Winter Consists?

[Ryan]

And here's the post I alluded to in the other thread:

I wouldn't recommend anyone hold their breath or run out to check the passing consists every day. The yards were gearing up to flip the consists in early April, IIRC. A memo came out at the last minute that consists were staying in the "winter" configuration indefinitely. Something to do with ADA compliance. In this configuration the Viewliner vestibule is next to the diner (hence the H room is right there at the seating area) and the ADA end of the lounge car is right next to the ADA end of the last coach.

If we flip things around but keep the vestibules lined the same way for ADA, coaches will run vestibule forward meaning no vestibule on the back of the train. That provides poor visibility for the conductor backing the Star into Tampa, not to mention the ear piercing peep whistle deafening the coach passengers seated in that car.

To me, this configuration is better in many ways and eliminates two weeks of busy work each year turning the consists around. It takes several hours of extra switching which means equipment mechanical needs moved for work isn't getting moved, putting maintenance schedules behind, or, we move the equipment so mechanical can get their work done and the train leaves the initial terminal late.

It doesn't have anything to do with complaints about the horn from sleeper passengers.

 

[Amtrak172]

I read someone's post in reply to the question "why do they switch the consists for the winter?" and it was incorrect. The reason why they do this is because the Viewliner's have a pipe freezing problem. Sense it gets extremely cold up north, the pipes could freeze. If the Viewliner's are in the back of the train, it's easier for Amtrak to cut the bad car off of the train and put a new one on.

The previous explanations were correct. The "winter" configuration was used to make it easier to rotate the Lake Shore consist with other trains without the need to do switching in New York. That's why the Lake Shore would also get an extra cafe car on the NY section, when it otherwise wouldn't be needed.
It's true about the freezing problem on the Viewliners, but the consist switch was, in fact, for equipment rotation purposes, not for ease of cutting off a bad Viewliner.

I was talking about the silver services trains.

Amtrak172

 

[R30A]

So was everybody else. The original reasons given were correct.

 

[Ryan]

I read someone's post in reply to the question "why do they switch the consists for the winter?" and it was incorrect. The reason why they do this is because the Viewliner's have a pipe freezing problem. Sense it gets extremely cold up north, the pipes could freeze. If the Viewliner's are in the back of the train, it's easier for Amtrak to cut the bad car off of the train and put a new one on.

The previous explanations were correct. The "winter" configuration was used to make it easier to rotate the Lake Shore consist with other trains without the need to do switching in New York. That's why the Lake Shore would also get an extra cafe car on the NY section, when it otherwise wouldn't be needed.
It's true about the freezing problem on the Viewliners, but the consist switch was, in fact, for equipment rotation purposes, not for ease of cutting off a bad Viewliner.

I was talking about the silver services trains.

Amtrak172

Those would be the "other trains" Trogdor was talking about (along with the Crescent).

 

[jonmorrie]

My SCA told me yesterday that they will be keeping this consist permanent. Told me it had to do with passengers complaining about the horn through the night.

 

[Amtrak172]

I read someone's post in reply to the question "why do they switch the consists for the winter?" and it was incorrect. The reason why they do this is because the Viewliner's have a pipe freezing problem. Sense it gets extremely cold up north, the pipes could freeze. If the Viewliner's are in the back of the train, it's easier for Amtrak to cut the bad car off of the train and put a new one on.

The previous explanations were correct. The "winter" configuration was used to make it easier to rotate the Lake Shore consist with other trains without the need to do switching in New York. That's why the Lake Shore would also get an extra cafe car on the NY section, when it otherwise wouldn't be needed.
It's true about the freezing problem on the Viewliners, but the consist switch was, in fact, for equipment rotation purposes, not for ease of cutting off a bad Viewliner.

I was talking about the silver services trains.

Amtrak172

Those would be the "other trains" Trogdor was talking about (along with the Crescent).

I know! I was only telling him the train that I was talking about.

Amtrak172

 

[SarahZ]

My SCA told me yesterday that they will be keeping this consist permanent. Told me it had to do with passengers complaining about the horn through the night.

Scroll up six posts to post #51, Ryan's response. Please read it. It has nothing to do with the horn.

 

[Amtrak172]

Anyone know why the sleepers are back in the front? The cars are also reversed, facing the wrong way

 

[Ryan]

Because it's summer?

 

[pennyk]

The cars are also reversed, facing the wrong way

By facing the "wrong" way, do you mean that the bedrooms and H room in the Viewliners are in the rear of the car? To which trains are you referring?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

The cars are also reversed, facing the wrong way

By facing the "wrong" way, do you mean that the bedrooms and H room in the Viewliners are in the rear of the car? To which trains are you referring?

That makes sense since they're now at the front of the train - the H room is facing the diner in the one car.

 

[pennyk]

The cars are also reversed, facing the wrong way

By facing the "wrong" way, do you mean that the bedrooms and H room in the Viewliners are in the rear of the car? To which trains are you referring?

That makes sense since they're now at the front of the train - the H room is facing the diner in the one car.

