I was in Chicago Wednesday - transferring from 6(15) to 30(17). The folks in the ML mentioned 5(17) was delayed due to problems with the diner car. I know the schedule is padded to provide some ability to make up lost time in route - however not sure schedule provides ability to make up time for 3 hour departure delay.
OK, that's not a good sign in terms of equipment availaibility. What that indicates is that there aren't enough spare Superliner diners. A serious problem should mean "Right, get the spare diner, get the train going, and work on this diner after it's left...." so this probably means there weren't any spares.
I expect this sort of thing with the single-level trains, because we all know there aren't enough Heritage diners and that they're quite unreliable at this point due to their age. It happens repeatedly with the Pacific Parlour Cars for the same reason. But this sort of incident indicates that there aren't enough Superliner diners to provide a comfortable pad for regular service either.
Oh dear. There are no Superliner diners on order, and they're rather essential for western long-distance service. Shortage of bilevel diners could actually lead to the conversion of a route (Capitol Limited or CONO) from Superliners to Viewliners. But there will not be enough Viewliner sleepers for that, as the new ones will sink right into the existing single-level trains, which command higher fares. I suppose we might see mixed-level trains; for instance, a single-level diner could be used on the Capitol Limited, especially with the Pennsyvlanian through cars plan.