BuzzKillington
Service Attendant
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2009
- Messages
- 204
About how many stimulus cars have returned to service so far? Has it made a difference in the length of any LD or Corridor trains?
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Stimulus Cars
- Thread starter BuzzKillington
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As of March 31st, 19 cars had been returned to service. I suspect that one or two more have since been released, but the list hasn't been updated since March. You can keep track of things if you like by watching this page over at OTOL.
So far I'm not aware of any changes to any consists because of the newly released equipment. I suspect that we're still several months away from seeing any real meaningfull changes to consists.
So far I'm not aware of any changes to any consists because of the newly released equipment. I suspect that we're still several months away from seeing any real meaningfull changes to consists.
sunchaser
Conductor
Thank you Alan! It looks like only two sleepers have been finished so far. Am I right in assuming that the Diners & Coaches would be a higher priority because there are less of them available as rolling stock?
Did the three Amfleet II coaches added to the pool allow the NYP Lake Shore to get that extra coach (or extra three coaches)?
I suppose that there is a possiblity that Beech Grove was told to try to concentrate on certain types of cars first, and I do know that they want those diners out for the Capitol Limited. However, it's also quite possible that the order is being determined by what has the least amount of damage and therefore can be fixed faster or even by which cars were first on the mothball line.
sunchaser
Conductor
It's a higher number than I thought had been completed, but it still seem like it's taking forever!! i know, I'm so impatient!!
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Well keep in mind that except for many of the Amfleet I cars, all of the rest of the cars were heavily damaged in an accident. In most cases that means that the cars need extensive body work, are then pretty much stripped of anything inside, and then receive all new interiors. That does take considerable time and there are only so many workers and work bays in which to do the needed work.
On top of that, they've still got to do the normal work that includes heavy inspections, refurbs of cars still operating that need to get done so as to stay on cycle with updating things.
sunchaser
Conductor
I did notice that they still have quite a few Locos that need to be fixed too. I was looking at the Rolling Stock on the same website, & comparing the numbers, I was surprised that there are only 5 active Deluxe Sleepers for the Auto Train! Do they also use regular Superliners in that consist? I would love to see pictures of these refurbs especially the sleepers if anybody manages to get some taken!
Ryan
Court Jester
They do use regular sleepers as well. IIRC, when I rode it, it was 3 deluxe and 3 regular sleepers, but I may have been mistaken.
As for pictures of the inside, the just look like regular bedrooms, the hallway just goes all the way down the side of the car.
As for pictures of the inside, the just look like regular bedrooms, the hallway just goes all the way down the side of the car.
There were only 6 Deluxe Sleepers ever built, and the Auto Train derailment back in 2002 wrecked 3 of them. Two were restored earlier, one within a couple of months the other I think took closer to a year to get it back into service. The final one, the Palm Beach, was the most badly damaged and it has languished in the yard ever since until the Stimulus. It was estimated that it will cost $2.1 million to fix the Palm Beach.
The idea behind the six Deluxe sleepers was that the AT caters to many seniors who both like to have more room and also have issues climbing into the upper bunk in a roomette. It probably doesn't hurt either that the Seniors are a bit more likely to splurge for a Bedroom too. So when Amtrak ordered the Superliner II's, the threw 6 of these special cars into the order. During the peak periods when the Seniors tend to migrate north/south, Amtrak would try to put 3 of these cars on the two consists. The rest of the year they typically have two of the Deluxe sleepers in the consists.
This allows for Amtrak to do routine maintenance and annual inspections while having 1 car as a spare. Of course during the peak times there is no spare, so if something goes wrong, someone may not get their bedroom if the train is close to capacity.
The normal consist pattern sees one Deluxe sleeper on the north side of the sleeper lounge car and one on the south side of the sleeper dining car. And of course the lounge and the diner are coupled together on one end. On the southern side of the deluxe sleeper, there are always two other sleepers. Normally these are regular sleepers, but back when they did run three for peak times, then there would be 1 Deluxe and one regular. The Deluxe would be next to the other Deluxe. On the northern side during peak periods there will be 2 regular sleepers, off peak only 1. And then north of that would be the Trans/Dorm car which is crew only, they never sell any rooms to pax, as there is simply too many crew members. In fact during peak periods, a few crew members end up in the 43 car, the northern most sleeper.
As for pictures, I haven't seen any yet, however they are supposed to look just like the refurbished sleepers that run on the Empire Builder. Obviously the one Deluxe sleeper will look a bit different.
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They are all-bedroom Superliner sleepers for the AutoTrain
Correct. Take out the roomettes and the bathroom normaly found on the upper level and replace them with 5 more bedrooms and you'll get the idea. The coffee area remains as normal, as does the downstairs. Bedrooms are numbered A-E & J-N.
And I've never seen a floor plan online for those cars.
sunchaser
Conductor
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battalion51
Engineer
IIRC the one that came back the quickest sustained very little damage. It was being run as an extra for a number of officials that were headed to DC, and was not in revenue service during the accident. There were the two motors, the Trans Dorm, Deluxe Sleeper, then the normal consist. The motors and first two cars all made it across the heat kink before the cars started to topple.
That is correct, the one that came back first suffered the least damage.
This is not really correct, yes 32502 the W. Graham Claytor, Jr. was indeed in service as you describe and it did make it across the sun kink and it did not derail. It was the last car to make it over the kink, everything after 32502 went on the ground. But it was 1 of 3 Deluxe sleepers in the consist that day. Since it really suffered no damage, after a truck inspection, it was quickly returned to service. Sleeper #32505 the A. Phillip Randolph was the least heavily damaged Deluxe sleeper that went on the ground. I believe it was out of service for about a year or so, before it was fixed and returned to service. IIRC, it took about $1 million to return this car to service. The A. Phillip Randolph was trailing the diner in the consist.
It was the 32501 car. the Palm Beach, the car before the cafe/lounge car that suffered the worst damage and it currently on the list for repairs thanks to the Stimulus. It's estimated to need about $2.1 million in work.
battalion51
Engineer
So what part of what I said was incorrect? Two motors, trans dorm, deluxe sleeper, then normal consist. The standard consist featured two deluxe sleepers in addition to the one I mentioned for officials...
The Graham Claytor was never really damaged, and you stated that it was damaged and that it was the first car back. It was the A. Phillip Randolph that was damaged and still returned to service far more quickly than the Palm Beach, which was heavily damaged.
el Guapo
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2009
- Messages
- 32
What's the relationship between the car number written on my ticket and the actual car number?
I noticed that all of the cars listed on OTOL are 5 digit numbers and the ones on my ticket are 4 digits. Is it the last 4 digits of the actual car #?
Less than a month away from my lap of America!!
I noticed that all of the cars listed on OTOL are 5 digit numbers and the ones on my ticket are 4 digits. Is it the last 4 digits of the actual car #?
Less than a month away from my lap of America!!
darien-l
OBS Chief
Well almost. The deluxe sleepers are all Bedroom UPSTAIRS but there are two (or is it four) roomettes downstairs with the accessible bedroom on the end. I should know the answer having made six trips on the A/T but I don't go downstairs often (except to get extra towels).
sunchaser
Conductor
Ryan
Court Jester
The downstairs are identical.
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