Pacific Parlour Car Permanently Retired February 2018

[CHamilton]

This is super sad news.

Side question: anyone know how much longer the Coast Starlight and Cascades trains will use the old track route south of Tacoma, since the new route was temporarily taken out of service after that derailment? I wonder if I were to do a USA Rail Pass trip later this year, if I'd have enough time to ride the Coast Starlight going north to Seattle(and then the Empire east back to Chicago) before Amtrak trains stop using that route.

iirc The target date for the bypass is April, but I don't think it has a specific date yet. It is supposed to happen when the PTC is up and tested and working. A delay is possible, of course. But I wouldn't count on using the old route after April.

WSDOT told us that PTC will be operational sometime in the third quarter. The CS and Cascades will use the old Point Defiance route until then.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Third quarter just in time for the end of the year requirements. The question is when will the locomotive get equipped with PTC. Point Defiance route has been reported to be equipped with PTC, but the Amtrak locomotives have not yet. Not sure how the old route is safer than the new route if your not using the safety systems on either route.

 

[Trogdor]

Third quarter just in time for the end of the year requirements. The question is when will the locomotive get equipped with PTC. Point Defiance route has been reported to be equipped with PTC, but the Amtrak locomotives have not yet. Not sure how the old route is safer than the new route if your not using the safety systems on either route.

Its more of a political/public image thing.

That, plus the crews are all familiar with the old route, as theyve been running it for decades already.

 

[jis]

Third quarter just in time for the end of the year requirements. The question is when will the locomotive get equipped with PTC. Point Defiance route has been reported to be equipped with PTC, but the Amtrak locomotives have not yet. Not sure how the old route is safer than the new route if your not using the safety systems on either route.

Welcome to the PTC circus in the la la land of make believe!

 

[Anderson]

Some of it is PR, but crew familiarity does matter. With that being said, there might also be a business decision here: Can you imagine the tail-end risk of a second crash happening on that line and what that might do to Cascades ridership (or the reputation of that line)?

 

[Lonestar648]

Here is the first of three articles we are writing for TrainWeb on the Parlour Cars. In the coming weeks, we are going to do a trip report for our last run on February 3rd and then another report on the "missing" PPC #39971 sold off in 2001.

http://www.trainweb.org/outsidetherails/PPCHistory2018/

Enjoy!

Great article! I really enjoyed the history. So look forward to the future two articles.

 

[CHvision]

Here is the first of three articles we are writing for TrainWeb on the Parlour Cars. In the coming weeks, we are going to do a trip report for our last run on February 3rd and then another report on the "missing" PPC #39971 sold off in 2001.

http://www.trainweb.org/outsidetherails/PPCHistory2018/

Enjoy!

Very interesting article!

Also, for a thought: Is the consist the same now that the Parlor is off the Starlight?

 

[jmx153]

Here is the first of three articles we are writing for TrainWeb on the Parlour Cars. In the coming weeks, we are going to do a trip report for our last run on February 3rd and then another report on the "missing" PPC #39971 sold off in 2001.

http://www.trainweb.org/outsidetherails/PPCHistory2018/

Enjoy!

Very interesting article!

Also, for a thought: Is the consist the same now that the Parlor is off the Starlight?

Saw today's #14 as it departed EUG, consist was 2 P42s, baggage car, transition car, 2 sleepers, diner, business class car, sightseer lounge, and 2 coaches. For comparison, #14 on this past friday (2-2-18) had the same consist plus 1 sleeper and the PPC.

 

[Maverickstation]

You can always ride the VIA Ocean from Montreal to Halifax or vice versa and enjoy a Dome/lounge like the PPV.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

. Agreed, The Ocean is a great overnight train ride. The Dome Car is well worth the sleeper charge, we had 2 wine tastings, and enjoyed having drinks in the observation end. The food is provided by a local caterer, and is reheated and plated on board. The diner itself is first class with tablecloths, flowers, and a full crew. In our case we met a lot of interesting people from all over the world, and not one other American. That explains why we did not hear any whining, and the like Ken

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[Seaboard92]

I actually took the ren one way and a Budd set the other. I can say honestly I couldn't tell a real difference in the food. Both sets were equally amazing and different in their own way. The only issue with ren food is they can't do substitutions as easily.

 

[Lonestar648]

It appears that Amtrak will try to just make the CS like the rest of Amtrak LD, no special amenities for Sleeper passengers.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

It appears that Amtrak will try to just make the CS like the rest of Amtrak LD, no special amenities for Sleeper passengers.

Well they already did that with the other LD trains... Empire Builder had wine tasting and an "enhanced" menu... lake shore limited had wine and cheese...

 

[neroden]

Hmm, I might try the Ocean. The Canadian is (a) too infrequent, (b) too slow, and © delayed way too much for me to ever fit it into my schedule, but the Ocean has more predictable running times and is more frequent, so I might do that some time.

 

[CHvision]

It appears that Amtrak will try to just make the CS like the rest of Amtrak LD, no special amenities for Sleeper passengers.

It appears that Amtrak will try to just make the CS like the rest of Amtrak LD, no special amenities for Sleeper passengers.

Well they already did that with the other LD trains... Empire Builder had wine tasting and an "enhanced" menu... lake shore limited had wine and cheese...

