Hiawatha equipment?

In watching videos of the Hiawathas I noticed they operate with a mixture of amfleet and horizon coaches......Why?....Which one is more comfortable,if given a

choice?

Will ridea Hiawatha for the first time soon......Just curious.... :hi:

It is largely due to a lack of equipment. Amtrak runs what it has, hopefully they will get money for new equipment for the Hiawatha soon but until then we all have to make due with what is available.

The seats are about the same in either type of car. The main drawback to the Horizon is the lighting shines directly on you from the ceiling, whereas the Amfleet cars have softer lights on the walls and lights that reflect off the ceiling. More pleasant, in my opinion.

The standard consist has one Amfleet on each end with four Horizons in the middle. Occasionally, things will deviate from that.

Funding for new equipment has already been secured, and the new Talgo trains are currently under construction in Milwaukee. The State of Wisconsin ordered them a year or two ago. The new trains will have less capacity (397 seats) than the current sets (420 seats), mainly because WisDOT people have no concept of how reality works.

Why such a big difference in seating? Are they all slumber coaches for the trip from Chicago to WI?

No one uses slumber coaches anymore they went the way of the caboose.

Sorry I forgot my </sarcasm> tag.

Trogdor said:

Funding for new equipment has already been secured, and the new Talgo trains are currently under construction in Milwaukee. The State of Wisconsin ordered them a year or two ago. The new trains will have less capacity (397 seats) than the current sets (420 seats), mainly because WisDOT people have no concept of how reality works.

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Any bets that these talgos are going to make their way to the north west in a few years <_<

We can only hope.

I have never been on the Horizon but, if it is similar to the Heritage equipment.... I have taken Heritage equipment in NC and I prefer it to the Amfleet that I normally ride for daylight trips. It seems roomier and is definately brighter and lighter then the Amfleet. The Heritage equipment seems to ride smoother then the Amfleets as well.

However, If stuck in coach on an overnight the Amfleet is nicer as the seats have greater recline and leg rest. Not sure what the WI equipment is like but, if NC is similar for those short runs I would pick the older Heritage equipment.

From a quick glance, the Horizons do look a bit like Heritage and have that classic "boxy" interior. But I find the Horizons to be much more sterile in interior appearance than Amfleets or Superliners.

I took what I believe was a Horizon BC car from KCY to STL, and I much preferred it to the BC that I usually run into on the East Coast. So...slight preference for the Horizons here.

Anderson said:

I took what I believe was a Horizon BC car from KCY to STL, and I much preferred it to the BC that I usually run into on the East Coast. So...slight preference for the Horizons here.

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The Amfleet cars are Budd stainless steel cars that have curved sides and evolved from the original Metroliner carbody design. They were designed to operate at high speeds.

The Horizon cars are constructed of aluminum, I believe. They evolved from commuter cars and have flat sides with a small step in at floor level to clear any high-level platforms that they may encounter.

I agree that the Horizon's are roomier at the top where the bag racks are, but are a bit spartan in finish as compared to the Amfleet. And there is no long-distance version of Horizon with only vestibules at one end similar to Amfleet II.

Oldsmoboi said:

Sorry I forgot my </sarcasm> tag.

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Was it in the shop for a tune up?

Gratt said:

Trogdor said:

Funding for new equipment has already been secured, and the new Talgo trains are currently under construction in Milwaukee. The State of Wisconsin ordered them a year or two ago. The new trains will have less capacity (397 seats) than the current sets (420 seats), mainly because WisDOT people have no concept of how reality works.

Click to expand...

Any bets that these talgos are going to make their way to the north west in a few years <_<

Click to expand...

There are also 2 additional being built for the NW. After the 4 sets are done there is no Idea what will happen to the Talgo factory in WI

Terminal Wander said:

There are also 2 additional being built for the NW. After the 4 sets are done there is no Idea what will happen to the Talgo factory in WI

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After the 4 trainsets (2 for WI, 2 for OR) are constructed, the current thinking is that the factory will be used as the maintenance facility for the 2 WI sets.

The Horizon cars are better made for the Hiawatha trains, as they are commuter-bodied cars. Of course, the lack of automatic doors and troubles in the harsh winters (And extreme dirtieness) have given them a bad track record.

I also believe one of the reasons they put Amfleets (Both 1 and 2s)on them is for the quiet cars. They have quite a bit more subdued lighting than the Horizons.

I've never had the opportunity to ride in a Horizon car, though I might get to take the Hiawatha Service this summer. I'm curious, are there Horizon cafe cars? Or do they use cafe cars of a different type?

Tracktwentynine said:

I've never had the opportunity to ride in a Horizon car, though I might get to take the Hiawatha Service this summer. I'm curious, are there Horizon cafe cars? Or do they use cafe cars of a different type?

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There are Horizon cafe cars. The Midwest corridors tend to use a mix of both Amfleet and Horizon equipment, including both coaches and the BC/cafe cars.

It should be noted that the Hiawatha trains do not offer BC or cafe cars, though, only coaches. (There is, however, a Quiet Car.)

Eric S said:

There are Horizon cafe cars. The Midwest corridors tend to use a mix of both Amfleet and Horizon equipment, including both coaches and the BC/cafe cars.

It should be noted that the Hiawatha trains do not offer BC or cafe cars, though, only coaches. (There is, however, a Quiet Car.)

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Eric S said:

There are Horizon cafe cars. The Midwest corridors tend to use a mix of both Amfleet and Horizon equipment, including both coaches and the BC/cafe cars.

It should be noted that the Hiawatha trains do not offer BC or cafe cars, though, only coaches. (There is, however, a Quiet Car.)

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In 2019, I have observed the train equipment to generally have 6 or 7 Horizon coaches with a Charger at the north end and a F40 Cabbage at the south end of the train. Once in awhile an Amfleet coach has been on the consist substituting for a Horizon coach. Last week one Horizon cafe car was in the 7-car 5:08 Horizon to Milwaukee coupled behind the Charger. On Friday, May 17th, the train consisted of Charger on the north end with an Amfleet cafe car coupled behind the Charger, 2 more Amfleet coaches, 4 Horizon coaches and locomotive 518 on the south end of the train.

I am attaching photos of both trains. The second one is poted separately.

Here is the 7-car Horizon Hiawatha from last week.

What is up with people dragging up really old topics lately?

Acela150 said:

What is up with people dragging up really old topics lately?

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Because there are very few new topics?

Acela150 said:

What is up with people dragging up really old topics lately?

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FWIW, I added my current equipment consist information to an existing topic thread in case someone is curious about what may or may not have changed in the equipment used on these trains over the years.

Ziv said:

Because there are very few new topics?

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So create one?

I am one of the people contributing to the "really old topics". To a newby like me, it seems like there is little going on that is new. CAF is moving glacially, Bright/Virgin is not making big news any longer, the first of the new Chargers won't show up until 2021, the Avelia is coming along slowly, the Sumitomo/Siemens deal won't deliver any cars until next year, hopefully...
Heck, even Musk and the Boring Company are keeping quiet of late.
The only news out of Amtrak seems to be rumors about cutting services, from dining cars to business class cars.
That is why I contribute to existing, frequently "really old topics". If you want "really new topics", maybe you should find some really new news about Amtrak?
;-)

Acela150 said:

So create one?

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