New York to Miami onboard Amtrak's brand new sleeper Viewliner : Silver Meteor review

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Yes, I was very excited for this.


I love the Viewliner II's except for the door. I personally really like the wooden finishes.

If Amtrak could just refurbish their superliners (and existing Viewliners) with this, it'd be much more appealing in my opinion.
 
Yes, I was very excited for this.


I love the Viewliner II's except for the door. I personally really like the wooden finishes.

If Amtrak could just refurbish their superliners (and existing Viewliners) with this, it'd be much more appealing in my opinion.

That’s pretty much what they were doing. Not sure if they stopped.. Anderson pulled the plug on anything nice for LD it seems so I wouldn’t be surprised. The fully refurbished superliners were quite nice I thought.
 
Reads like he's a shill for Amtrak.

He loves the new meals - guess he's never had real food in his life.

I like the comment about 20 hours non-stop to Florida. He must have thought he was on the Auto-train with that non-stop comment or he was dreaming about being on an MTA Express train.

Glad to see they have improved a bunch of things in the roomettes. Too bad they still haven't figured out how to keep doors closed when you're not in the room or come up with a better solution than those curtains.

If they had started gutting the VLIs during the pandemic and rebuilding them like the VLIIs, they might, in a few years, have enough cars to provide more service.

I would also like a faucet that I don't have to hold for the water to run.
They do that to conserve water but there are better methods. One would keep the water running if your hands were in front of the faucet. Another, like it seems they use in the sinks in the toilet room, makes it continue running for a bit but requires you constantly have to re-press the handle to make it run longer.

Either would have been a lot better.
 
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Reads like he's a shill for Amtrak.

He loves the new meals - guess he's never had real food in his life.

I like the comment about 20 hours non-stop to Florida. He must have thought he was on the Auto-train with that non-stop comment or he was dreaming about being on an MTA Express train.

Glad to see they have improved a bunch of things in the roomettes. Too bad they still haven't figured out how to keep doors closed when you're not in the room or come up with a better solution than those curtains.

If they had started gutting the VLIs during the pandemic and rebuilding them like the VLIIs, they might, in a few years, have enough cars to provide more service.

He may very well be a shill. Many of these social media "influencers" are paid and some disclose that while others do not.
 
First, the guy is a French tech for Alstom, currently working for their Missouri operation. Second, he knows trains and has been doing these video logs from all over the world for some time. Third, he has already commented on "diminished dining" in previous reports, but has decided he likes the shrimp thing and makes the best of the situation. Finally, dining is one of the key "thumbs down" in his summary.
 
Too bad they still haven't figured out how to keep doors closed when you're not in the room or come up with a better solution than those curtains.

The original viewliners had pull down vinyl shades for the windows. I liked those a lot.

He may very well be a shill. Many of these social media "influencers" are paid and some disclose that while others do not.

Influencers are required by law to disclose if they received compensation or have a relationship with the brand.
 
He may very well be a shill. Many of these social media "influencers" are paid and some disclose that while others do not.
I can assure you he's not, as he has critiqued Amtrak in many ways before. I'm sure anyone being paid by Amtrak would not go out to notice that the rooms are not deep cleaned.
 
I've watched all of his Amtrak reviews, and I find them pretty close to accurate. They are also very enjoyable as he highlights the entire experience. Hes done the Regional, Acela, Cardinal, Meteor, Auto Train, Southwest Chief (Kansas to Flagstaff), Coast Starlight, Pacific Surfliner, Cascades, and Missouri River Runner. (Might've missed one or two)

He has filmed the Crescent, and is currently filming the CONO as this is being posted.

I'd go check out his channel if you haven't.
 
That’s pretty much what they were doing. Not sure if they stopped.. Anderson pulled the plug on anything nice for LD it seems so I wouldn’t be surprised. The fully refurbished superliners were quite nice I thought.
The Superliner refurbishment program was funded only for the Superliner Is, and even that was a relatively superficial one. As AlanB used to remind us at each opportunity that the Super I's inards, including the electrical system is the original, and was never touched during the refurb.

