Viewliner II Delivery/Production

Has there been any indication of initial reliability issues on the new CAF cars? They’ve had a nightmare on the cars (sleepers, diners, seated Coach) delivered to UK for the Lowland sleeper, and the Highland Sleeper entry to service has been pushed back from June to perhaps October.

daybeers wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2019 7:46 pm

WhartonAndNorthern wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:23 pm

Greg Moore wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:17 pm

daybeers wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2019 2:08 am Wait did I miss something? Amtrak needs 39 now and is only getting 25 VIIs?

The VIIs are supplementing the existing VI fleet, not replacing them.

When done, Amtrak should have 75 sleepers (or 74 if they one on the shop doesn't come out).

At some point after enough V2s arrive, V1s will be sent to the shops for refresh and reconfiguration to appear similar to V2s. For a while there may be a mix of classic V1s, refreshed V1s, and new V2s.

Ah okay. Will that be done by CAF?

Not that I've heard. I believe all will be done in house.

Greg Moore wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2019 8:04 pm

daybeers wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2019 7:46 pm

WhartonAndNorthern wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:23 pm

Greg Moore wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:17 pm

daybeers wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2019 2:08 am Wait did I miss something? Amtrak needs 39 now and is only getting 25 VIIs?

The VIIs are supplementing the existing VI fleet, not replacing them.

When done, Amtrak should have 75 sleepers (or 74 if they one on the shop doesn't come out).

At some point after enough V2s arrive, V1s will be sent to the shops for refresh and reconfiguration to appear similar to V2s. For a while there may be a mix of classic V1s, refreshed V1s, and new V2s.

Ah okay. Will that be done by CAF?

Not that I've heard. I believe all will be done in house.

Phew!

View I sleepers will be rehabbed at Bear De, same for the Amfleet rehabs.

Backshophoss wrote: ↑Thu Sep 26, 2019 1:11 am View I sleepers will be rehabbed at Bear De, same for the Amfleet rehabs.

Thats if by the time they get there, anybody is even still working in bear. Theres this huge push in the industry to close on site backshops citing that with continuous maintenance there is no need for it. Heavy work can be contracted out for less. Its just another real estate game, the penn central all over again.

Ha, all that's going to do is make more shops wind up in the hands of NRE or the like. There is a distinct need for backshops and always will be. Especially given how many locomotives are stored now. When/if they come back on line, you can't run them through the carwash and jiffy lube, some will need some serious work.

Are any trains besides the SILVER METEOR running with new Viewliner II Baggage Dorms?
Andy

Greg Moore wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:17 pm

daybeers wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2019 2:08 am Wait did I miss something? Amtrak needs 39 now and is only getting 25 VIIs?

The VIIs are supplementing the existing VI fleet, not replacing them.

When done, Amtrak should have 75 sleepers (or 74 if they one on the shop doesn't come out).

What happened to the shopped one?

Silver Star wreck maybe?

They added amenity kits to the Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited when they removed dining service. Nothing special. Was a clear plastic bag at that time with hotel toiletries in it, essentially. Poor substitute for real food.

ryanov wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2019 11:49 pm Poor substitute for real food.

Please don't eat the soap.

Pls be on the lookout for a new Baggage Dorm and a sleeper, which were supposed to be picked up today the 29th from CAF. Should be on Silver Meteor #97 leaving NY on Wed
Andy

There is a report at another site not known for its fact checking, that the V-II Bag Dorm being delivered is the final Dorm. Last report I noted said five were on the property, so this latest delivery will make six.

The order was for ten cars. What happened to the other four?

My guess for their assigment when all are accepted remains The Cardinal and the Silver Star.

More than likely cut out because of the major cost overruns of this project and the sleepers being more of a priority over crew dorms

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Tue Oct 29, 2019 9:03 pm There is a report at another site not known for its fact checking, that the V-II Bag Dorm being delivered is the final Dorm. Last report I noted said five were on the property, so this latest delivery will make six.

The order was for ten cars. What happened to the other four?

My guess for their assigment when all are accepted remains The Cardinal and the Silver Star.

Knowing how government-style procurement works (Amtrak sometimes pretends to act like they're the government), any change to the order number would require a contract modification. One such modification already occurred reducing the bag-dorm order to 10. A contract modification also gives the vendor a chance to renegotiate pricing and make up for cost overrruns. "Oh you want to change the order to 6 baggage cars?" "That'll be an extra few million."

I don't see Amtrak doing that at this phase. CAF has them over a barrel. They may have deprioritized the bag dorms and asked for them to be delivered at the end of the run, after the sleepers.

As an aside, a chatter on another forum said that Amtrak was so unhappy with the V2 diners that they were trying to sell them off quickly. While I agree that they may have too many diners for the new dining service, I doubt that they're selling them off. Who would buy them? And aren't they somewhat modular so they can be reconfigured? I believe the chatter wasn't talking from his pie hole.