Amtrak's equipment purchase plan ...

[bretton88]

That would be amazing, a house that's a diner, sleeper, and lounge. Hook them up and park them on some land, and your set for life.

 

[GG-1]

That would be amazing, a house that's a diner, sleeper, and lounge. Hook them up and park them on some land, and your set for life.

Aloha

I have the land.

 

[jis]

That would be amazing, a house that's a diner, sleeper, and lounge. Hook them up and park them on some land, and your set for life.

Aloha

I have the land.

Is it next to a railroad?

 

[sunchaser]

My guess is that by scrapping the cars, Amtrak's intention are to sell them to operators for the purposes of scrapping. I can't imagine why it wouldn't be an auction process, like usual. I don't think it would be too hard for someone who wanted to buy the cars for reasons other than running a rail service to convince Amtrak to sell them for the same price they are getting for scrap.
I'd love to get my hands on some Superliner Is for residential purposes.

I was thinking the same thing-

I'd want a Parlor Car, & at least a Sleeper.

Outfit the Parlor Car upstairs with a kitchen stove in the bar area.

Add a washer/dryer to the sleeper, modify some rooms & we'd be set.

Then all I would need is my own private track......talk about fantasy!

Of course must have wifi too.

 

[rtabern]

Wow, sad to hear the PPC's might be going away. For the past 2 years, I have been doing between 2 and 4 trips a year just to ride in them. I have atleast 2 trips this year planned to ride on the CS and am hoping to squeak in a 3rd. I guess I'll just enjoy them for the next 2 years while they're around! It's sad they put so much money in them to re-launch them in 2008, just to get rid of them just 5 years later??? I also got to ride in the done once (October 2007) but forgot my camera!

 

[PetalumaLoco]

One of the nicest weekends I spent with my young wife was at a friend's place tucked in a valley east of Bellingham, Wa.

He had taken a 30 foot flat bed truck trailer and stick built a caboose on it, from scratch. Loft bed in the cupola, and a bump-out bathroom with claw foot tub, windows on 3 sides and a slat floor for drainage. He could tow it if he had too, but was by no means a mobile home. Very rustic and comfortable. If I'd had any brains I'd have photographed it. Or bought it.

 

[had8ley]

I found this passage to be particularly interesting:

The five Hi-Level cars may not necessarily conform to the plan exactly. Since they are cars of a unique configuration, there may be a longer lead time for the design and construction of their replacements. They are presently identified as the highest priorities for replacement but will have to be delivered based on what is achievable and overlaid with the replacement of the first Superliner I vehicles.

That indicates that they are at least hoping to replace the Parlour Cars with something similar, and are open to keeping them around a while longer. But 2012 still seems too early to retire them.

Overall, this report is short on specifics. I'd love to know what Amtrak is planning for the next generation of long-distance lounge cars. Will they be as good as, or better than, the Sightseer Lounges? Or would that be considered too extravagant these days?

I'm also curious about the Horizon fleet, as mentioned in this passage:

There are some specific fleet issues that restrict operations today. The most prominent of these is the use of the Horizon cars in the Midwest. These cars suffer from a variety of operational problems in cold temperatures and winter conditions. However, they are among the more recently acquired vehicles and will not be replaced until late in the fleet replacement cycle. Therefore, these cars are likely candidates for relocation to a more suitable environment as new vehicles become available.

If they're not getting rid of them, where are they going to be used?

I suppose a New Orleans-to-Florida stub train would be out of the question?

That was last year's joke taped to the wall at 60 Massachusetts Avenue :lol: :lol: :lol: