StriderGDM
OBS Chief
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2014
- Messages
- 581
It's almost like a certain poster has accounts in multiple places 
Viewliner II Part 2: Dining Car Production, Delivery, Speculation
- Thread starter AmtrakBlue
- Start date
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Ngotwalt
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2016
- Messages
- 59
It's not like I have different handles, I'm NGotwalt on TO, RR.Net, & AU. I just pass things along. Also, Thirdrail7 posted on rr.net, I posted on Trainorders. Thirdrail7 I believe cam post to TOs but rarely does. It has a lot of good people there, but also the most well...idiots too. It's also west coast centric.
Nick
Nick
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Acela150
Super Buff
I think it was one of those days where I had given up on AU for the day. Or it was the beginning of the day after and I went looking there for anything of interest. I don't know. :lol:
Ryan
Court Jester
So you're cheating on us, Steve?
neroden
Engineer
So if I optimistically project 2 cars per month and 30 days testing, we might finally get the LSL diner back by November?
Here's hoping Amtrak can spped things up a bit...
Here's hoping Amtrak can spped things up a bit...
I don't think they're doing 30 day testing anymore. They just need xx days to do some customization and initial stocking at the shops in Miami.
brianpmcdonnell17
Conductor
Assuming that all of the delivered Viewliners are active, there should only be one heritage diner in regular service by next month. There are currently 4 Viewliners with two more coming soon, and there are only 7 trainsets required for the SM and shortened Crescent. By the time the Crescent is returned to NYP and 8 sets are once again required, there should be 8 or potentially even 10 Viewliners.
west point
Engineer
But so far it has been 2+ months since 2 were delivered with indications of only 2 more June 20 ish. Generously 1 per month ? At that rate maybe all by March 2019. G--d hope not then we have the 10 Bag Dorms and 25 sleepers to go. January 2022 ? ? ?
WoodyinNYC
Conductor
Neroden, they have speeded things up already to get to one a month! LOL.
Anyway, look at the bright side. The very extended run allows ordering a handful or more Viewliner II sleepers and/or bag-dorms, even baggage cars and, wow!, a few more diners, wow!, if, next year or 2019, there's a clear, Congress-will-pay-for-it need by then.
If we still have elections in 2018 and 2020, we might get a Congress and Administration much more friendly to real investment in infrastructure, especially Amtrak and HSR. Or not.
Meanwhile it seems a recession is coming soonish, which could lead to Stimulus-sized spending. If it's jobs that Congress wants to see, the quickest way to get jobs would be to extend a production run that's coming to its end. So the jobs to be had are from CAF, in Elmira, NY, maybe not so much from Nippon-Sharyo in Rochelle, Ill.
"Atlanta" new dining car is on 97 right now.
WoodyinNYC
Conductor
I's been months -- years, really -- of folks popping up here just to ask, "Are we there yet?"
Now we're almost there, pulling in to the station, these recent posts from Thirdrail7 to now, has stimulated very little activity.
Am I missing something? Yeah, I know we have months to go on new diners, and the sleepers aren't even begun.
But with the Baton Rouge and the Boston cars in the fleet, there's enuff Viewliner II diners to equip all four trainsets of the Meteor. Ride the Meteor, you will eat in a new diner.
Soon enuff the diners will leave the production line, and new bag-dorms and sleepers will start to ooze their way out of Elmira.
Neroden and a partner (sorry, I'm old and forgetful) wrestled with the numbers some time back and concluded that each new sleeper could mean another $400,000 or more positive contribution (operating "profit").
The Meteor is probably positive right now, minus its assessed share of "overhead", but another $1.5 or $2 million will help things. When the Star, Crescent, and Lake Shore Ltd. also add new sleepers, it could be that the Eastern single-level trains as a group will be "profitable" before "overhead".
That difference could change the debate about ordering hundreds of new cars to modernize (and dare to expand) Amtrak's fleet.
Now we're almost there, pulling in to the station, these recent posts from Thirdrail7 to now, has stimulated very little activity.
