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One thing Gunn did state in that Washington Post article is he will not stop the rebuilding, refurbishing, and repairing of Superliners, Amfleets, Heritage, mabey Viewliners, etc.
 
I like the attitude Gunn has about keeping everything running, and take advantage of the funding we have now rather than waiting for the end.

Just look at my signature.
 
Viewliner said:
Just look at my signature.
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Viewliner,

Just look in your September issue of Trains. On page 15, the Don Phillips column, also uses a variation of your phrase. He said and I quote.

Amtrak already has the power to contract-out, and Gunn saw his opportunity to teach the administration a lesson, which might be loosely translated as, “Do not give David Gunn a loaded gun.”
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Does the LSL get affected at times with all these changes, and mishaps with the VL's? :eek: If you have 50 VL's, how can you possibly run out of trains to put them on? If you have, for example, the LSL leaving Boston with 1 VL, and the NY section with 1, that equals 2. Duh! So, the next day, they would arrive in Chicago, and get turned around for #448 and #48, right? so the maximum that the LSL needs from Bos/NYC-Chi is 4. That is not per day, remind you. It is over 2 days, i.e. a Monday/Tuesday deal.

It just seems that with 50, we should be ok, and it doesn't seem as if we are.
 
You also have to have spares. Cars are being pulled for inspections, maintenance, waiting for parts,etc. Also LSL cars can be pulled to fill holes on other trains, like Silver Service.
 
I noted in an earlier post tht Gunn is considering refurbishing heritage cars, is that the case?

Until new diners are built, I am afraid that we will be stuck with the snack cars on the three rivers and Pennsylvanian route. Personally, if they I think a diner on the Pensslyvanian would be a great Idea because you could eat three meals in there during a trip from Chicago to PHilly.
 
Late Shore said:
If you have 50 VL's, how can you possibly run out of trains to put them on? If you have, for example, the LSL leaving Boston with 1 VL, and the NY section with 1, that equals 2. Duh! So, the next day, they would arrive in Chicago, and get turned around for #448 and #48, right? so the maximum that the LSL needs from Bos/NYC-Chi is 4. That is not per day, remind you. It is over 2 days, i.e. a Monday/Tuesday deal.
It just seems that with 50, we should be ok, and it doesn't seem as if we are.
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Actually it's not really that hard to run out of cars. Here's my simple and quick total of Viewliners in daily service. I’ve divided the list into three parts. The first is trains that turn daily, like the Lakeshore Limited. A train leaving NY on Sunday would arrive in Chicago on Monday and return to NY as Monday night’s train from Chicago. The second group is for trains that don’t run on a daily basis, so again a train leaving on Sunday is able to become the returning train on the next day that the route runs. The third group is for trains that turn every two days. These are trains that leave on Sunday, but arrive way to late on Monday to become that day’s train. Therefore a train leaving on Sunday is not available for a return trip until Tuesday. This requires double the amount of cars to service the route, since at any given moment there can be 4 consists out running on the tracks for that route.

Trains that turn Daily:

Lakeshore NYP-CHI 2

Lakeshore BOS-CHI 1

Lakeshore CHI-NYP 2

Lakeshore CHI-BOS 1

3 Rivers NYP-CHI 1

3 Rivers CHI-NYP 1

Twilight BOS-NPN 1

Twilight NPN-BOS 1

Total 10

Trains that run 3 times per week:

Cardinal WAS-CHI 1

Cardinal CHI-WAS 1

Total 2

Trains that turn every 2 days:

Silver Star NYP-MIA 3 (Sunday departure)

Silver Star NYP-MIA 3 (Monday departure)

Silver Star MIA-NYP 3 (Sunday departure)

Silver Star MIA-NYP 3 (Monday departure)

Silver Meteor NYP-MIA 3 (Sunday departure)

Silver Meteor NYP-MIA 3 (Monday departure)

Silver Meteor MIA-NYP 3 (Sunday departure)

Silver Meteor MIA-NYP 3 (Monday departure)

Crescent NYP-NOL 2 (Sunday departure)

