First Viewliner II leaves the nest...

Heard anything about the Houston METRO LRT order at Elmira?

Wow.... New baggage cars and a major part of the order.  Who'd have thunk it?  I guess the old pre-Amtrak baggage cars are probably well beyond the useful life.

Rusty

Nothing other than CAF is more or less juggling the two based on who's lateness clauses are more expensive.

 I notice in the Google street-view of the crossing in the video that CAF has strung catenary over the "back lot" track within their property.

Not only that, but I hear the Heritage cars are starting to fail in..."interesting" ways (which almost always means "expensive"). Basically anytime something breaks on Heritage cars, replacement parts have to be custom-fabricated, much like an antique car, but orders of magnitude more expensive since there's no "antique railcar reproduction parts" industry, in any meaningful capacity.

---PCJ

I think the "newest" of the Heritage baggage cars are probably at least 60 years old.

Rusty

Love the Phase III paint on the new baggage cars. The heritage fleet baggage cars nationwide are to be eventually replaced with these cars, which feature bike racks and climate control (i.e. heating, at least) so that your long distance checked baggage does not arrive cold anymore...

The old baggage cars were a cause of speed limitations on some trains.  Probably the ancient diners also.

That's correct. Heritage cars are limited to 110MPH on the Northeast Corridor. The new cars should be good for 125, but they'll have to be tested to certify them at that speed. I don't know whether or not they have to be sent to the AAR facility in Colorado for that.

---PCJ

I don't think Heritage baggage cars are cleared for 110 south of the NE Corridor.  I rode the Silver Service many times between Alexandria VA & Jacksonville, and learned that when at dinner, keep one hand on the wine glass and try to sit near the kitchen.  It's not necessary on the AutoTrain Superliner diners.

Neither is anything else

79MPH max passenger, 70 max on Auto-Train.

---PCJ

What about sections of the SW CHIEF where they run with the old ATSF ATS system?

I heard it was 90MPH on those sections.

---PCJ

Very cool!

Peter

IMHO it has all the elegance of a Pepsi can, but is nowhere near as colorful!

Kent, a Viewliner sleeper is quite comfortable, rides better than a heritage car and a roomette isn't as cramped as a pepsi can.  I am glad they're moving the heads out of each roomette and into a restroom down the hall.

Have you ever ridden a real 12-wheel heavyweight Pullman?  The floor is sound-deadening poured concrete and the beds have springs and a real mattress.  As for the head being "down the hall", Well, wait until you're as old as I am and see if you still feel that way.  For that matter, ask anyone who isn't a railfan. 

BTW, the last time I rode a Viewliner it had a flat wheel that kept me awake all night. 

No, I never have ridden in one of the old heavyweights.  When they were in use, I couldn't afford Pullman.

I probably am as old as you, but I still don't like having the head right by my head,  If I take my wife, I always get a bedroom rather than a roomette, but there are many roomettes with 2 people, and if you're sleeping in the lower & someone has to some down to use the head........

There is quite a variety on needs for maintenance.  I've been on AutoTrainSuperliners that rode smooth & quiet, and other that squeaked, screeched, and lurched all night

I find this discussion about new Amtrak baggage cars a bit quaint and an more than a little outdated. To be honest those new baggage cars remind me of very large slab sided truck trailers on railroad trucks - very ugly looking! Don't get me wrong I think its very worthwhile that Amtrak is replacing 60+ year old baggage cars but frankly its just a tiny drop in the bucket compared with whats been recently happening with European train equipment.

I just recently returned from a vacation in Spain and experienced train travel on 'Renfre' - the Spanish State Railway - and I must say their ultra high-speed passenger trains are absolutely amazing. To say I was impressed is a real understatement. Cruising along at 300kph (180mph+) between Madrid and Barcelona the journey was amazingly smooth and almost vibration free. I also noticed that each of the coaches has ample luggage storage space just inside the car entrance doors which I think is much more sensible and convenient than having a separate baggage car behind the engine. And having specially constructed high speed tracks for passenger trains is far superior to having both freight and passenger trains sharing the same trackage.

No thanks to the car and petrolium industries we have a great deal to learn from our European cousins when it comes to contemporary passenger service and new Amtrak baggage cars are not the answer!

I'm sure that the Viewliner sleepers and dining cars will look better, having actual windows and such. The baggage car was simply the first one completed, being the least complex to build and work the kinks out of well enough to deliver to the customer.

The complaints about their lack of style is a charge that has been leveled at pretty much ALL railroad equipment built in this country for the past what, 60 years now, so what else is new? 

(insert dead-horse smiley here)

---PCJ

I prefer the Viewliner sleepers to the Superliner sleepers and one big reason is the toilet in the room.  I'm not happy about moving the toilet down the hall.  But if two people are sharing a roomette I can see the issue there.  The only time I have shared a roomette was in a Superliner.

The old heavyweights do ride nice but no one wants to pay for the maintenance or additional fuel to haul them.

The Superliner I cars do not ride as nice as the Superliner IIs especially around curves.  However I need to use Superliner I sleepers as I do not fit acceptably into the common bathrooms to use any of the facilities.

The Viewliners have the same shape as the Acela cars and prefer the way they are decorated compared to those stripes.

Living on the east coast I have traveled in the Viewliners quite a few times--much better than the heavyweight sections I remember from years ago or some of the earlier Amtrak sleepers where the "defered" maintainence resulted in many sources of noise during the night.

The toilet in the room is a selling point for me (as you all should appreciate as you get older. Its at the foot of the lower and the convenience far out weights any thing else, especially at 3 in the morning.

Scotie

Went Amtrak got out of the express service, they had many express boxcars.  Why did'n they use some of them to replace the present bags, and have the :bag man" sit in the first car afore the express car?  And don't give me the care had no signal or HEP cables.  Beech Grove could do that!

Well first of all, a baggage car is opened from the inside with a simple pull.  No wrestling with a plug door from ground level.

Second, there may be reasons to access the baggage car while the train is in motion.

Third, the MHC's aren't spring chickens anymore either.

By the time Beech Grove got done modifying the MHC's, it probably would have cost as much as building new baggage cars.

Rusty