All Talgo Service to Resume on Amtrak Cascades

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Triley

Real Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Dec 14, 2008
Messages
1,564
Location
Somewhere between VAC and EUG
As the title says, the Superliner is expected to go buh-byes from 516/519 effective tomorrow morning.

I certainly have mixed feelings about it. As a commuter/passenger I think it's a shame to lose it, because the sightseer lounge was a great fit for route with all the scenery.

As an LSA I'm glad to be done with it because it's going to more than double our passenger capacity, which is something we definitely need this time of the year! Also...I'd say my food capacity will be something like 3-4x higher on the Talgo set, which is also something that's necessary. With having a much bigger galley space we'll be able to have an assist in the Bistro for the cruise season.
 
Is the Talgo set moving out the superliner train the one with the red stripes all over it? or is it the repaired set?
 
Red Strip ones have not made it to PNW.

A Talgo set has been repaired. The one that try to go swimming.

The Talgo set that hit the highway is not scheduled for repairs.

Superliners are use when a set goes in for long term maintenance.
 
What's holding up the two Talgos at Beechgrove? Does Talgo have a maintenance contract with Washington state? Instead of trying to setup a mx center in Wisconsin, they should have set one up next to their best US customer.
 
I prefer the Superliner seats. The new Talgo seats are uncomfortable, and the old ones are worn out. Also, two coaches to one Sightseer is a pretty good ratio for seat availability, not only in terms of getting a seat in the lounge but also there's a pretty good chance you can get two seats in coach because your seatmate has gone to the lounge.
 
Use of a Superliner consist on 516/519 (formerly 510/517) is always temporary. They use 516/519 because there is one trainset captive to those two trains, the trainsets for the the other Cascades rotate through all the other schedules. The Superliners have come and gone several times when Talgo trainsets are removed from service due rotating Talgo trainsets through heavy maintenance, or, this time, because of damage requiring the removal of trainsets from service. They are going to need another Talgo trainset in service before they can resume the new schedule that went in with the Point Defiance Bypass when the Bypass goes back into service. Unless they want to replace 516/519 with Superliners again.

I ride the Cascades a lot, particularly the 516/519 pair, and I like the Superliners because of the view and the Sightseer. But I don't like them better than the Talgos, they are just different. I like having single seats in Business Class, so I am happy to have them back.
 
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BTW, seems nuts that the Talgo Bistro has more food storage capacity when it is designed for a corridor train of a few hours than a Superliner Cafe that is designed for long distance service of days.

This is pure speculation, and I have no idea if this makes a difference, but the Cascades have a very different menu than the cafe cars on LD trains. So it might be a matter of the Cascades menu being better tailored to the Talgo storage space.
 
BTW, seems nuts that the Talgo Bistro has more food storage capacity when it is designed for a corridor train of a few hours than a Superliner Cafe that is designed for long distance service of days.
Have you ever seen the north end of the route in the midst of cruise season? I'll probably sell more products this Sunday on 517 than I would've on a typical Regional on the corridor, with a third of the passengers.
The Superliners have additional cold storage upstairs, which on as long haul may be okay since the LSA can move supplies around in between meal periods. On the Cascades during the time of year we're heading in to, it's pretty much a zoo end to end.

There's a reason we still manage to get assists in the bistros for the summer, when not even the NEC has them any more! Plus...we really like keeping our passengers happy out here.
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Also...keep in mind that we can only get restocked in Seattle. We can get a few supplies from Portland, but it is extremely basic what we can get there. Pretty much they're only good for non-alcoholic drinks, burgers, hot dogs, and pizza. So in other words...we need to stock for the whole trip from Seattle. And SEA-EUG-SEA is pretty much 13 hours.
 
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Those passenger's coming off (especially), cruise ships, are used to the "Eating Olympic's" (and not the mountains
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), for the last week or so, and have "healthy appetites".

I know...I'm one of them....
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The cascades are generally very busy trains during the year. But especially in the Alaska Cruise season. In the past I've had trouble getting reservations on them because of the sheer volume of passengers.

The Bistro from what I can tell does some of the best business in the nation. Everytime I'm on the cascade it seams like we have a decent sized line.
 
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