Tumbleweed
OBS Chief
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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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).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!
.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!I am now in the PPC and the attendant just told me that as of four days ago the wine tasting will be free!
That is good news, going back to the way it was before they almost got rid of them, then upgraded them..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!I am now in the PPC and the attendant just told me that as of four days ago the wine tasting will be free!
My sense is that they only open the wine testing to coach when the pre-reservations from sleepers are very light.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!
Whoa, what?! Say it ain't so! Was this reported in another thread I missed?And sometime in and after 2012, you won't even have that chance - because the PPC is scheduled to be removed from the CS!
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! Am I going to be replaced also? :huh: )Whoa, what?! Say it ain't so! Was this reported in another thread I missed?And sometime in and after 2012, you won't even have that chance - because the PPC is scheduled to be removed from the CS!
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.Whoa, what?! Say it ain't so! Was this reported in another thread I missed?And sometime in and after 2012, you won't even have that chance - because the PPC is scheduled to be removed from the CS!
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.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!
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.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).
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.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.
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