Amtrak Goes Retro With New Gear?

Any livery is better than the "three picces of paper in the wind".  Also, did you notice the arrow logo at the ends of the cars?, above the three stripes?

Its phase III with the new darker blue. The combination of Phase III and the pointless arrow service mark recently appeared on the exhibit train. The 3 even stripes is just such a timeless scheme, I'm glad its coming back. I doubt the "wave" logo is going away. My guess is this is their way of saying "hey look! fancy new cars!".

My question is the need for bag cars.  To me, they could have used the old mail boxcars for bags.  Then use those shells to build coaches.....

I didn't hear any reference to a new baggage cars. But Joe Boardman did mention the building of 25 new baggage dormitory cars.

Looks like more Viewliners.....too bad, they look weird with the bowed out sides.

Not to worry, where I'm at, it's still Superliners.

The old MHC's did not have crew access from the train (no end doors), and the old Heritage baggage cars are not only expensive to repair due to their age, but their trucks do not allow them to run above 110MPH on the Northeast Corridor.

The new Viewliner baggage cars have inward-opening side doors (better seal against the elements), luggage shelving and bike racks.

The baggage-dorms allow the crew to have sleeping quarters without taking up space in the revenue sleepers the way they do now.

The new dining cars mean standardized components, easier maintenance, and they can also run at 125MPH. The Heritage diners? Re-read the entry about the baggage cars above.

The Viewliners are intended for East Coast trains only (aside from some of the full baggage cars). Superliner territory is supposed to get relief in the form of the new bilevels being purchased by a consortium of Midwest states and California, which will allow Superliner equipment running on those trains to be redirected toward the rest of the Midwest/Western services.

---PCJ

Hopefully mth and/or lionel will make the Viewliners now with the different configurations... baggage, coach, sleeper and diner. too bad no observation though!

I think the Viwliners look great!  But I think they could make a VL Sun Lounge like the SAL had.

RailRide

Thank you for posting more info on these cars.

It is appreciated

Thanks for pointing out and linking to the video.  Interesting and they look like a significant (and overdue) upgrade for East Coast rolling stock.  The paint scheme is very attractive.

I also don't care for the bowed out sides - I wish Amtrak would adopt a flat sides standard so that all the cars in a train would look like a uniform consist rather than a mishmash. 

There's likely some logical reason for the bowed out sides.  Maybe they are stronger structurally or provide more interior room for passengers.  Whatever the reason, I'd rather see new mismatching cars than old, worn out Heritage cars.

The three stripe scheme should come back systemwide.  It is clean, bold, and patriotic.  The dark blue band with small red stripes just looks dark and dull.

Sometimes it is best not to mess with things.  Ask Coke!

Reason for the bowed out sides is.....we Yanquis  is just too FAT !!!!   Sad but true!

I can't talk, but I'd gladly go with a bit less room for my rosy red bohunkus, and have a better looking passenger car !  This whole thing got started with the Metroliners and we've been paying for it ever since !

Back in the 50's, Canadian Pacific smooth-sided passenger cars were curved out towards the bottom, as were British passenger cars.

Rusty

Shankansen trains are 11' wide.

Ours are 10'6".

---PCJ