MikeM
OBS Chief
With this seemingly being the summer of Amtrak's misfortune, at what point does the company decide it's time to expedite ordering more superliners, or maybe leasing / purchasing back the old ElCapitan high level coaches they sold off several years ago?
I've lost count how many cars are currently destroyed or seriously wreck damanged. I think at least two or three cars bought the farm with the truck collision on the CZ in Nevada, and suspect the baggage car on the CZ accident in Nebraska recently suffered frame damage. Interestingly enough, a week after the accident, on another board I saw pictures of the cars still sitting on sidings near the collision site in Nebraska. The baggage and two engines were upright but sitting on the ground near the tracks. Wondering why they haven't already been scooped up and sent in for shopping right away?
Although Amtrak has this long term plan for fleet acquisition, it's getting to a place where they are going to have to bite the bullet on new equipment. So many times when I get around Amtrak Superliners these days, the equipment looks rough, with lots of cosmetic damage, duct tape, and worn interiors. The Superliner 2's haven't been refreshed and many of them are wandering the country with original interiors. S-1's are in better shape, but their mechanical's date back to the early 80's.
It seems like Amtrak management does not seem particularly committed to LD trains at this point, looking at the long service interruptions on the CZ, and the fact that the SWC is continuing to struggle on the northern Santa Fe routing despite BNSF indicating they will not maintain the tracks to passenger train standards. No news, that I know at least, that any decision has been made to subsidize maintenance, reroute the train, or just run it until the tracks fall apart and then decide to panic.
I'd be curious to hear what others are thinking, particularly if anyone has heard of any rumblings on the equipment front. It just seems like Amtrak is back into drift mode which is sad.
I've lost count how many cars are currently destroyed or seriously wreck damanged. I think at least two or three cars bought the farm with the truck collision on the CZ in Nevada, and suspect the baggage car on the CZ accident in Nebraska recently suffered frame damage. Interestingly enough, a week after the accident, on another board I saw pictures of the cars still sitting on sidings near the collision site in Nebraska. The baggage and two engines were upright but sitting on the ground near the tracks. Wondering why they haven't already been scooped up and sent in for shopping right away?
Although Amtrak has this long term plan for fleet acquisition, it's getting to a place where they are going to have to bite the bullet on new equipment. So many times when I get around Amtrak Superliners these days, the equipment looks rough, with lots of cosmetic damage, duct tape, and worn interiors. The Superliner 2's haven't been refreshed and many of them are wandering the country with original interiors. S-1's are in better shape, but their mechanical's date back to the early 80's.
It seems like Amtrak management does not seem particularly committed to LD trains at this point, looking at the long service interruptions on the CZ, and the fact that the SWC is continuing to struggle on the northern Santa Fe routing despite BNSF indicating they will not maintain the tracks to passenger train standards. No news, that I know at least, that any decision has been made to subsidize maintenance, reroute the train, or just run it until the tracks fall apart and then decide to panic.
I'd be curious to hear what others are thinking, particularly if anyone has heard of any rumblings on the equipment front. It just seems like Amtrak is back into drift mode which is sad.