors that were open at the temporary platforms had the trap down and the bridge plate extended to fill the gap between the train and the platform. The doors that were at the low level platform had the traps up and the steps down all the way to the platform, no stepping stool required. Then they shut all the doors. All the deployed hardware withdrew into the body of the cars and the doors closed. Very impressive.

I am sure when things are working properly that is how the Ventures will be in the Midwest too.

That is what I saw in Chicago minus the need for exiting from different levels of platfo

 

[TheMalahat]

On Facebook there's a few photos of a Amtrak Midwest venture coach, on its own, in Canada apparently en route to Montreal. Any idea why this is? I'll update if I read more!

 

[Mailliw]

Maybe it's some kind of procedural step required to get approval to run the Venture Coaches in Canada? On one hand the Cascades are the next route scheduled to get them, but on the other hand that's 2 years away and VIA Rail is already taking delivery of the exact same model of cars.

 

[TransitTyrant]

An interesting note from the Amtrak board meeting, Amtrak was expecting 60 cars to be in service by now. Currently only about 30 are service ready with about 25 available at any one day. Siemens has to send techs to work on the cars in the field, they can’t take the cars back to the factory.

 

[GDRRiley]

An interesting note from the Amtrak board meeting, Amtrak was expecting 60 cars to be in service by now. Currently only about 30 are service ready with about 25 available at any one day. Siemens has to send techs to work on the cars in the field, they can’t take the cars back to the factory.

Not surprised Siemens can't take any back, they need a larger shop complex badly. I've got no idea how they expect to crank out 20 mainline cars and locos a month from their tiny plant + light rail.
Going to be interesting to see if the California batch have the same issues the first 21 are suppose to be in service by the end of march 2023.

 

[TheMalahat]

Apparently the loan Amtrak car.in Canada is headed for the National Research Centre in Ottawa. Typically this be facility is used for cold-weather testing; I haven't read anything than can provide a why for the car being in Canada, though.

 

[west point]

Maybe it's some kind of procedural step required to get approval to run the Venture Coaches in Canada? On one hand the Cascades are the next route scheduled to get them, but on the other hand that's 2 years away and VIA Rail is already taking delivery of the exact same model of cars.

The big difference will be VIA's HEP set up compared to Amtrak's.

 

[penguinflies]

The 5 rows of econ in biz class sounds like they can have the "reserved for crew" area.

Not a bad option from having to use up dining tables. Hopefully radios can be kept to a low volume.

 

[Mailliw]

20 seats for crew seams excessive, even if each crewmember is getting 2 seats. I think it would make more sense to have a Euro-style seating compartment with a locking door for the crew.

 

[jis]

The big difference will be VIA's HEP set up compared to Amtrak's.

Amtrak trains running into Canada that will eventually use Venture Cars will not be using VIA HEP setup. They will use Amtrak HEP setup both on the Cascades and the Empire Service.

 

[Anthony V]

I have several questions about the construction and deployment of the new Midwest venture equipment:

Have any of the Venture Business class cars gone into service yet on the Midwest routes?
If yes, does anyone have a photo of the interior of a Venture Business class car?
Has there been any progress on building and/or deploying the Venture Café cars?
If yes, does anyone have a photo of the exterior and/or interior of a Venture Café car?
Can someone post an update each time more Venture cars go into service?

 

[TRA_Thom]

I have several questions about the construction and deployment of the new Midwest venture equipment:

Have any of the Venture Business class cars gone into service yet on the Midwest routes?
If yes, does anyone have a photo of the interior of a Venture Business class car?
Has there been any progress on building and/or deploying the Venture Café cars?
If yes, does anyone have a photo of the exterior and/or interior of a Venture Café car?
Can someone post an update each time more Venture cars go into service?

I still saw a bunch the Business class cars together in the yard at Chicago today. I don’t think they’re running yet. From the outside they don’t look very different from the coach cars.
What I’m curious about is the eventual introduction of the cab cars. I don’t know what the timeline is on those.

 

[TRA_Thom]

I’m on the (delayed) 350 right now. It’s an Amfleet Business/Cafe, 1 Venture, and 3 Horizons. And here’s a reason to appreciate the Venture car: the vestibules are snow-free. The other photos are of the Horizon cars on this same train. Kind of absurd how much snow can accumulate inside a train. The attendant is literally shoveling right now.
Also, it’s pretty chilly on these Horizons, but nice and warm on the Venture. Are the Venture cars more air/water tight than older cars? If so, that seems like an advantage to me in this weather.

 

[Steve4031]

I think once people and employees get use to the venture cars they will see the improvement. At first people hated the Amfleet cars but they saved Amtrsk with their reliability during cold winters. At first rail fans disliked the Superliners because of the lack of dome cars with forward views. Now there's concern we will lose the ambiance of the sightseer lounge cars. And there is out rage when one doesn't operate as scheduled.