There has never been a full refurb program for the Super IIs. I doubt it has anything to do with Anderson, since rightfully they should have undergone a Super I-like refurb during Boardman's tenure. It is just that for whatever reason such was not funded. Flynn has an opportunity to fix that in the near future, now that he may be swimming in more money than anyone at Amtrak has in a while.

Speaking of which I don't recall if the Supers even went through the deep cleaning and cosmetic fixups that the Amfleets went through recently.
 
There has never been a full refurb program for the Super IIs. I doubt it has anything to do with Anderson, since rightfully they should have undergone a Super I-like refurb during Boardman's tenure. It is just that for whatever reason such was not funded. Flynn has an opportunity to fix that in the near future, now that he may be swimming in more money than anyone at Amtrak has in a while.
I hope so! The Superliners have been showing their age for many many years now. I think the exterior is fine, but the interior is old. If they refurbish them to get them up to par with the VII's, they will have a few more years in them
 
I like the comment about 20 hours non-stop to Florida. He must have thought he was on the Auto-train with that non-stop comment or he was dreaming about being on an MTA Express train.

I believe he was referring to the fact that the diesel engines run non-stop for ~20 hours from DC to Florida. In fact, the video shows the engines running even while the locomotives are being refueled at the station stop in Jacksonville.
 
Thanks for posting the video. I really enjoyed it.

Overall, I like the new roomettes. The changes to the faucet and table are nice to see. I wish, however, that they would have blackout blinds rather than those curtains.

Is the non-toilet side seat on the Viewliner 1 wider than the comparable seat on the Viewliner 2? It was hard for me to tell, but for some reason it looked like the new seat is narrower, perhaps to make room for the larger garbage bin.
 
Last November, I took a trip on the Cal Zepher in the refurbished superliner I’s and it was really nice. They look great. Nonetheless, the climate system is still a problem. I can’t wait to see these new V II’s when I take the silvers later this spring.

In terms of dining, and think everyone, including him, realizes the food sucks, but as others have said, he’s trying to make the best of a bad situation. I’m vegetarian (so I was limited to two options from the entire CHI - SFO) but I found the Asian noodle bowl and enchiladas to be marginally satisfying. I’m not exactly working out/running/active on a train, so consuming a lot of food really isn’t necessary.
 
I thought it a very fair revue. I liked seeing the new Moynihan train hall, I remember being super impressed when visiting the original post office building on my first visit to America, around 1998. Are all Amtrak train departures and arrivals at Penn station now accessed from this new facility?
The new sleeper car did not seem greatly different from the older ones, but looked smart and clean.
Let's all try and be pleased with some new passenger accomodations! :)
 
I thought it a very fair revue. I liked seeing the new Moynihan train hall, I remember being super impressed when visiting the original post office building on my first visit to America, around 1998. Are all Amtrak train departures and arrivals at Penn station now accessed from this new facility?
The Amtrak station facilities are all in the new Train Hall. The trains can be accessed from the old Penn Station as well as the new Train Hall.
 
I thought it a very fair revue. I liked seeing the new Moynihan train hall, I remember being super impressed when visiting the original post office building on my first visit to America, around 1998. Are all Amtrak train departures and arrivals at Penn station now accessed from this new facility?
The new sleeper car did not seem greatly different from the older ones, but looked smart and clean.
Let's all try and be pleased with some new passenger accomodations! :)

Agreed. After this year, passenger rail is the best it’s been in America (or at least the east coast) in many years.
Moynihan Train hall, sleepers on the BOS - WAS route, new Viewliner sleepers, potentially a new Acela train, a train friendly administration, and the restoration of LD routes.

A very good year indeed, despite COVID. Now if only we can fix the food situation...
 
Agreed. After this year, passenger rail is the best it’s been in America (or at least the east coast) in many years.
Moynihan Train hall, sleepers on the BOS - WAS route, new Viewliner sleepers, potentially a new Acela train, a train friendly administration, and the restoration of LD routes.

A very good year indeed, despite COVID. Now if only we can fix the food situation...
Do you think any of the new Acelas will be in service by July?
 
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