Phase IIIb

[jis]

Tastes vary. IV and V are horrible color schemes by any measure.

I agree. Phase IV and V are basically relatively dull colors which do not stand out. In any case it was reiterated to me in a conversation that at least for the single level LD fleet, Phase IIIb will be the fleet livery.

Just noticed that the red, blue and white in the new AA livery are closer to the Phase IIIb shades than the original red, blue and white. OTOH, the Phase IV blue shade is closer to the original AA blue shade.

Wait until you see it on the P32-BWH. :giggle:

Bring back that Pepsi can!! :lol:

Now the P32-BWH color scheme was more like the new AA livery in the sense of the variety of angles and lengths of each color stripe

 

[TommyBNSF]

8400 in Chicago Yard today.

Any sightings of Appomattox River? Should have rolled in today on the inbound Cardnial.

There was an extra Viewliner on #51 and it looked like 62002, but it was still in Phase IVb and still said "Viewliner 62002" written where it should say Appomattox River. Again, I couldn't tell the number for sure, but it did look to be 62002. And it didn't come back south on #50 that night. Also, it had Surfliner Coach 6407, a Superliner 2 Coach (34135?), a Superliner 1 Lounge (33009?), and a Superliner 2 Transition Sleeper (39041?), plus Surfliner engine 464.

 

[KnightRail]

8400 in Chicago Yard today.

Any sightings of Appomattox River? Should have rolled in today on the inbound Cardnial.

There was an extra Viewliner on #51 and it looked like 62002, but it was still in Phase IVb and still said "Viewliner 62002" written where it should say Appomattox River. Again, I couldn't tell the number for sure, but it did look to be 62002. And it didn't come back south on #50 that night. Also, it had Surfliner Coach 6407, a Superliner 2 Coach (34135?), a Superliner 1 Lounge (33009?), and a Superliner 2 Transition Sleeper (39041?), plus Surfliner engine 464.

So there's 62014 in IVb with the name "Croton River" applied, 62043 in III with "New River", and the latest overhaul no changes. Either the phase III decals are on back order or it's an identity crisis.

 

[frequentflyer]

8400 in Chicago Yard today.

Brings back memories of July 1984 Amtrak ride. In the Amtrak magazine they had a drawing of the new single level LD car called Viewliner in Phase 3 livery.

 

[TylerP42]

.

 

[Acela150]

8400 in Chicago Yard today.

Any sightings of Appomattox River? Should have rolled in today on the inbound Cardnial.

There was an extra Viewliner on #51 and it looked like 62002, but it was still in Phase IVb and still said "Viewliner 62002" written where it should say Appomattox River. Again, I couldn't tell the number for sure, but it did look to be 62002. And it didn't come back south on #50 that night. Also, it had Surfliner Coach 6407, a Superliner 2 Coach (34135?), a Superliner 1 Lounge (33009?), and a Superliner 2 Transition Sleeper (39041?), plus Surfliner engine 464.

Probably for extra rooms. It's also probably the only train that is selling out all of its rooms and seats now.

 

[TommyBNSF]

8400 in Chicago Yard today.

Any sightings of Appomattox River? Should have rolled in today on the inbound Cardnial.

There was an extra Viewliner on #51 and it looked like 62002, but it was still in Phase IVb and still said "Viewliner 62002" written where it should say Appomattox River. Again, I couldn't tell the number for sure, but it did look to be 62002. And it didn't come back south on #50 that night. Also, it had Surfliner Coach 6407, a Superliner 2 Coach (34135?), a Superliner 1 Lounge (33009?), and a Superliner 2 Transition Sleeper (39041?), plus Surfliner engine 464.

Probably for extra rooms. It's also probably the only train that is selling out all of its rooms and seats now.

It was in front of the normal Cardinal set though, so it definitely came out of Beech Grove.

 

[MikefromCrete]

Griddle issues? Has it been in service?

 

[MikefromCrete]

I'm sorry, I was under the impression that the 8400 has been in Beech Grove for several months. The latest report has it deadheading on the Cardinal from the Grove to Chicago and then deadheading on the Lake Shore to New York City. So, I doubt if they were serving meals. Are these "griddle issues" from its previous operation before the stay in Beech Grove?

 

[jis]

Tyler, do you actually have permission from the Amtrak employees that shared these internal documents with you, to post such information in an open public forum? Would they be willing to be named as the source of such information without getting in trouble? If the answer is no to either of those two questions you should probably reconsider making such specific claims of "having access to and seen with your own eyes" what are possibly Amtrak internal documents.

I know you are trying hard to establish you railfan insider credentials. but to do so you should not endanger the jobs of your friends in the railroad. Just a friendly cautionary note. I personally don't have a horse in this horse race. But IPR rules are harsh and punishments are severe.

 

[Ryan]

Were someone in management inclined to get a burr under their saddle, it'd be pretty easy to figure out which train you were on and who you spoke to.

If you want to have continued access to such information, you should be a little smarter about how you share it.

 

[neroden]

Every time I've seen an Amtrak employee on a single-level train write up a defect report or seen a conductor write a delay report, they do it in public, at one of the public tables, because where else are they going to do it? Honestly it wouldn't be hard for an eavesdropper to read the topline of the report. Can't blame the employees for being overheard.

I tend to consider this stuff to be minutiae of little importance. It's not state secrets, and I'd share it if it helped quiet down *much worse* rumors (you know how rumors can work..."the wheels fell off the train!!!!"...) but normally I can't see why anyone would care.