In previous years, when the sleepers were in the front of the train, the H room was facing the front of the train.

 

[AlanB]

I hope the new Viewliner IIs don't have pipes that freeze

Assuming that it didn't get cut to save money when some redesign work was done just prior to production, the original blue prints included an undercarriage that doesn't currently exist on the Viewliner I's to help hold in heat and prevent some of the freeze-up issues. It won't protect things forever if there is no power to the car, but except in the most extreme conditions it should be enough to allow for normal switching and other short loss of power issues.

 

[Ryan]

It looks like the baggage cars have it:

 

[VentureForth]

That's a smart looking consist right there. Add the diner, and folks may wonder what those tin cans in the back are.

 

[Ryan]

It most certainly is.

That's a crop out of this to highlight the "skirt" on the bag:



One can only dream of a day where there are Viewliner-based coaches on the back, it'll look good inside and out.

 

[VentureForth]

One can only dream of a day where there are Viewliner-based coaches on the back, it'll look good inside and out.

Replace the toaster with a Sprinter and it's Golden! I'm only 43. They have 30 years to make it so before my statistical EOL.

 

[Amtrak172]

The cars are also reversed, facing the wrong way

By facing the "wrong" way, do you mean that the bedrooms and H room in the Viewliners are in the rear of the car? To which trains are you referring?

Normally, the doors are always towards the front of the train on the sleepers and face towards the rear of the train on the coaches. I'm referring to the single level LD trains.

 

[Amtrak172]

Because it's summer?

Really?! Wow, then why were the sleepers still in the back last summer?

 

[Ryan]

Normally, the doors are always towards the front of the train on the sleepers and face towards the rear of the train on the coaches. I'm referring to the single level LD trains.

No. Viewliner doors should always be on the diner side so that someone with a mobility impairment can roll out of the H room, through the vestibule and directly into the diner. When on the back, that means doors forward, since the diner is in front of the sleepers. When in the front, that means doors in the back, since the diner is behind the sleepers.

Because it's summer?

Really?! Wow, then why were the sleepers still in the back last summer?

Because it was summer last summer? Summer = sleepers in the front. Winter = sleepers in the back (to facilitate swapping with the NY section of the LSL with a minimum of switching.

 

[Amtrak172]

Normally, the doors are always towards the front of the train on the sleepers and face towards the rear of the train on the coaches. I'm referring to the single level LD trains.

No. Viewliner doors should always be on the diner side so that someone with a mobility impairment can roll out of the H room, through the vestibule and directly into the diner. When on the back, that means doors forward, since the diner is in front of the sleepers. When in the front, that means doors in the back, since the diner is behind the sleepers.

Because it's summer?

Really?! Wow, then why were the sleepers still in the back last summer?

Because it was summer last summer? Summer = sleepers in the front. Winter = sleepers in the back (to facilitate swapping with the NY section of the LSL with a minimum of switching.

Ok, cool. Thanks for the info. It's just that when the Viewliners would be in the front before, the doors would face forward.

 

[Amtrak172]

Normally, the doors are always towards the front of the train on the sleepers and face towards the rear of the train on the coaches. I'm referring to the single level LD trains.

No. Viewliner doors should always be on the diner side so that someone with a mobility impairment can roll out of the H room, through the vestibule and directly into the diner. When on the back, that means doors forward, since the diner is in front of the sleepers. When in the front, that means doors in the back, since the diner is behind the sleepers.

Because it's summer?

Really?! Wow, then why were the sleepers still in the back last summer?

Because it was summer last summer? Summer = sleepers in the front. Winter = sleepers in the back (to facilitate swapping with the NY section of the LSL with a minimum of switching.

Yea, I know, but last summer the sleepers remained in the back.

 

[Ryan]

The only thing consistent about Amtrak is their inconsistency.

Total guess, but they probably stayed on the back last summer so they could keep the H room next to the diner.

In the summer of '13, they ran in the front, doors forward, making an ADA issue.

Presumably someone figured out that they can put the sleepers up front and run them "backwards" and solve the ADA issue.

Like I said, inconsistency.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Hey, the Texas Eagle willy nilly changes its consists almost @ Random on the #421/#422 days!

Sometimes the Cutout LAX Sleeper is in the rear behind the LAX Coach on #421, sometimes its on the front, which requires two switching moves in SAS! You never know till the train shows up in Austin!????

Conductors and OBS tell me it's done by the CHI yard crews, that the SAS Switching Crews would prefer that it stay the same but that would be too easy, it's Amtrak!

 

[VentureForth]

Other than the issues regarding the H room facing the diner (which is the biggest issue, by far), the rest of the car doesn't matter which way it faces. The roomettes have a seat facing each direction, and one bedroom has a seat facing each direction, too, though the primary seats are side by side with one room facing forward and the next, aft, etc.

Then there is the noise, the wag of having something heavy in the back... All sorts of stuff. Personally, I like it the way Ryan's picture shows. Loco, VL Bag, VLs, Diner, Cafe, Coaches. Maybe one day they WILL be called "Viewliner" consists.