New Talgo Series 8 trainset at King Street Station

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
CHamilton

CHamilton

Engineer
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
5,301
Location
Seattle
Photos from Rail Day, July 27, 2013.

2013-07-27%2013.39.41-M.jpg
 
Dare I ask? If Oregon owns the Mt. Bachelor and the Mt. Jefferson why is WSDOT painted on the side? I heard too late about the ribbon cutting in Eugene.

When will either of Oregon's train sets be running between Eugene and Portland?

So far it is 3 buses from EUG to PDX after the Coast Starlight leaves EUG.
 
Great pictures. I was there all day as part of the Trails & Rails group (I was the bald guy at the exit of the exhibit train). Good turnout!
 
tomfuller said:
Dare I ask? If Oregon owns the Mt. Bachelor and the Mt. Jefferson why is WSDOT painted on the side? I heard too late about the ribbon cutting in Eugene.When will either of Oregon's train sets be running between Eugene and Portland?

So far it is 3 buses from EUG to PDX after the Coast Starlight leaves EUG.
Click to expand...
Because the Cascades service is a joint operation between ODOT & WSDOT
 
Thanks for posting the photos. The train interiors look pretty nice. Two observations:

1. the cab car is not likely to win any awards for sharp looking design.

2. The 3 digit field in the display for train speed as 000 mph is optimistic. The top digit is going to remain as 0 for less than 100 mph speeds for a long time in the Cascades corridor,
 
tomfuller said:
Dare I ask? If Oregon owns the Mt. Bachelor and the Mt. Jefferson why is WSDOT painted on the side? I heard too late about the ribbon cutting in Eugene.When will either of Oregon's train sets be running between Eugene and Portland?

So far it is 3 buses from EUG to PDX after the Coast Starlight leaves EUG.
Click to expand...
I've seen in other pictures that the WSDOT & ODOT logos have also been added to the other trainsets (presumably the WSDOT owned trainsets and not the Amtrak owned ones.)

The interiors of the cars look fantastic. I wouldn't mind spending a few hours in those leather business class seats (but why do the doors say custom class?)

But important question: does anyone know if they're going to install those big fins on the baggage cars like on the Series VI Talgo trainsets?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Great photos, Mr. Hamilton!

My thoughts:

1. Am I seeing correctly that the window shades now have to be jointly operated by passengers in two different rows? Seems like setting

up for conflict when one person wants it down and the person in front of them wants it up. The existing "curtains" seems to worked just

fine, IYAM.

2. It looked like car 6 was labeled a "Quite Car." That's not currently offered on the Cascades, IIRC. Will this be introduced across all

Cascades trains, or was this just an example of something that "could" be added? Looks like car 3 has the same designation. (I think

that's a BC car?) I personally would gladly welcome a Quiet Car on the Cascades. Those small cabins really get "close" when someone

is yakking on a cell phone or with a seatmate.

3. Spell check! Somebody needs to check the spelling for Edmonds.

4. I'm not really a fan of those foldable tables. I can understand the utility of it, but it just looks cheap and less sturdy.

5. Will they ever make up their mind whether it's "Custom Class" or "Business Class?" Neither the Cascades website

nor Amtrak.com refer to Custom Class yet there it is, marked on the side of the train.
 
"Custom Class" is a carry over from Europe where the Talgos there have 3 classes: Tourist, Custom & First. It's probably billed as Business on the websites due to ARROW.

peter
 
fairviewroad said:
1. Am I seeing correctly that the window shades now have to be jointly operated by passengers in two different rows?
Click to expand...
Yes, it looks that way.

fairviewroad said:
2. It looked like car 6 was labeled a "Quite Car." That's not currently offered on the Cascades, IIRC. Will this be introduced across allCascades trains, or was this just an example of something that "could" be added?
Click to expand...
I suspect the latter. You probably know that most conductors currently encourage cellphone users to take their conversations to the vestibule.

One point about car numbering -- the set we toured had the bistro and dining cars numbered, whereas in the old Talgo sets, those cars are not numbered. Cars 1 and 2 are business class, and 3-9 are coach.

fairviewroad said:
5. Will they ever make up their mind whether it's "Custom Class" or "Business Class?" Neither the Cascades websitenor Amtrak.com refer to Custom Class yet there it is, marked on the side of the train.
Click to expand...
It's always been Business Class, so I don't know why they would change it now.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
CHamilton said:
It's always been Business Class, so I don't know why they would change it now.
Click to expand...
Back in the 90's it was called "Custom Class." Here's a press release from 1999 that describes

the change from Custom Class to Business Class. And here's a photo essay that shows "Custom

Class" from that era.

It would seem as though the designers of the new trainsets simply referred to the original 90's

era plans when it came time to label the equipment. Never mind that the term Custom Class hasn't

been used since literally the previous century.
 
