Viewliner II Part 2: Dining Car Production, Delivery, Speculation

[Lonestar648]

Having the VII Diners to sit in, is so much nicer, not going to quibble about the word "Lounge". Not having to be stuck in my room most of the trip, except for a meal, will be nice. Definitely an improvement on the LSL.

 

[Ryan]

There are reports of a sighting over at another site of 449(2) at BBY with V-II "Nashville" in consist .

There were photographs of it posted here.

So I guess you were on 449(2), meaning 68021 'Raleigh' was on your train. Meaning this run must be the first time it ever entered service!

IMG_7739.jpg

IMG_7750.jpg
I’m on 449(2) at Albany. I checked the “sleeper lounge” and it’s “Nashville”.

 

[CHvision]

Not sure if this fits the topic, but just for the summer, the Lake Shore Limited consist is shortened by a baggage car, a Amfleet II cafe and a coach car.

 

[PVD]

A diner has taken over for the amcafe. LSL is also down 1 VL sleeper. No need for a NY bag, it isn't going to NYP for a while.

 

[CHvision]

The Lake Shore Limited now has a viewliner diner, unfortunately, it's used as a lounge car

 

[jis]

I just saw a video taken at Worcester of the LSL yesterday. It appears to consist of:

1 P42

1 VL II Bag

4 Amfleet II Coach

1 Amfleet Lounge/BC

1 VL II Diner/lounge

2 VL I Sleeper

So that is one less VL I Sleeper, 1 less VL II bag and 1 or 2 less Amfleet II Coach compared to the full complement before the Diner was taken off.

 

[PVD]

That is consistent with the set I rode on a few days ago. Pretty much what fits Boston.

 

[Thirdrail7]

For the record, does anyone still care if/when new diners are released from the factory? I'm hardly excited at the prospect of receiving a new "lounge."

 

[AmtrakBlue]

For the record, does anyone still care if/when new diners are released from the factory? I'm hardly excited at the prospect of receiving a new "lounge."

Yo, I need an excuse to go to Fox Point State Park (other than the walking there is beneficial to my health).

 

[Lonestar648]

Seems anticlimactic to look at additional Diner releases. More interesting is how far away are the other cars.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Yes information still need.

Why were a few cars skipped?

When will Albany (the test bed) be available?

What is next?

What is the deployment plan?

 

[chrsjrcj]

Actually, from a train watching perspective, I would like to see these lounges introduced to the Star (even without the meals). I feel it adds more character to the train when I watch it go by

 

[stappend]

For the record, does anyone still care if/when new diners are released from the factory? I'm hardly excited at the prospect of receiving a new "lounge."

Yes, as watching the rest of the diners be delivered will give us all false hope that the dorms and sleepers will quickly follow.

 

[cpotisch]

Honestly, I think the Cardinal is the most likely use for the new diners anytime remotely soon, if only because it only needs two diners, and if they kept the current meal prep system, operating costs wouldn't have to increase. Amtrak currently has 20 ViewDiners available for service, but between the Meteor, Crescent, and LSL, they're only using 11 at a time. Not to go on another tangent about shop margins, but if they put ViewDiners on the Cardinal, they would have seven cars available as protects, which strikes me as more than enough. I'm not saying it's likely, but I think it's much more likely than adding them to the Star. That said, if they don't put the diners on either, the only difference each delivery makes is that we're that much closer to the sleepers and bag-dorms.

 

[CHvision]

In my opinion, when all the diners are on Amtrak, it would make sense to put one on the Cardinal and the Star (same process as the LSL so far).

 

[cpotisch]

In my opinion, when all the diners are on Amtrak, it would make sense to put one on the Cardinal and the Star (same process as the LSL so far).

If they put it on the Star, it would be replacing the current AmCafe, which has more booths/tables than the ViewDiners, and offers an open food service area and counter. That means a switch to a ViewDiner would result in reduced capacity, and they would probably have to cut away the wall enclosing the kitchen area, so as to serve people snacks from it. Possible, but strikes me as doubtful.

 

[PRR 60]

In my opinion, when all the diners are on Amtrak, it would make sense to put one on the Cardinal and the Star (same process as the LSL so far).