Am I missing something? Yeah, I know we have months to go on new diners, and the sleepers aren't even begun.
But with the Baton Rouge and the Boston cars in the fleet, there's enuff Viewliner II diners to equip all four trainsets of the Meteor. Ride the Meteor, you will eat in a new diner.
Soon enuff the diners will leave the production line, and new bag-dorms and sleepers will start to ooze their way out of Elmira.
Neroden and a partner (sorry, I'm old and forgetful) wrestled with the numbers some time back and concluded that each new sleeper could mean another $400,000 or more positive contribution (operating "profit").
The Meteor is probably positive right now, minus its assessed share of "overhead", but another $1.5 or $2 million will help things. When the Star, Crescent, and Lake Shore Ltd. also add new sleepers, it could be that the Eastern single-level trains as a group will be "profitable" before "overhead".
That difference could change the debate about ordering hundreds of new cars to modernize (and dare to expand) Amtrak's fleet.
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Ziv
Conductor
I am one of the people that logs onto this site every other day hoping to see good news from both the VL-2 and the Nippon-Sharya threads. At least one of these threads is showing forward progress, albeit slow progress. I am really happy every time I see another VL-2 diner hit the track. I have given up on NS, which is a pity since my favorite train is the Empire Builder since it rolls through my old home town and my Dad took me on it twice when I was a kid. I wish that NS hadn't acquiesced in the design requirement for the weight reduction, but they probably would have lost the bid if they had said that it was an unrealistic requirement at that price point.
Since the bi-level order is mostly dead, I now hope that we can get as many sleepers as is possible tacked onto the VL-2 order. I have also wondered if it would be a remote possibility that Amtrak could actually get enough new coaches, as well, to turn the Capital Limited into a VL-2 train instead of using Superliner cars, freeing up cars for whatever western routes could actually use extra capacity. It won't happen, but it would be cool to see the EB have two daily departures from Chicago and Seattle, but I have to imagine that there are other routes that would have a higher passenger count if 20 or 30 Superliners were freed up from the Cap Limited.
Since the bi-level order is mostly dead, I now hope that we can get as many sleepers as is possible tacked onto the VL-2 order. I have also wondered if it would be a remote possibility that Amtrak could actually get enough new coaches, as well, to turn the Capital Limited into a VL-2 train instead of using Superliner cars, freeing up cars for whatever western routes could actually use extra capacity. It won't happen, but it would be cool to see the EB have two daily departures from Chicago and Seattle, but I have to imagine that there are other routes that would have a higher passenger count if 20 or 30 Superliners were freed up from the Cap Limited.
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PerRock
Engineer
The Nippon-Shayro order isn't going to effect the Empire Builder at all. The cars they're building will primarily replace the Horizon cars used on the corridor trains out of Chicago.
peter
peter
I've lost track. Is Albany, 68000, also in service now for a total of 4 with 2 more expected in a week.
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
Moderator
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
Albany is not in service, and rumor has it that it will be the last one to come out.
Annapolis, Augusta and Atlanta are in service together with Indianapolis for a total of four Viewliner Diners in service. Boston and Baton Rouge are about to come out making the total six.
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
Moderator
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
No
you can see all the name and number assignments here:
http://on-track-on-line.com/amtkrinf-viewname.shtml#viewdiner
mycalpal
Train Attendant
Lansing is the Michigan capitol and is on the list.
Or, rather the cars they're not building. Rumors seem to point to the states requesting bids on a revised order for single-level cars, depending on funding.
Well, it's not a state capitol, so probably not. The complete list of names is available at the on-track-on-line website.
Albany is rumored to be the last to be delivered because it requires the greatest modifications from its initial (delivered for test/evaluation) configuration.
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Ziv
Conductor
Thanks for the heads up, PerRock. I thought that new NS cars would free up bi-level coaches for other lines. The more I learn about Amtrak the more I realize I don't know much. :unsure:
MikefromCrete
Engineer
I'm not aware of any replacement lounge cars.
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