To re-instate NEC sleeper car service, you would only need 2 Viewliners, not 4. This would provide at least one Viewliner for #66/67. What I was referring to as "day-rooms" would simply be the same train sets operating in daylight hours. For example:
- Southbound Federal arrives into Washington DC by 8:00 a.m.
- At 10:30 a.m. it is sent north again to Boston, arriving at 6:30 p.m. for a 10 p.m. southbound departure once again.
As for the saga of the Viewliners between the Cardinal, Silver Palm and Three Rivers, after the Hertiage sleepers were retired on the Three Rivers, all single level sleeping car service was in the Viewliner form. I am sure the fleet may have been stretched thin, but it also benefitted from some same day turns of equipment, which is currently lacking in the Amtrak system.
- The Silver Palm's train set was sent to cover the Cardinal's route so the Superliners on the Cardinal could be freed up due to a shortage of Superliner cars due to various Superliner wrecks. Soon after, the Silver Palm was truncated to become the Palmetto. The Silver Palm typically only ran with one Viewliner to my knowledge. But it did run with Heritage diners, and for a time the Cardinal did operate with the Silver Palm's Heritage Diners. The Heritage diners, and the Heritage crew cars were retired early from the Cardinal's route though.
- When the Three Rivers' train set was given the axe (3 train sets with 3 Viewliners each) the three Viewliners and some of the Three Rivers' cars were sent to cover another train set that was required when the Silver Meteor had its southbound departure time changed from 7 p.m. to 3:15 p.m., thereby eliminating the same day turn of equipment it once had at Sunnyside. The Silver Meteor needed the Viewiners from the Three Rivers due to the schedule change of the Meteor. So the three Viewliners used for the Three Rivers were immediately marshalled to order.
Then we had a bad winter and the Viewliners were freezing up like crazy. That's when the Federal gave up its Viewliners to cover Viewliner assignments on longer runs. The Cardinal also ran with no Viewliners for a period of time during the Viewliner freeze-up (or meltdown, whatever one wants to call it). That's when Gunn sort of ordered some heavy maintenance to be done on the Viewliner fleet - much of which had been neglected since the early Warrington years.
But when all calmed back down and Amtrak gained back even two wrecked Viewliners (from the Hinesville accident), as Mr. Norman mentioned, it was still ahead of the game with its Viewliners than from the winter fiasco. The only problem was the Federal never got its Viewliners back when the Viewliners were put back in order.
Also the Lake Shore Limited's Boston section became a seperate train, and the New York section gained a third Viewliner for much of the year - as conciliation for elimination of the the Three Rivers.
I some how doubt there are any protect Viewliners in New Orleans, let alone more than 1 at Sunnyside Yard. Where the Viewliners hide, I don't know, but in the absence of the Heritage Crew Dorms, it would seem that more Viewliners need to be on the road even with existing train sets.
I could understand a protect Viewliner in NYC, Chicago, and Miami, as well as 3 Viewliners at a time in for regular overhauls. But that still leaves 5 Viewliners not generating any revenus in the system.
Let's not forget that Amtrak was fetching accommodation prices on the Federal nearly as equal to that on the Lake Shore Limited at one time.