Trip Report on #91 and #98

[mrdisnie]

Hi All,

Just want to give everybody my trip report aboard #91 and #98 two weeks ago.

We left Newark, N.J. on Wednesday March 15 on the #91, the train was an hour late into Newark, mech. issues at Sunnyside. We made up all the time by the time we got to D.C.

Our Sleeping comaprtment was ok, a little dirty and run down, but we have come to expect this and plan accordingly!! Plenty of lyesol and old clothes, especialy for my daughter!!!!!

The food was typical Amtrak, good but not great but the most amazing thing we noticed was the friendly service staff, something we have not experienced in quite some time. From the dining car staff to our room attendant, service seemed to be a priority, which was a welcome surprise.

I spoke with our room attendant during some stops and asked if he knew what the future was for the silver service trains. All he knew was, and I quote, " Congress is on our backs so we have to shape up". I thought to myself Amtrak might finally be getting the big picture, service to the customer is a priority!!!

All in all the trip on #91 was good, no long delays in the middle of the night, food was good and as i said before service was great. We arrived in Orlando about 1 hour late, which by silver service standards was pretty good.

We left Orlando on Friday March 24 on the #98. Once again i found service to be above normal but did have one problem. When we got to out sleeping compartment we found that someone had used the bathroom and left a little mess. I contacted our attendant and it was taken care of very quickly.

I spoke with our attendant again at some stops and asked him the same questions about Silver Service that I had asked on the southbound trip. He went on to say that from what he is hearing Silver Service will not be touched except for the dining car, which we already knew. I asked him about the sleeping car situation and he also does'nt see Amtrak getting rid of any sleepers on the Silver Service because of the amount of people that use it.

We were running about 1 1/2 hours late into D.C. but arrived into Newark about 5 minutes late, not bad at all!!!!!

All is all I was very pleased with the service on both the #91 and #98, we have taken both trains numerous times and this has to be one of the most enjoyable trips we have had!!! Maybe what the attendant was saying on the 91 is true, Congress is on their backs and they realize they have to do something, and if making the customer feel more relaxed and comfortable is part of it, I am all for it!!!!

 

[x-press]

Our Sleeping comaprtment was ok, a little dirty and run down, but we have come to expect this and plan accordingly!!  Plenty of lyesol and old clothes, especialy for my daughter . . .
We left Orlando on Friday March 24 on the #98.  Once again i found service to be above normal but did have one problem.  When we got to out sleeping compartment we found that someone had used the bathroom and left a little mess.  I contacted our attendant and it was taken care of very quickly.

It's odd . . . on my southwest trip last August I marveled at how clean all the sleepers were. I wonder if it's just the Silver Service? Or something about the viewliners?

The bathroom mess, while certainly unfortunate, to me suggests the absurdity of having a toilet in a compartment for two. While I've never done it, it is MIGHTY tempting to go to another room (that's empty at the time) and just use it. We generally go up and use coach.

Glad you had a good trip. We could use some good news around these parts.

JPS

 

[Sam Damon]

Our Sleeping comaprtment was ok, a little dirty and run down, but we have come to expect this and plan accordingly!! Plenty of lyesol and old clothes, especialy for my daughter!!!!!
We left Orlando on Friday March 24 on the #98. Once again i found service to be above normal but did have one problem. When we got to out sleeping compartment we found that someone had used the bathroom and left a little mess. I contacted our attendant and it was taken care of very quickly.

The more I read about the Viewliner sleepers, the less I desire to take a trip on them. I just have to wonder "what were they thinking" when the engineering design cycle was going. It sounds like they are in desperate need of a major rehab.

Even so, it's good to hear you had a decent trip, mrdisnie.

 

[Bill Needles]

Compared to the Superliner sleepers, I hated the Viewliners. They were cramped and I HATED the toliet being in the sleeper. One of you has to step out while the other one goes and the sink splashes water everywhere, poor design...

 

[Amtrak OBS Gone Freight]

I enjoyed reading your response regarding your trip. I missed you by one day out of ORL. Anyway, a major cause of problems is in fact the equipment as well as operational circumstances. Operational problems occur, and mostly are out of Amtrak's control. The equipment could be in better condition IMHO. But first and foremost, I am really happy you caught good crewmembers! Good customer service is essential to your experience. When problems occur, you are better able to deal with them if you have good customer service. One may not be happy with the situation, but bad customer service just creates BIGGER problems. Glad to here you had a decent trip, and you came into your trip as an informed traveler, and didn't hold your expectations way out of reach! Take care and thanks for your info. OBS...

 

[mrdisnie]

Hi OBS,

I have a couple of questions you might be able to answer!

First, in all the trips I have taken on the Silver Service I never remember a more bumpier ride then we had this past trip, both southbound and northbound! Any idea why? It felt like we were going to jump off the tracks!!

Second, Is there any way to regulate the air system in the sleepers, I have never been able to cool down the compartment, even when I have it set at 50.

Third and Final, I know people are asking but I figure I might as well get your input also. We are planning another trip in October and was wondering should I hold off on booking or just make the reservations since no one really knows what is going to happen with the long disantace trains. We always get a sleeper and I really don't want to book something that might not be around in October.