If they put it on the Star, it would be replacing the current AmCafe, which has more booths/tables than the ViewDiners, and offers an open food service area and counter. That means a switch to a ViewDiner would result in reduced capacity, and they would probably have to cut away the wall enclosing the kitchen area, so as to serve people snacks from it. Possible, but strikes me as doubtful.

Not sure it would replace the AmCafe or would serve as a Sleeper Lounge as on the Lake Shore with the Cafe continuing to be available for Coach passengers. I would think they would want to harmonize the service offerings across the system, with all single-night trains having the same amenities for Coach and Sleeper. My guess is that the Star being an outlier will be ending.

 

[GBNorman]

OK volks; there are nineteen (19) VII-D on the property. Including the five "protect" cars needed to have one at each end point, that means there are three "sitting in the sun" at HIA, or likely getting their periodic maintenance. Eleven are needed for existing assignments to 19-20, 87-88, and 448-449. If the remaining six cars are to be assigned to 50-51 and 91-92, a protect would need to be placed at WAS. That means one car short, or either there would be one less at HIA, or 8400 would need to be returned to service.

Now once the Penn trackwork is done and both 50-51 and 48-49 resume service there, the protects at both BOS and WAS could be released.

Stay tuned.

 

[Lonestar648]

SS Sleeper rates would have to be changed to compensate for meals being added.

 

[gaspeamtrak]

Just wondering if anything is happening at the "Caf" plant in "Elmira"

Seems like we have not seen any deliveries in a while???

Just curious ???

Thanks...

 

[cpotisch]

Just wondering if anything is happening at the "Caf" plant in "Elmira"

Seems like we have not seen any deliveries in a while???

Just curious ???

Thanks...

This has been asked. Seems like they don't need anymore at the moment, so maybe CAF has decided to take the month off.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Time for the Bag Dorms to start rolling down the Line, but with the current de-emphasis on Checked Baggage and destaffing Stations, perhaps Amtrak should negotiate starting the Sleeper Production instead???

Will we ever see the VL Sleepers???

 

[cpotisch]

Will we ever see the VL Sleepers???

I think I'll celebrate the delivery of the V-II sleepers at my retirement party.

 

[Ziv]

I am just glad that someone else asked "Are we there yet?" ;-) Because I have been dieing to ask the same question for the past week. I really want to see the last of the diners show up and for CAF to move on to delivering the next type of cars. One day, maybe in my lifetime, I hope to see the new VLII sleepers. I usually use the Super Liner sleepers but I may make an exception and use one of the new sleepers if I can be sure of getting one of the new, not the old, ones on the Capitol Limited. My next trip is in May, so it won't happen next year, I guess. Maybe in 2020.

Will we ever see the VL Sleepers???

I think I'll celebrate the delivery of the V-II sleepers at my retirement party.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

I am just glad that someone else asked "Are we there yet?" ;-) Because I have been dieing to ask the same question for the past week. I really want to see the last of the diners show up and for CAF to move on to delivering the next type of cars. One day, maybe in my lifetime, I hope to see the new VLII sleepers. I usually use the Super Liner sleepers but I may make an exception and use one of the new sleepers if I can be sure of getting one of the new, not the old, ones on the Capitol Limited. My next trip is in May, so it won't happen next year, I guess. Maybe in 2020.

Will we ever see the VL Sleepers???

I think I'll celebrate the delivery of the V-II sleepers at my retirement party.

Although many members on here have made plans about making the change, there are no formal plans that I am aware of to change the Capitol Limited from Viewliner to Amfleet. There is currently a vast shortage of Amfleets and it will take a while before there is a drastic increase in the number of Viewliners, as the old ones must be renovated once the new ones come in. Anderson has also indicated that there are plans for a Superliner replacement, likely from Siemens or some other manufacturer who can deliver cars must faster than CAF has. In my opinion, the CL will remain with Superliners until the Superliner replacement cars begin arriving, although it is certainly possible that they may end up being single-level and the same as the Amfleet replacements if Anderson prioritizes standardization. It is also possible that the Amfleet replacements come before the Superliner replacements, which could change things but I predict they won't be far apart if both do end up happening as Anderson may not be around for many years but will try to get both projects at least started as soon as possible. As I said, this is just my prediction based on the information available and the CL could change to single-level in the next year, but it would likely require an unexpected change such as the cancellation of the Cardinal.