Amfleet I vs II

Question: What is the difference between the Amfleet I and Amfleet II coaches?

The most obvious differences are that the Amfleet II's only have exit doors at one end of the car, and they have larger windows than the Amfleet I's.

The interiors of the Amfleet II's are configured for long distance travel, so they have the capacity of a business class Amfleet I (about 60 seats). The Amfleet II seats have leg rests, and some are equipped with tv monitors in the luggage rack, although Amtrak might be removing them.

The Amfleet II coaches are a few years younger than the Amfleet I's (they were delivered in 1982/1983, IIRC, vs 1975/1976 for the Amfleet I's).

Thanks

I was in an Amfleet II for most of today, on #43 (the Pennsylvanian). Nice cars, and very comfortable seats. Sorry for the quality of the picture, but here is the difference between the Amfleet I and II seats:



Hope this was of some help. I personally was in an Amfleet II that looks like it was refurbished ala the Capstone cars, but I personally preferred the interior of the car in its original form (red legrests, reddish brown curtains). There was also one car with video equipment, though my car did not have it.

This page is rather interesting:
http://www.banksofthesusquehanna.com/MMamflt.html

It describes the Amfleet evolution, including paint schemes.

Are not the Amfleet II doors also manually operated...? That's what I seem to recall. They're set up as sliding doors like the Amfleet I but I always saw them moved by hand by the trainmen & conductors, at least whenever I was at Newark Penn and looking at the outbound trains on Track 3 at that station. Could be wrong, though...but that's what I remember, plus that there were no push-button controls for the doors inside the vestibule.

I believe you are right, Irish. They have the manual handles like the Heritage cars, and the crew repeated that all doors would not open at every stop.

I've been on several Amfleet II's and they ride great, better than the A-1's. The A-2's seats, I think, recline further back in case one falls asleep during the midday, or, of course, to sleep at night on a long-haul train if you couldn't get a sleeper. I like the A2 fleet better.

Robert Paniagua wrote:I've been on several Amfleet II's and they ride great, better than the A-1's. The A-2's seats, I think, recline further back in case one falls asleep during the midday, or, of course, to sleep at night on a long-haul train if you couldn't get a sleeper. I like the A2 fleet better.

One reason they might ride better(and that is subjective) is a different truck design. Amfleet 1 employed P-III trucks which have been around since the 1950's. AF2s have a modified design where the axle bearing is held in place in an inverted U shaped opening by a pedistal strap rather than the clam shell clasps of older trucks. Additionally they were built with tread and disc brakes not retrofitted with tread brakes. Its been thrity years since I saw theses trucks up close and some of the details are bluring in my mind. I am trying to upload a picture of AF2 truck but the file is too big.

To me they both ride the same, and both having the same annoying "jiggle" at speed.

typesix wrote:To me they both ride the same, and both having the same annoying "jiggle" at speed.

I know the "jiggle" you're talking about. The Metroliner cab cars don't seem to have it. I think the Metroliner trucks were superior to the ones used on Amfleet.

The Metroliner trucks are a Commonwealth pattern, rigid cast steel truck with drop equalizers and coil springs as primary suspension. Also they had outside roller bearings which may be more stable at high speed due to being wider, as compared to the inboard bearing truck (P-III) which is two seperate side frames joined by the axles. This design allows the truck to flex to compensate for track irregularities. It is also lighter and less complex.
I personally feel the P-III equiped SL-II cars on Septa ride better than the SL-III and SL-IV cars with cast steel Commonwealth trucks. In their 40+ years in service the only problem I personally saw was cracking at the journal clasp ring due to the change from disc to tread brakes which resulted in outward forces against the clasp rings that was never anticipated in the original design. All of the truck frames were inspected and cracks were (if found) ground out and welded. Further inspection found no more cracks.

HSR: 1975-76 is when the original group of Amfleet 1 cars were built and delivered by the Budd Company-the add-on orders extended those building dates into 1977 and 1978 that total 492 cars .

The link posted by Transit383 is a good one-but remember that the Amfleet cars more then likely have never had one speck of paint on them so call it a COLOR SCHEME - NOT - a PAINT SCHEME - a pet peeve of mine concerning rail equipment.

The original Amfleet 1 cars were striped with color on a scotchlite background which would fade away to plain white over time.

Concerning the colors-I like the Northeast Direct color scheme from the 90s that the Amfleet 1s wore-arguably the best color scheme the cars ever had.

The Amfleet 2 cars from the early 80s wore the three color equal parts color scheme at first which looked fine on them.

It surprised me that Amtrak never ordered more then those original 150 cars to allow more medium/long distance trains to use them.

It does not surprise me that the Amfleet cars have held up so well - a tribute to the Budd Company's construction of good rail cars.
MACTRAXX