Northeast Regional Cafe Cars

How many of the Northeast Regional trains have the split Cafe/BC cars and how many have the full Cafe lounge cars?

So far, the NER's I've ridden are the 84, 125, 94, 83, 66 and 95. Unless I'm mistaken, none of those Regionals have the split cars. I could be wrong though.

Also, is there a time limit on which passengers are allowed to sit in the cafe cars before having to return to their coach seats?

Thanks!

Almost all of the trains have full Cafe/Lounge cars, although 65/66/67 often have split BC cars. Generally passengers can stay in the cafe as long as they like, although the entire car is sometimes closed for a short period of time.

Split cars are more commonly seen on trains where they don't use a full BC car. Most NEC trains use an AM1 BC car. Crescent, an LD train uses an AM2. Empire Service trains all use them, but the cafe side is only open on trains that go past Albany. LSL uses one, it originates in Boston, and is sold as BC on the CHI-ALB-BOS section. Maple Leaf use it, and I think the Ethan Allen. I don't remember what was on the Penns, it could have changed since the last time I rode it anyway. I'm pretty sure there are some more, there are also split Horizons on some Midwest trains. I'm sure there are others, but that's what pops into my mind right away. Downeasters would be a guess, but I really don't know.

Downeasters have (or at least had) the split café/BC.

the_traveler said:

Downeasters have (or at least had) the split café/BC.

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You are correct. Downeasters, Empire Service, 65/66/67, 448/449, Vermonter, are all safe bets to have the split café/BC.

Anybody remember what runs nowadays on the Vermonter and Ethan Allen?

2x1

thank you....I guess we could count the Vermonter as NER for the NYP-WAS stretch....

PVD said:

thank you....I guess we could count the Vermonter as NER for the NYP-WAS stretch....

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It actually shares the NER route all the way from NHV-WAS.

my lousy NYC resident sense of geography strikes again!

A follow-up question:

Are the cafe cars on the Silver Star and Silver Meteor the same as the full cafe cars used on the Regionals?

The CC's on the SM & SS looked the same to me as the Regionals; they have tables on both ends with the food prep/serving area in the center.

Unless something has changed since my last "silver" trip, yes...That is an issue that comes up regularly...the lack of a decent lounge on a long distance train....there is only table seating and little windows....

LookingGlassTie said:

Are the cafe cars on the Silver Star and Silver Meteor the same as the full cafe cars used on the Regionals?

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No. The regionals use Amfleet I (433## series all table, 481## series split). The Silver Service use Amfleet II (280## series).

I wonder if I just rode on one that was a swap, I remember complaining about the small windows, but the AM-2 makes sense....I wasn't even thinking about the splits, they aren't that common on NER,,,,

KnightRail said:

LookingGlassTie said:

Are the cafe cars on the Silver Star and Silver Meteor the same as the full cafe cars used on the Regionals?

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No. The regionals use Amfleet I (433## series all table, 481## series split). The Silver Service use Amfleet II (280## series).

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Ok, thanks!

The Silver trains do use Amfleet II Lounges rather than the Amfleet I Lounges that are used on Regionals. However, the differences are hardly noticeable to the average person. Amfleet IIs lack a restroom, have slightly larger windows, and have only one set of doors that are manual instead of two sets of automatic doors as is seen on Amfleet Is. While the larger windows makes them slightly better than Amfleet Is, Amfleet II Lounges are virtually incomparable with the Superliner Sightseer Lounges.

brianpmcdonnell17 said:

The Silver trains do use Amfleet II Lounges rather than the Amfleet I Lounges that are used on Regionals. However, the differences are hardly noticeable to the average person. Amfleet IIs lack a restroom, have slightly larger windows, and have only one set of doors that are manual instead of two sets of automatic doors as is seen on Amfleet Is. While the larger windows makes them slightly better than Amfleet Is, Amfleet II Lounges are virtually incomparable with the Superliner Sightseer Lounges.

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Ohhh ok.

For some reason, I thought that the windows in the cafe cars on the Silvers were the same size as the ones in the cars on the Regionals. To me, they didn't appear to be quite as big as the windows in the Amfleet II coach cars. Guess I need to pay closer attention!

I suppose that if you took a tape measure to the windows you could convince yourself that the A2 equipment has bigger windows than A1, but personally I have never been able to notice a difference when looking through them.

They are quite a bit bigger, actually.

Oh I know, it's just that the difference between rather small and very small isn't obvious, at least to me.

To settle it, according to Wikipedia...

"The windows on the Amfleet I cars were 18 by 64 inches (45.72 by 162.56 cm); this was increased to 22 by 64 inches (55.88 by 162.56 cm) in the Amfleet II."