I think I am spoiled with the leg room on the LD trains, I would think that they could put one less row of seats and give everyone a little more leg room. It looks like those that were tall were hitting their knees on the seat in front of them. I have ridden the cascade once, and did not like it, I still prefer the LD seating style of the Coast Starlight when I travel that area. The food might be better, but not enough to be uncomfortable in the seats.

Just my opinion from a larger and taller person. Newer does not always mean better. I do have to say the handicapped restroom was fantastic.
 
Great pics! Now comes to the question, what will the schedule look like?

When will the new schedule be available? I noticed on the latest Amtrak System Timetable, it says "new Cascades schedule will come out late this summer".
 
AC4400 said:
Great pics! Now comes to the question, what will the schedule look like?When will the new schedule be available? I noticed on the latest Amtrak System Timetable, it says "new Cascades schedule will come out late this summer".
Click to expand...
The "new schedule" could also be referring to a re-issued timetable to reflect the end of the current trackwork between PDX and SEA.

Regardless, the basic change will be a morning train leaving PDX at 6 a.m. to EUG, returning EUG to PDX in the afternoon (leaving

EUG around 4 p.m. IIRC). The loss will be the 9 a.m. EUG-PDX run (504) and the evening PDX-EUG run (509) both of which will become

Thruway bus departures.

Why ODOT thinks there's a market for travel from PDX-EUG at 6 a.m. is beyond me.

Trips north of PDX will not be affected, IINM.
 
I loved the foldable tables when I've encountered them. I've never seen one on Amtrak come apart, either. I think the blinds will be a major improvement at certain times of day.

Does anybody have a timeline for the track improvements on the Cascades line?
 
fairviewroad said:
AC4400 said:
Great pics! Now comes to the question, what will the schedule look like?When will the new schedule be available? I noticed on the latest Amtrak System Timetable, it says "new Cascades schedule will come out late this summer".
Click to expand...
The "new schedule" could also be referring to a re-issued timetable to reflect the end of the current trackwork between PDX and SEA.

Regardless, the basic change will be a morning train leaving PDX at 6 a.m. to EUG, returning EUG to PDX in the afternoon (leaving

EUG around 4 p.m. IIRC). The loss will be the 9 a.m. EUG-PDX run (504) and the evening PDX-EUG run (509) both of which will become

Thruway bus departures.

Why ODOT thinks there's a market for travel from PDX-EUG at 6 a.m. is beyond me.

Trips north of PDX will not be affected, IINM.
Click to expand...
Will the two EUG-PDX trains connect to other trains like 504-506?
 
AC4400 said:
fairviewroad said:
AC4400 said:
Great pics! Now comes to the question, what will the schedule look like?When will the new schedule be available? I noticed on the latest Amtrak System Timetable, it says "new Cascades schedule will come out late this summer".
Click to expand...
The "new schedule" could also be referring to a re-issued timetable to reflect the end of the current trackwork between PDX and SEA.

Regardless, the basic change will be a morning train leaving PDX at 6 a.m. to EUG, returning EUG to PDX in the afternoon (leaving

EUG around 4 p.m. IIRC). The loss will be the 9 a.m. EUG-PDX run (504) and the evening PDX-EUG run (509) both of which will become

Thruway bus departures.

Why ODOT thinks there's a market for travel from PDX-EUG at 6 a.m. is beyond me.

Trips north of PDX will not be affected, IINM.
Click to expand...
Will the two EUG-PDX trains connect to other trains like 504-506?
Click to expand...
According to ODOT both of the EUG-PDX trains will run as through trains to SEA.

Specifically, the first EUG-PDX train (500) will continue to operate more or less under

its current schedule. And the afternoon EUG-PDX train will (from what I can tell) be timed

to mesh with the current 508 which leaves PDX for SEA at 6:15 p.m. (So I assume this

will now be called 508 for its entire run starting in EUG.)

So that would end the cross-platform transfer needed to connect from 504 to 506.* Combined

with the Coast Starlight, this would mean 3 daily one-seat trains between SEA and EUG every

day.

*though people who normally made that late-morning connection will now be transferring from

a bus to a train. It's people traveling in the afternoon who will benefit from the change
 
CHamilton said:
EMDF9A said:
Great pictures. I was there all day as part of the Trails & Rails group (I was the bald guy at the exit of the exhibit train). Good turnout!
Click to expand...
Is that you on the right? Sorry we didn't get a chance to talk.

998553_10200833909904905_240385040_n.jpg
Click to expand...
Sorry No. I'm not in any of your pictures. I was stationed outside all day at the exit from the AMFLEET Exhibit car (and burning the heck out of my blad head. (Until TALGO was gracious enough to let me have a cap =) )
 
I knew they were changing their locotomtives but I didn't think they were upgrading the rolling stock too. :huh:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top