 

[jis]

Yeah, eavesdropped is fine, within limits. But the impression conveyed is that he has some inside track to inside information through someone. That is the part that can lead to trouble, even if nothing bad was intended. A little bit of considered discretion goes a long way in keeping everyone out of trouble.

 

[neroden]

Agreed, jis.

 

[jis]

Tyler, do you actually have permission from the Amtrak employees that shared these internal documents with you, to post such information in an open public forum? Would they be willing to be named as the source of such information without getting in trouble? If the answer is no to either of those two questions you should probably reconsider making such specific claims of "having access to and seen with your own eyes" what are possibly Amtrak internal documents.

I know you are trying hard to establish you railfan insider credentials. but to do so you should not endanger the jobs of your friends in the railroad. Just a friendly cautionary note. I personally don't have a horse in this horse race. But IPR rules are harsh and punishments are severe.

It's not information that isn't readily available, and the conductor that gave me the info wasn't on that train at the time, but the conductor I was with did confirm 8400 was on 49. (That is all he told me. "Hey Tyler, 8400 is on 49")
The conductor on 48 who is my friend doesn't give me any sensitive or classified information, only information such as consist info (which could be seen by the naked eye by anyone watching said train go by them).

That is good. Having personally gotten into trouble in the past I just wanted to caution that be careful what you share and make sure to share in such a way that the source is protected. I am glad that apparently that is the case in this instance. Your claim that you saw some document with your own eyes, which apparently you actually didn't is what caught my attention. Sometimes claiming access that one actually did not have can still cause trouble for someone.

 

[Acela150]

Tyler, do you actually have permission from the Amtrak employees that shared these internal documents with you, to post such information in an open public forum? Would they be willing to be named as the source of such information without getting in trouble? If the answer is no to either of those two questions you should probably reconsider making such specific claims of "having access to and seen with your own eyes" what are possibly Amtrak internal documents.

I know you are trying hard to establish you railfan insider credentials. but to do so you should not endanger the jobs of your friends in the railroad. Just a friendly cautionary note. I personally don't have a horse in this horse race. But IPR rules are harsh and punishments are severe.

It's not information that isn't readily available, and the conductor that gave me the info wasn't on that train at the time, but the conductor I was with did confirm 8400 was on 49. (That is all he told me. "Hey Tyler, 8400 is on 49")
The conductor on 48 who is my friend doesn't give me any sensitive or classified information, only information such as consist info (which could be seen by the naked eye by anyone watching said train go by them).

On the train or not. If it's information that the public shouldn't have. Such as write ups don't share it here or anywhere. Those employees can be brought up on charges of divulging company information. And trust me being out of service, going on trial, and being able to go back to work on the bad side of things is not a good thing and it can take some time to get back in service. Be extremely mindful of your postings. Cause if I got brought up on charges like this and knew who I told. That person would be all of dead to me.

 

[TylerP42]

Just to put this out there - the conductors and engineers and other employees I know in real life or on facebook as their real names give me info thst can be found by anyone else who has eyes (as in what is in a yard, or on a train). Any other info is either me seeing something myself (not them giving me anything or letting me see it) that I shouldn't see (which I will make a point not to do anymore, and by that I mean a report that I happen to walk past in public or overhearing a conversation at a station or on a train), or someone who I don't even know who their name is, so I share it with a grain of salt. So all of my Amtrak contacts don't give me super secret info. Even if they did, I wouldn't share it because I know it can hurt them.

My friendship with the Director of Operations is just a friendship where he gives me info that is publicly available. Anyone with an email address can email and ask questions and get the same info I have and am given. He has NEVER given me ANY secrets.

 

[TommyBNSF]

Apologies for bringing up an old topic, but I'm curious if Amtrak is still planning to convert their long distance single level trains to the "Amtrak America" branding with Phase III colors or if that's being scrapped because so far, only 2 regular passenger cars have been repainted into Phase IIIb, 8400 and 62043, with no Amfleets having been repainted. I noticed in the video down below that the 2nd sleeper is in fresh Phase IVb with the 8400 right behind it looking kind of ratty in IIIb. Perhaps Amtrak is waiting for the new diners to come onilne or have they axed the Amtrak America branding and just going to stick with the normal Phase IVb on cars.

 

[jis]

The Viewliner Is were not scheduled to be restriped before they are converted to the same configuration as VL IIs, or at least so I was told once upon a time. Notwithstanding that one VL I Sleeper has be restriped in Phase III and got a new name plate - the "New River".

 

[TommyBNSF]

Perhaps 62043 was a "test" car for the Phase IIIb scheme. Then again, if that's the case, we should've seen an Amfleet test car too, and so far nothing on that front.

 

[Ryan]

They're not going to drag a car into the ship and restripe it just for the heck of it, nor do they need to test how to restripe a car. That'd be a complete waste of time and money.

More likely, New River needed to be redone, and they just did it with the new stuff and not the old.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

New stuff? I guess that's one way to put it. Hopefully this hideous retro rebranding scheme follows Boardman right out the door.

 

[jis]

New stuff? I guess that's one way to put it. Hopefully this hideous retro rebranding scheme follows Boardman right out the door.

My understanding is that the Phase III rebranding was not something that Boardman came up with. It came from within Amtrak, and Boardman just went with the flow. So unless the significant people involved in that decision are all gotten rid of probably Boardman's departure will make no difference. So far none of them have left Amtrak AFAICT.

Interestingly Boardman seems to be credited with a lot of decisions that he was only peripherally involved in, if at all, and certainly had little ownership of.

 

[neroden]

I like IIIb.