PPC access from coach?

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Tumbleweed

OBS Chief
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We are planning a coach leg on the CS between MTZ and SEA in September.....anyone know if we will have access to the PPC for meals, wine tasting, etc?
 
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Meals, not at all. Coach passengers used to be able to get in during the wine tasting, but now that it is free, I think it's only for sleeping car passengers!
I know this is not the latest, but when I was on the Starlight in November, they were selling wine tasting tickets to the coach passengers for $10 (sleeper pax for $5).

PPC meals and other access to PPC is sleeping car passenger only, as it has always been since they started the PPC meal service.
 
actually, the last 2 times I was on the CS, the wine tasting is now $5 for sleeping pax and if it doesn't fill up, they will gladly relieve coach pax of 10 bucks to go to the event....other than that, haven't heard of coach pax getting in to the PPC

(and that was as of, eh, Feb 2011 or so...)
 
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Oh well...not a big deal....it's only one leg and we can kill time in the SSL also.....Thanks!

I just didn't want to spend the $$$ for a roomette when we would be boardng at midnite.....
 
I asked too last year in Dec . I was told it was sleepers only too.

' and I had a 20 in my hand eager for some cheese . ( it was really just so I could say I did the PPC , bucket list kinda thing . )

Peter
 
I am now in the PPC and the attendant just told me that as of four days ago the wine tasting will be free!
.This was from an AU member who was on the CS this week. So if the PPC wine tasting is like that on the EB (which is also free), it may be only for sleeping car passengers!
That is good news, going back to the way it was before they almost got rid of them, then upgraded them.

I know part of deal with keeping and staffing the PPCs is they'd have to show they pay their own way. Hope having it free doesn't negatively impact revenue, then.
 
I was on the Coast Starlight 2 weeks ago (and will be on the Coast Starlight AGAIN in 2 more weeks for the Tehachapi Pass Detour trip with several other AUF members)... and the wine tasting is *NOT* FREE.

It is/was $5.00 for sleeping car passengers and IF there is space for coach passengers, it is $10.00 for them.

There are 42 openings at the wine tasting ONLY... so you midas well go and check.

Personally, I'd suggest upgrading to sleeper on #11 and #14 if possible -- it's worth it for the PPC time in my book, plus you are helping to support the PPC by going sleeper on the Coast Starlight. Our attendant in the PPC said 3 percent of the sleeper cost on the Coast Starlight goes towards PPC upkeep. Well worth it to have the historic cars on the train... it's what makes the Coast Starlight my favorite Amtrak route/train/service.

Heck, even when I went from LAX to Santa Barbara a couple of years I ago, I paid the extra $60 to be able to sit in the PPC and have lunch in there for a couple of hours.

It's as close to a private rail car as you can get without paying an arm and a leg!
 
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In September also, We will be on the CS in a sleeper PDX-MTZ, so we will be able to experience the PPC then.....
smile.gif
 
I would also upgrade (if at all possible) to a roomette.

So what if you get on at midnight? You'll get a good night's sleep - AND have the PPC all the next day!
smile.gif
And sometime in and after 2012, you won't even have that chance - because the PPC is scheduled to be removed from the CS!
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You would be surprised at the number of people that get a roomette just from LAX to EMY just for the PPC - and that is a day run!
biggrin.gif
(It can almost be sold out departing LAX and almost be empty by the time it gets to EMY!)
 
Meals, not at all. Coach passengers used to be able to get in during the wine tasting, but now that it is free, I think it's only for sleeping car passengers!
My sense is that they only open the wine testing to coach when the pre-reservations from sleepers are very light.
 
And sometime in and after 2012, you won't even have that chance - because the PPC is scheduled to be removed from the CS! :(
Whoa, what?! Say it ain't so! Was this reported in another thread I missed?
Yes, it was reported here. (I can't find the thread right now.) It is also in the long range report of the future of Amtrak. I don't know off hand if they are going to be replaced with some other first class lounge car, but they are scheduled to be removed during 2012! :( (Don't forget that those cars are 50+ years old! The same as me! :eek: Am I going to be replaced also? :huh: )

:lol: :giggle: :lol:
 
And sometime in and after 2012, you won't even have that chance - because the PPC is scheduled to be removed from the CS!
Whoa, what?! Say it ain't so! Was this reported in another thread I missed?
I'm not aware of any report that gives a specific date of when the PPC fleet will finally be retired, but I imagine the older they get the more attractive they become for potential cost savings. Under different circumstances we might have seen another PPC maintenance budget approved or even a replacement fleet, but with anti-rail sentiment sweeping through the House of Representatives it's hard to imagine a scenario where the aging PPC fleet can be maintained indefinitely on a substantially smaller budget than they had previously.
 
