Amtrak Viewliner baggage car

Unfortunately there are not any Viewliners available in O scale.  

Currently this now, however Golden Gate Depot is looking at producing them along with other Viewliner cars and there should be a formal announcement sometime in the not too distant future. 

They will be scale length cars at 21".

GG1 4877 posted:

Currently this not one, however Golden Gate Depot is looking at producing them along with other Viewliner cars and there should be a formal announcement sometime in the not too distant future. 

They will be scale length cars at 21".

I hope they do! Will definitely snag some from them.

If anyone is going to be York this week stop by the booth and tell Scott that you would like a set.  He hasn't had the success selling Amtrak that others have had so he is on the fence on this and few other Amtrak projects.  You can even tell him I told you to bug him about it. 

On second thought use the name "Richard" instead ......   He'll know who that is too.

The Viewliners are WAY overdue in O scale.  

I hope that Scott Mann will place some colorful ads for his Amtrak products, I believe they will get more orders if promoted equally with the Pennsy, NYC, and other historic roads.  Previous Amtrak offerings were lightly mentioned and overlooked by many.  But those cars are in demand now, and hard to find.  

Goodness, I was just curious about the Amtrak Viewliner car that you mentioned so I went and looked up the wiki on Amtrak Viewliner.  I ended up falling into the rabbit hole of Wikipedia spending like two hours reading about the history of Amtrak and the history of passenger service, and then early turbo trains, and early streamliner services, and all sorts of neato stuff regarding the history of passenger service in the US.   

Very interesting stuff!  Now I want some o-scale Viewliner cars myself!  And learning about the history of Amtrak is rather fascinating.  The Rainbow era was pretty cool.  That was just before my time.  I was born in 67 so the Rainbow era was just before I really learned about trains which was the mid-seventies for me. 

I was born in '69 so I remember Amtrak well as a child having ridden it with my parents and later on my own.  Like you I don't remember the Rainbow Era on Amtrak, but remember it well on the Jersey Shore where I grew up with PC / CNJ - later Conrail and NJDOT running commuter services.

However, Amtrak is a very interesting railroad.  In two years we'll be coming up on it's 50th anniversary.  That's something to stop and pause on.  50 years?  Some Amtrak train names have lasted longer under Amtrak then the railroads they inherited those names from.  They manage to provide at least a minimally reasonable level of service with very little funding.  They have managed to keep equipment in service for well over 40 years.  They have run locomotives well past their advertised "expiration" dates.  They do this in spite of a long list of several incompetent directors that are largely political appointees spaced between the few competent ones who truly want to run a railroad.

Yes, I am certainly an Amtrak fan and while Viewliners are outside of my modeling era for Amtrak, it would be a nice set to have. 

If anyone is following Amtrak they should be gravely concerned. Management is in the process of killing long haul routes. Slowly and methodically. Today the dining cars and soon the entire train. They have the support of politicians this time including the current commander in chief. Amtrak management is blaming loss of revenue on long haul routes and claiming by cutting these trains that the northeast corridor can flourish. That is why they have not been ordering new super liners, retiring old ones, improving service, fighting with labor. The poorer the service on long haul, the more support from riders to quit riding. Top it off with a Amtrak head that used to be an airline exec. He is not hiding his feelings regarding long haul trains. 

A business man out of California has suggested that Amtrak split in two with Amtrak running the northeast and a new passenger rail “Ameri-Rail” so to speak, to run strictly long haul. Each having their own budget, fleet and management. Put a different culture and mindset behind long haul passenger trains and it will prove that these trains can work and win the hearts of the people.

Hawkshaw posted:

If anyone is following Amtrak they should be gravely concerned. Management is in the process of killing long haul routes. Slowly and methodically. Today the dining cars and soon the entire train. They have the support of politicians this time including the current commander in chief. Amtrak management is blaming loss of revenue on long haul routes and claiming by cutting these trains that the northeast corridor can flourish. That is why they have not been ordering new super liners, retiring old ones, improving service, fighting with labor. The poorer the service on long haul, the more support from riders to quit riding. Top it off with a Amtrak head that used to be an airline exec. He is not hiding his feelings regarding long haul trains. 

A business man out of California has suggested that Amtrak split in two with Amtrak running the northeast and a new passenger rail “Ameri-Rail” so to speak, to run strictly long haul. Each having their own budget, fleet and management. Put a different culture and mindset behind long haul passenger trains and it will prove that these trains can work and win the hearts of the people.

I not only follow Amtrak,  I am a decades long advocate tirelessly fighting for better rail passenger service.   I attend hearings and have written statements used in Congressional hearings.  The national network is supported by by both parties in both houses by a large majority.  People do like Amtrak and want to see it maintained and improved.  The national network is actually required to operate under the law creating Amtrak.  This point was driven home in recent hearings with Amtrak's Anderson.   Amtrak returns 3 dollars to the economy for every dollar spent.  This fact is per both government studies and independent studies.  In spite of repeated administrations of both parties who attempt to destroy Amtrak via food service or other cuts, they survive.  

 If the airlines had to pay the true entire real cost of aviation with no subsidies to air traffic control, FAA,  airports, etc, there would be no profitable airlines.  The interstate highway system has yet to turn a profit, much less cover its costs through fees, taxes, etc.  Amtrak is an important part of our national transportation system and should be expanded and improved.  The long distance trains will always require people fighting to keep them, and Congress will in fact keep them running.  

I discovered GGD Amtrak heritage sleepers and coaches well after they were offered. Found several at Public Delivery Track and a few at other locations.  Several people I know are seeking more of the GGD heritage cars, Slumbercoaches, etc.  

I would think dealers would be wise to stock a few GGD Amtrak sets of cars.  They are sought after.