We have looked into the Auto Train and I am holding off on booking that since I prefer the Silver Service, can't deal with the trip to and from D.C. Have been on the Auto Train and loved it but the drive and traffic to D.C. drove me nuts, no pun intended!!!!

Any help would be appreciated!!!

 

[Amtrak OBS Gone Freight]

The bumpy ride........ personally, I attribute that mostly to the workmanship of the Viewliners. They are not as heavy cars as the old Heritage equipment are (i.e. our dining, baggage cars, and former 10-6 crew sleeper). In addition to that, the Viewliners don't ride well on a lot of CSX's track on those two routes. The A-line (the majority of your #98 trip via CHS and FAY) is heavily traveled with freight traffic. The tracks take a lot of beating here! The S-line (the route you went on #91 via RGH and CLB) is not as heavy traveled except between CLB and SAV. It has a lot of places where there there is still jointed rail (also known as clickity clack rail), and it gets bumpy due to long periods of time between maintainence. There are other reasons which cause bumpy rides, but I say these are the most descriptive, and more accurate.

Inside the sleeper regarding the little temperature dial on the wall, all it does is cycle your floor heat on and off depending on the temperature in the room. It has no control over the AC unit. When the overall temperature of the car gets cool enough, sometimes the compressor unit outside kicks off, resulting in only the blowers running, thus no humidty being removed from the air. A lot of times this happens when they switch the HEP generator (head end power) from "full power" to "idle power" such as in a case if the train is dwelling in a station such as JAX. All you can do is ask the attendant to see if they can reset the AC compressor (if they know how to). If they can't reset it, then there is a problem with the AC itself. On a closing note to this question, do remember these Viewliners are not well built for the use they require. I personally believe Amtrak should have taken the money they invested in these Viewliner sleepers, and simply invested it into refurbishing the Heritage sleepers. Those cars were built tough IMHO unlike the Viewliners!

Go ahead and book your trip! You have certain amount of time to pay for the reservation prior to the trip. If you haven't paid for the trip, then you are out nothing if something goes way awry! If you go ahead and decide to pay for the trip to lock in that reservation, then simply use a credit card to do that. Remember credit cards have great advantages in instances where there are problems with a merchant! Lastly, I recommend with any type of travel arrangments, if you spend more than $500 on any kind of trip arrangements, take a little time and explore the option of travel insurance. Get it if the circumstances are right for it, but please do your homework before purchasing a policy. Make sure it covers all your needs, and read the FINE print!

Good luck........... OBS...

 

[mrdisnie]

Thanks OBS!!!!

Thanks for the great info on the bumpy ride, that explains alot!!! I have always noticed that when we are sleeping it seems to be at it's worst, hence the location, usually heading to SAV on the 91.

As for the A/C I have asked our attendant and at times he has fixed it and at other times has not, so at least I now know what to ask for.

I will probably book it, since I really don't belive that the Goverment is going to radically change the Florida service, but i have been wrong before!!! LOL

Anyway, thanks again for the info and with any luck you will be working our trip in Oct/Nov!!!!!!

 

[boratwanksta]

lol, this discussion has actually made me curious about the differences between Superliner and Viewliner sleepers, not surprisingly. anyway, is the main difference between Viewliner and Superliner sleepers is that the former has the toilet inside the room, and the Superliners don't have the toilet in the room? and, though i did play with the 360' camera pic of both types of sleeper room on Amtrak's website recently, which one is bigger?

and why do people seem to hate Viewliner sleepers so much, besides the fact of how the rooms are designed(+ the toilet issue), and possibly that the cars are lighter and give a bumpier ride than the Superliner sleepers? (please correct me though if i made a wrong assumption about the latter fact)

 

[AlanB]

The biggest differences are the toilet and sink in the Viewliner vs. neither in the Superliner. Additionally the Viewliner room is a little taller than the Superliner room, it has more room to store luggage thanks to an ingenious cubby hole above the hallway, and the Viewliner has windows for both the upper and lower bunks. The Superliner has none of that.

The Viewliner's also, at least until recently had in room movies via a small 7 inch plasma screen.

Now while I'll admit that the ride is probably smoother in a Superliner, I for one actually prefer the Viewliner sleeper over the Superliner sleeper. Mind you I typically travel by myself, so the toilet is not an issue for me. But the Viewliner is just sleeker looking, more modern, has better air controls and circulation (when it works). Plus I like to sleep up top, so that I don't have to wait for the attendant to put down my bed or put it up in the morning. I just have them prep it ahead of time, and drop it down when I'm ready.

I do the same in the Superliner too, but sadly I have no windows there.

Of course there have been times that I've just done up the bed on my own too.

All that said however, I will say that the Superliner diner's and sightseer lounges are much better than anything offered by the Amfleet line.

My ideal train would be Viewliner sleepers coupled to a trans/dorm with Superliner coaches, diner, and lounge.

 

[NE933]

Any word of Viewliner II's?

 

[Trogdor]

Any word of Viewliner II's?

A couple of years ago, David Gunn included in Amtrak's five-year plan a proposal to replace the remaining Heritage cars (dorms and diners) with a Viewliner-based design. However, money was never appropriated to follow through with that request.

Now, it's anyone's guess if there will ever be another Viewliner (or any other long-distance car, for that matter) built.