Crescent NYP-NOL 2 (Monday departure)

Crescent NOL-NYP 2 (Sunday departure)

Crescent NOL-NYP 2 (Monday departure)

Total 32

Grand total 44

Now let’s assume that Amtrak plans to always have 1 car out at any given time for heavy maintenance and/or refurbishment. I personally think that that’s a low number, they probably would reserve 2 or even 3 for this, but for now I’ll assume just 1. Then allow for 2 cars to be bad ordered at any given time, again probably a conservative number considering that the fleet is aging. I think that there is at least 1 car sitting in Beach Grove with damage. (There may even be 2 in BG) So that adds 4 more cars bringing the total to 48 out of the 50. Assuming that I’ve got the correct number of sleepers on each train, and I’m basing my numbers partly on my own observations and the postings of others on the net, that leaves only 2 Viewliners unaccounted for. Plus as I alluded to above, I was probably being conservative on my numbers for overhauls and bad ordered cars.
 
Ummm guys I hate to break it to you, but the Star has gone back to 2 sleepers. I recieved this information form a friend of mine at NRHS Ft Lauderdale, confirmed by a Conductor out of JAX. I don't know if this is a sign that the Palmetto is a sign that they will get their sleeper back or that they are starting to run low on cars. I'll try to reconfirm this information with Aaron or Ron this afternoon.
 
Also, the LSL in the winter usually will only carry one Viewliner on the NYC section. And the Cardinal has had 2 sleepers occasiaonly. If the Star's back to 2 then those cars either were set aside for back up (which is probably a good idea after my experience in Chicago) or they're covering another train.
 
Chances are they're being transferred to another train or are used as backups and not for the Palmetto. Any Idea how many the Silver Meteor has?
 
Amfleet said:
Also, the LSL in the winter usually will only carry one Viewliner on the NYC section.
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Well as of today it's still running with two. I saw it tonight around 7:00pm on my way home entering the loop for the Sunnyside yard. The Lakeshore is now distinctive in that it's the only LD train with sleepers on the rear that terminates in NYP.

Oddly enough I hadn't noticed the consist sitting in Penn when I arrived on a NJT train at 6:30 tonight. I was returning from an excursion on a NJT railline which will see it's last train tonight at 11:15. So I was out grabbing one last ride before it fades into the history books.
 
You're referring to the Booton Line losing service because of the Montclair Connection, providing Direct Service to New York via the Booton Line, Montclair Branch (of M&E Lines) and Kearny Connection right? Are you going to check out the new NJT 7th Avenue Concourse when it opens?
 
Viewliner,

You are correct; I was referring to the Boonton line. Since I grew up in Belleville, which the Boonton line briefly runs through, I saw these trains many times. There actually is still some hope for the part of the line that NJT is abandoning. A private company is trying to gain all the rights to still runs trains on that part and bring their trains into NJT's Hoboken terminal.

I probably will drop in to see the new NJT concourse next week, although I’ve already had a peak at what it looks like. They dropped the false walls about a month ago, so you can see a good part of the new area even though you can’t actually enter it. It’s quite impressive, much nicer than either the LIRR’s area or Amtrak’s. Of course one has to ask, wouldn’t it have been better to spend some the money on increased service instead of the fancy new digs at Penn. Yes a separate waiting and ticketing area is necessary and a good idea. However, I think that they went overboard with some of the furnishings.
 
I heard about a private company wanting to take the service over, but there have issues preventing that from happening. Maybe the next time I'm in New York I'll take a look at it, Its been a while since I've visited. I can't wait till the NJT Try Transit festival on the 29th in Hoboken, they'll have the new ALP-46 Locomotives on display. Is anyone else going?
 
And One Week Later the MidTOWN Direct-Montclair service begins. Ironically, the episode of Law and Order SVU they're showing tonight began in Hoboken Terminal.
 
Hey Guys!!!!

Having a real bad nite and won't have much time to chat tonight.

#98 has 3 V/L's and #92 has 2 V/L's.

Try to get back later!!!

B)
 
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