There's the Silver Star but the difference between those two is that dining service was removed for some reason

 

[KnightRail]

The four remaining PPCs on the west coast depart LAX tonight on train 4(15FEB2018), headed for Beech Grove. 39975 is already at Beech Grove for what was an overhaul.

 

[rtabern]

The four remaining PPCs on the west coast depart LAX tonight on train 4(15FEB2018), headed for Beech Grove. 39975 is already at Beech Grove for what was an overhaul.

If anyone gets good shots over the weekend --- and wouldn't mind sharing them --- please e-mail the .jpg files to [email protected]

We'll incorporate them into the series of stories the APRHF (American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation) is writing on the PPC's for Trainweb.com -- and we will give you credit

We have a booth at the train show in Madison, WI this weekend or else we'd be chasing it through Illinois. Dang it!

Thanks in advance, Robert & Kandace Tabern

 

[rtabern]

Update! Mechanical problems. ppcs being pulled off so #4 can leave on time tonight. Will not be going!!

 

[neroden]

I am still a little surprised that Amtrak didn't (after fixing mechanical problems) sell a bunch of special tickets for the "Four PPCs from LA to Chicago" run. Cheap way to make extra money.

 

[Anderson]

@Nathanael: I agree with that (or at least, staffing one and promoting the heck out of it; one or two of them might not have been in a "passenger-friendly" condition). Given the business the PPC's bar did on the last run, if they'd given a few weeks' notice on it? I'd be sorely tempted to toss a set of plans I have for the next two weeks to ride in one of the PPCs over Raton Pass, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. They could probably at least sell a sleeper's worth of tickets on the offer with decent notice, and at the moment I see no compelling reason not to offer said notice.

(Of course, since the cars had to go to Beech Grove anyway on an occasional basis, why Amtrak never sold this as an excursion of some sort is beyond me right now; I never really thought of this. Your net cost is a single cafe/PPC attendant plus direct F&B costs (e.g. the food itself). I think 2-3 extra sleeper tickets sold LAX-CHI covers that even if you just turn around and fly the cafe attendant back to LAX when they get to CHI, and I think you could've sold a few more than that pretty reliably...and if you're adding an extra sleeper, well, I would hope that the sleeper pax are paying enough for the extra SCA...)

 

[Ryan]

and at the moment I see no compelling reason not to offer said notice.

Other than the demonstrated fact that they don't know what day they're going to run them? Thats kind of important.

 

[CHvision]

Parlor cars are hooked up to train #4 tonight from the Amtrak fans group.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Parlor cars are hooked up to train #4 tonight from the Amtrak fans group.

Only 2 on this trip.

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[The Chief]

(Of course, since the cars had to go to Beech Grove anyway on an occasional basis, why Amtrak never sold this as an excursion of some sort is beyond me right now; I never really thought of this.

Yes Anderson you just did think about it! The rocket scientists at Amtrak never thought about it.

The NRPC LD culture so often seems to focus on employees rather than on customers/PAX. How's that workin' out for 'em?

This is the RR that often gives preferred seating in Lounge or Dining Car to op crew.

Oh well. That could have been a neat revenue-buzz-publicity generator, if Amtrak tried it a couple of times to see what results were.

 

[The Chief]

Budd-Built ATSF Hi-Level Lounge cars had a newsstand & bar at one end & 60 seats upstairs, plus 20 more seats & a Kachina Lounge coffee shop downstairs. Santa Fe Brochure excerpt:

 

[Anderson]

and at the moment I see no compelling reason not to offer said notice.

Other than the demonstrated fact that they don't know what day they're going to run them? Thats kind of important.

At least in this case, though, I suspect that there was very much a "we'll send them out when we can" attitude. At least three of the PPCs were in working order two weekends ago (two for the final run and one for the second-to-last run), so making sure they had one working (out of four) for a single run (with an eye towards loading the others onto the train) shouldn't be a stretch. I think it goes without saying that all else being equal, deadhead moves like this are very much a "we'll get to it when we get to it" thing. I do consider it a given that at least one of the moves would necessarily have been an unannounced deadhead given the reliability issues, but putting together and pitching at least one of these trips as an "excursion" would seem to be no more of a chore than moving a rack of Horizons to the east coast for a leaf peeper trip. The odds of one car being bad-ordered may approach 100%, but the odds of three of the four (one already being at Beech Grove) being bad-ordered at the same time seem to be relatively low. FWIW I think you could realistically have done this twice (one PPC on each run) before the risk of a bad-order blowup would have become high enough to not want to try it.

Edit: This does come back around to the point that has been circulating, namely that a "farewell to the PPC" tour, using 2-3 of the cars over the course of the season, should have been able to generate some net revenue (heck, sell PPC access tickets under some sort of "train XX03" label on Arrow if you want to demonstrate incremental revenue even if it should be painfully obvious if a random weekend suddenly sells a slug of additional tickets...30 tickets at $50 each, not a stretch IMHO, ought to pay for the attendant on the outbound run plus getting them back to LAX, and that's presuming they sold $0 in drinks), but in this particular case it's a move that has to happen regardless and something that, with some notice and de facto having 2-3 spares in LA, should be at least as manageable as your "average" PV tour with 2-4 weeks' notice.