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  • Viewliner II Delivery/Production

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1519964  by David Benton
 
Can't imagine it requires expensive technology. We are talking about detecting 100 or so tonnes of metal. Consider your household earth leakage unit. Detects magnetic field produced by 10 Milli amp s leaking and trips within 30 milliseconds. For 50 bucks or so, that might have cost thousands 50 years ago.
 #1520076  by electricron
 
STrRedWolf wrote: Sat Sep 14, 2019 5:20 am USA Today got a shot of the Viewliner II roomette sleeper:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/n ... 302820001/
If you're suggesting that one photo in the link is a roomette, take another look. No windows and twin reading lamps above the seats, suggest that's a room to me and not a roomette. If there are other photos to be seen, please provide another link.
 #1520555  by SouthernRailway
 
Curious why pre-Amtrak railroads seemed to have so many types of “hybrid” cars but Amtrak does not. Examples:

Coach-buffet
Baggage-dorm-lounge
Sleeper-lounge

Wouldn’t a hybrid sleeper-lounge make sense, given cutbacks in dining services? A hybrid sleeper-lounge could replace one of the two food service cars on a long distance train.
 #1520557  by gokeefe
 
That's probably more a function of different approaches to service than anything else. There were 20 railroads that joined Amtrak. That's 20 different corporate offices that could make all manner of service design decisions.
 #1520567  by ExCon90
 
... and did. There were different layouts of parlor cars on different railroads. (2+1 vs. 1+1, fixed vs. swivel, etc.) Of course they didn't have to be available for nationwide use. Also, many railroads had their own shops, whereas Amtrak needs cars that can be used anywhere, and needs far fewer shops--sorry, Maintenance Facilities--providing economies of scale when the variety of designs can be limited.
 #1520571  by mtuandrew
 
The Viewliner was supposed to provide that flexibility. If Amtrak had actually gotten those 500 V-Is from Budd Amerail, we probably would have seen variants for coach, cafe-lounge, Sightseer cafe-lounge, business-cafe, 1st Class, combine (coach-baggage), and possibly even sleeper-lounge along with today’s sleepers, diners, baggage, and bag-dorms. I don’t know if the design is flexible enough to be a cab car, but cab-coach and cabbage would have been possible if so.

Of course, we know how that ended up. Hopefully the Siemens Viaggio cars have some of that same flexibility.
 #1520709  by Tadman
 
ExCon90 wrote: Sat Sep 21, 2019 1:49 pm ... and did. There were different layouts of parlor cars on different railroads. (2+1 vs. 1+1, fixed vs. swivel, etc.) Of course they didn't have to be available for nationwide use. Also, many railroads had their own shops, whereas Amtrak needs cars that can be used anywhere, and needs far fewer shops--sorry, Maintenance Facilities--providing economies of scale when the variety of designs can be limited.
On a side note, I never saw the glory of a parlor car. 25 swivel seats all pointed in a herringbone pattern, so you can stare at your neighbor's ear while he reads and not see much out the window. The 2+1 business class today is just fine with me as it's my own space. and I can avert the gaze of others.

It's like the London Tube. Rule #1, do not look at others! So awkward.
 #1520717  by Greg Moore
 
danib62 wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:52 am The Points Guy had a pretty good look a the new V-II sleeping accommodations and upgraded linens/amenities that will be rolling out. https://thepointsguy.com/news/amtrak-sh ... -services/
There's definitely some good stuff here. The one huge change I'd wish they'd make for the Amfleet II seats are the flip out "wings" for the head that many airlines have now. They make resting much easier by supporting your head so it doesn't flap around.

I've got to say, while the amenity packs look nice, they appear FAR from green. Many hotels are moving AWAY from such single-use packages. I hope those are optional.

That said, I LOVE the new table design. Finally getting rid of the weird raised edge that makes using a too wide laptop impossible.
And more power is excellent.

More and more I think with some of these changes, Amtrak really needs to be looking at the add-on order. I still maintain in certain routes, the sleeper can be quite viable. (and more baggage car options! Please!)

Speaking of which, I heard a rumor the 66/67 IS getting a "dorm/baggage" which would be most excellent, returned baggage service AND sleeping.
 #1520730  by Rockingham Racer
 
I believe 65/66/67 already have baggage service, don't they? In fact, it's the only baggage service to points east of NYP, IINM.
There should be more trains on the east end with baggage service, but that's another discussion.
 #1520731  by ExCon90
 
Tadman wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2019 10:04 am On a side note, I never saw the glory of a parlor car. 25 swivel seats all pointed in a herringbone pattern, so you can stare at your neighbor's ear while he reads and not see much out the window. The 2+1 business class today is just fine with me as it's my own space. and I can avert the gaze of others.

It's like the London Tube. Rule #1, do not look at others! So awkward.
That herringbone pattern only lasted until the first passengers boarded. The seats swiveled 360 degrees, and you could face any direction you wanted--straight out the window, or to talk to a traveling companion across the aisle. (On the Empire State Express the parlor seats were like living-room armchairs, fixed in position facing the aisle with their backs to the window--I never liked that.)
In London some of the longer-haul Underground cars of the "sub-surface" (larger loading gauge) rather than genuine tube stock have 2+2 on each side of the aisle, and facing each other in the traditional compartment-style. Passengers just used to hold the paper up while reading it; I suppose today they can just look down at their laptops ...
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