Viewliner II - Part 1 - Initial Production and Delivery

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Baggage-dorms are inside the CAF plant in Elmira. So far, I haven't seen any photos taken by railfan-spies from outside the factory grounds.
 
With 2 Silvers and the Lake Shore coming my way in a few weeks it will be interesting to see if any of these first run cars are on the line by then.....
 
I'm figuring the Bags Cars first, then Bag Dorms, Diners and the Sleepers last! Hopefully they'll be in service for the Holiday rush from Thanksgiving to New Years so Amtrak can get the much needed Revenue from additional Rooms available on the Viewliner equipped Routes!
 
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A few months and I think you'd have a chance. If I were a betting man, I wouldn't bet on seeing anything in revenue service before September or October.
Given that only 1 baggage car has been delivered for initial testing and it is currently early July, extremely unlikely to see any cars in revenue service in September or October. The cars have to undergo extensive testing, be reviewed and approved by the FRA, and have to be made available for maintenance and operation training and familiarization. All that takes time.
 
Wow, these cars are really behind schedule. Why is the production of cars being delayed.

Amtrak172
 
Wow, these cars are really behind schedule. Why is the production of cars being delayed.

Amtrak172
I believe there was an issue finding qualified welders and initial weld issues that have led to the delays.
The unfortunate result of the "everyone should go to college" attitude that is prevalent in the public schools these days. They closed my district's vocational school because they would get more money if they set up biomedical and visual arts academies. I don't know about you, but I haven't met a visual arts student who can make a good weld, carve furnishings, or work with complex mechanical equipment. Our country's pool of skilled labor is aging, and the replacements for them are few and far between. We're going to have a major skilled labor shortage crisis in the coming years if we don't get our act together.
 
True the comments on the shortage of skilled workers in certain areas of the country! With the oil booms up along the Hi-Line and in Texas, skilled crafstman are in high demand and short supply!

And Vocational Training is considered second class and short funded in most school districts! Also the current political climate that allows immigrant worker bashing isn't going to help solve this problem even though there are qualified hard working immigrants ready to come do these jobs and have a better life just like our ancestors!
 
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It was a lot more then just welding. IINM they had issues with cable placement and much more. But that could be a bunch of scuttlebutt.
There were reports of a stop work order for a design change that was a primary reason for a delay a year or two back. The problem with getting enough qualified stainless steel welders was reportedly not only in hiring, but also retaining them due to the fracking boom.

As I think I have noted before in this thread, the Amtrak Inspector General posted a notice several months ago that they would be conducting an audit of the CAF contract for cost, schedule, and performance. The audit does not mean that the IG thinks there is something wrong, the CAF contract is a major contract so it gets audited at some point. The IG audit report, which is a public document, may provide the only straight answers we will get on what were the reasons for the delays.
 
The train will be leaving the CAF plant in the morning with 3 new Viewliner cars - 62500-Sleeper, 69000 - bagg dorm and 68000 - Diner.

So, now one of each type car will be out for testing.

Bob
 
The unfortunate result of the "everyone should go to college" attitude that is prevalent in the public schools these days. They closed my district's vocational school because they would get more money if they set up biomedical and visual arts academies. I don't know about you, but I haven't met a visual arts student who can make a good weld, carve furnishings, or work with complex mechanical equipment. Our country's pool of skilled labor is aging, and the replacements for them are few and far between. We're going to have a major skilled labor shortage crisis in the coming years if we don't get our act together.
Skilled worker shortage relative to what pay scale however? Skilled worker shortages have a remarkable tendency to disappear when you raise the pay to something that people can actually make a decent living on. From what I can tell, that's not so much the case with welding outside of union gigs (which tend to have apprenticeship programs anyhow) and folks being recruited for the oil boom (where everyone's wages are sky high).
 
Skilled Welders in our area out west command a hefty wage. They are a challenge to find. We have a number of "hi-tech businesses" in our valley that need these people. So much so, that our local Community College has a certification program just for welders!
 
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