battalion51
Engineer
True. But the effect is the same either way.
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printman2000
Engineer
Neat. Who took that? Where?
Don't know who took it, but the where is Bessemer, Alabama.
MattW
Conductor
And the what is UGLY!
Larger cars belong up front, not tacked onto the rear unless it's a deadhead. Even then I'd rather see Viewliner-Baggage-Viewliner-remainder than the Viewliner tacked on back.
Larger cars belong up front, not tacked onto the rear unless it's a deadhead. Even then I'd rather see Viewliner-Baggage-Viewliner-remainder than the Viewliner tacked on back.
ALC Rail Writer
Engineer
I don't see what's so ugly about it...
cpamtfan
OBS Chief
Its just the fact that the Heritage cars and Viewliners were close in height, making the train look more formal. Now, the baggage is huge compared to the Amfleet 2 coaches, so the train doesn't look as formal.
cpamtfan-Peter
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
Moderator
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
I think it looks just fine, or as fine as it can with three different shaped cars and a locomotive that does not match any of them. :unsure:
OK. I got it....I just not look at the video long enough to see that.
Now, should anybody wonder where Bessemer is, since it is not a stop, I do know it to be a suburb south of Birmingham.
ALC Rail Writer
Engineer
I thought that the Penny looks ugly with the AFII's behind it directly, but the bag kind of tapers it all together so its not a great shock. Same thing with the Heritage diner, it tapers up to the sleepers.
I'm sorry Amtrak doesn't have the money to make perfectly matching consists, but compared to what you saw in 1972, this is LIGHTYEARS worth of improvement.
Here's a video from over the weekend of the SILVER STAR, both #91 and #92, sporting the new consist.
If you're not a fan of the new arrangement, watch the train in Tampa as it travels in reverse! For a while it resembles the old consist.
If you're not a fan of the new arrangement, watch the train in Tampa as it travels in reverse! For a while it resembles the old consist.
MattW
Conductor
Good Video! Ugly consist, but Good Video!! The logo was strangely appropriate. The B in Backtrack made the word look sort of like the consist (but the logo was great! Not saying the logo was ugly, as having something of a digital media background I can really appreciate that logo and the creativity behind it)
BTW-Do the Viewliners have a horn of some sort, or is that something the conductor holds, or the doppler-compression of the P42's K5LA?
BTW-Do the Viewliners have a horn of some sort, or is that something the conductor holds, or the doppler-compression of the P42's K5LA?
There was a similar sound made when the Amfleet coaches were bringing up the rear. Not the same pitch, but still a higher register than the horn from the engines. You can hear an example in another video, "An Amtrak Afternoon: Part 1 (Falling Star)". It's in the playlist mentioned in my signature banner. Just click on it and it links you to the playlist page. You can find the video there. There's a series of "toots" from the front and the rear of the train... I assume some means of signal or communication between the engineer and conductor.
I'm not exactly sure of the nature of the noise. I haven't noticed any device being held by the conductors, but it isn't plainly visible where or what they are activating to make the sound.
JAChooChoo
Service Attendant
Its a backup hose, required for occupied reverse moves, which is attatched to the end of the air brake line and allows the the crew member to dump the air and stop the train. A part of the device is an air whistle.
VentureForth
Engineer
Saw the consist for the first time today and I hope to post the almost-too-dark video on youtube sometime. I think it looks a lot better. Before, you had tall P42, short baggage, tall Viewliners, medium Diner, short Amcans.
Now, you get the P42 in the lead, followed by Baggage, Amcans, diner, and Viewliners. It actually seems to make a lot more sense, and unless you're paying real close attention, you may not notice the height difference as quickly as you would in the previous consist lineup.
Now, you get the P42 in the lead, followed by Baggage, Amcans, diner, and Viewliners. It actually seems to make a lot more sense, and unless you're paying real close attention, you may not notice the height difference as quickly as you would in the previous consist lineup.
battalion51
Engineer
Backup hose, as seen on the Sunset Limited. It's hooked to the bar and you can see it snake down toward the coupler.
All freight railroads require Amtrak trains to have a backup hose on them, unless an NPCU or cab car is leading (although some roads may require it on the cab car because I believe I've seen them on California Cars before, but I know on CSX if you have a cab car no backup hose is needed). However, on Amtrak's own rails, i.e. NEC, no backup hose required. Never got an explanation on why. But that's how it is.
All freight railroads require Amtrak trains to have a backup hose on them, unless an NPCU or cab car is leading (although some roads may require it on the cab car because I believe I've seen them on California Cars before, but I know on CSX if you have a cab car no backup hose is needed). However, on Amtrak's own rails, i.e. NEC, no backup hose required. Never got an explanation on why. But that's how it is.
had8ley
Engineer
Also known as a "monkey's tail" in the train yards.
Here's another shot of a backup hose being held by a conductor as the Twilight Shoreliner backs into Newport News many moons ago.
G
Guest
Guest
I am not a fan of the new arrangement because I still don't agree that it results in the Viewliner sleeping passengers no longer being disturbed by the engine's horn. In that video, I can clearly hear the horn even before the very first Viewliner passes by the camera (traveling in reverse).
This is just another example of Amtrak wasting time and energy on a "fix" that doesn't fix anything (like successfully eliminating engine horn noise for Viewliner passengers).
Did you actually read the first post in this topic? :unsure:This is just another example of Amtrak wasting time and energy on a "fix" that doesn't fix anything (like successfully eliminating engine horn noise for Viewliner passengers).
This wasn't done to eliminate engine horn noise for sleeping car pax, if it was they'd be doing it on the western trains too. It was done to solve a safety issue associated with the single level dining cars that have no external doors that can be used to evacuate passengers in an emergency.
battalion51
Engineer
Wouldn't it just have been easier to turn the sleepers around so the vestibules were towards the rear of the train? Back in the day the B-end of the lounge was always towards the diner, so that seems like it'd be a simpler fix. Wait, that's the problem. It's simple.
As noted by OBS back on page two, that only solves half the problem. One still had the issue of either no exit at the cafe end of the diner, or you ended up with no exit at the end of the lounge and the first coach.
Of course Amtrak could have also turned all the coaches around, in addition to the Viewliners. Or they could take the easy way out and just swap the coaches and the Viewliners and not need to go looking for wye's and loops to accomplish the task. Not to mention that they do actually solve something that many do complain about in the process, the whistle noise.
ALC Rail Writer
Engineer
Two birds with one stone.
And, actually, its quite a simple solution. So more power to Amtrak for actually not having to go through pencil pushers to figure out how to solve a safety issue.
VentureForth
Engineer
Here's my crappy video as shot in the waning sun with my crappy Blackberry video....
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