I was on the Coast Starlight 2 weeks ago (and will be on the Coast Starlight AGAIN in 2 more weeks for the Tehachapi Pass Detour trip with several other AUF members)... and the wine tasting is *NOT* FREE.

It is/was $5.00 for sleeping car passengers and IF there is space for coach passengers, it is $10.00 for them.

There are 42 openings at the wine tasting ONLY... so you midas well go and check.

Personally, I'd suggest upgrading to sleeper on #11 and #14 if possible -- it's worth it for the PPC time in my book, plus you are helping to support the PPC by going sleeper on the Coast Starlight. Our attendant in the PPC said 3 percent of the sleeper cost on the Coast Starlight goes towards PPC upkeep. Well worth it to have the historic cars on the train... it's what makes the Coast Starlight my favorite Amtrak route/train/service.

Heck, even when I went from LAX to Santa Barbara a couple of years I ago, I paid the extra $60 to be able to sit in the PPC and have lunch in there for a couple of hours.

It's as close to a private rail car as you can get without paying an arm and a leg!
Well I boarded #14 on Wednesday, March 23, 2011, and the wine tasting was free and only for sleeper pax. Not only was the wine tasting free, I got multiple glasses of wine for free at various points throughout the trip in the PPC, plus free mimosas in the PPC with the splits of champagne that they hand out. It was only sleeper pax, coach pax were not invited. They also got all new wines - maybe they are doing less expensive wines now? There was some confusion because there were little booklets to distribute that explained the wines, and our attendant had a hard time finding some of the new booklets.

The PPC attendant specifically told us that the wine tasting became free just this week. Who knows, maybe it was just a test, but I am just mentioning my personal experience.
 
Page 38 of Amtrak's Fleet Strategy Plan - the PPCs are the only 5 remaining Hi-Level cars:

ppc_retirement.png


http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249205419477&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_FleetStrategyPlan.pdf

Page 43 as well:

ppc_replacement_plan.png


I think that picture is misleading, as the dome (as far as I know) isn't one of the Hi-Level cars counted in the 5 that they're talking about replacing.

Really, if you haven't read the entire plan, you're missing out on a LOT of good information.
 
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Agreed, the question is "With what?". The PPC will be far less special if it's just a copy of a Superliner Lounge (which it almost certainly will be, there's no way that they're going to buy such a small number of cars for one run when they're trying to build commonality across the fleet).
 
Agreed, the question is "With what?". The PPC will be far less special if it's just a copy of a Superliner Lounge (which it almost certainly will be, there's no way that they're going to buy such a small number of cars for one run when they're trying to build commonality across the fleet).
On the other hand, if they use the PPC design as a model for a new social car (I hesitate to say "Diner Lounge" or any of the myriad confusingly similar terms which applies to an actual existing or recent Amtrak design), with two optional configurations -- one like the PPC, and a second with a cafe and additional seating downstairs instead of the theater -- they could build a much larger run of them, and use them to replace both the PPC and Sightseer cars.

The CS would run with one car of each interior design (a upscale theater/lounge car with nice plush lounge seats for sleeper pax only replacing the PPC, and a basic cafe/lounge car for everyone replacing the Sightseer) and other trains would run with just the cafe/lounge replacing the Sightseer.

This basically follows the idea of the Viewliners -- create one standard exterior shell (with wraparound windows and the infrastructure to support a prep kitchen) that uses modular, changeable interiors, which will standardize the fleet while allowing for substantial variation and flexibility. And now you're just tacking five or six additional cars onto a larger order, making for substantial cost savings, much easier to get past Congressional skepticism. Finally, it would give Amtrak the flexibility to order and install additional PPC-like interiors at some later point if they wanted to add first-class lounge cars to other trains like the EB or CZ.
 
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My guess is that it would be replaced by an SSL that has a completely different interior arrangement. So you keep the uniformity in parts and general maintenance while creating a different ambience on the interior.
 
My guess is that it would be replaced by an SSL that has a completely different interior arrangement. So you keep the uniformity in parts and general maintenance while creating a different ambience on the interior.
And really, this would be just fine! What's special about the PPC is the usage, the ambiance, and the staffing, not the fact that it's four inches shorter than the rest of the train.
 
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