Viewliner II Part 2: Dining Car Production, Delivery, Speculation

[cpotisch]

Finally! They should have been finished with all the diners by now!
I think you mean “sleeping car lounges”.

[emoji6]

Fortunately, at this point 8 out of the 11 ViewDiners currently in service are being used as full service diners. So joking aside, I think I can pretty accurately call them "diners" at the moment.

 

[KnightRail]

Routing details being finalized.

Finally! They should have been finished with all the diners by now!

Should have been long finished with the entire contract/order by now.

 

[Acela150]

Routing details being finalized.

Finally! They should have been finished with all the diners by now!

Should have been long finished with the entire contract/order by now.

And? You're stating pretty obvious facts that we're all aware of.

 

[Thirdrail7]

The last three diners will not be out for a while, but they are still coming before any bag-dorms or sleepers.

 

[GBNorman]

OK Class; time for a "pop quiz":

The next "drop" of V-II Diners wI'll be comprised of:___, ___, and ___.

00-Albany

09-Concord

10-Dover

11-Frankfort

23-Springfield

24-Tallahassee

With three additional cars on the property, V-II's could be assigned to 50-51, Cardinal. One would be a protect at Wash.

Once again, when Penn is fully reopened, and 48-51 resume service there, the protects assigned at Boston and Wash could be released allowing more of a "cushion".

Separately, there is a report at another site that 8400 has been observed in Chicago and assigned to 391-394, Illini-Saluki as an axle count car.

 

[Ziv]

I want to see some new bag-dorms and/or sleepers within my lifetime, so I am ok with the last 3 diners getting "postponed".

The last three diners will not be out for a while, but they are still coming before any bag-dorms or sleepers.

 

[KnightRail]

Routing details being finalized.

Finally! They should have been finished with all the diners by now!

Should have been long finished with the entire contract/order by now.

And? You're stating pretty obvious facts that we're all aware of.

It was a sarcastic correction to the quoted post. If it was too subtle, the sarcasm will be produced at a more robust rate than Viewliners going forward.

 

[cpotisch]

With three additional cars on the property, V-II's could be assigned to 50-51, Cardinal. One would be a protect at Wash.

I wouldn't get my hopes up on that. The Cardinal is one of the most neglected routes and I just don't see them putting the nice and shiny equipment on it anytime soon.

 

[cpotisch]

Routing details being finalized.

Finally! They should have been finished with all the diners by now!

Should have been long finished with the entire contract/order by now.

Right. I just meant that in the four or so months since the last delivery, if CAF had continued to deliver two cars per month, they would have finished off all the diners by now.

 

[jis]

Now apparently it will be close to the last quarter before the Diners are done.

 

[tricia]

Now apparently it will be close to the last quarter before the Diners are done.

Gosh, you're being such an optimist today!

 

[GBNorman]

With three additional cars on the property, V-II's could be assigned to 50-51, Cardinal. One would be a protect at Wash.

I wouldn't get my hopes up on that. The Cardinal is one of the most neglected routes and I just don't see them putting the nice and shiny equipment on it anytime soon.

Of course, the "flipside" to that would be, first, the AmCafe lost at Kayce "ain't a comin' back", and secondly, Amtrak is still "experimenting" with the delivery of F&B on the LDSL's. Having a "tryout" on a lower volume train like The Cardinal, will enable them to see if F&B for everyone - purchased Snack Bar fare and the "Fresh and Comtemporary" for the Sleepers, can be efficiently handled by, say, one LSA. It appears that handling food for Sleeper passengers is within the job description for the SCSA.
Such could also be a "laboratory" for the penultimate step I would like to see Amtrak take - no cash.

If all is successful, then with delivery of the last three, as well as release of the protect at Boston and Wash, they could then inaugurate same on 91-92, Silver Star.

 

[cpotisch]

With three additional cars on the property, V-II's could be assigned to 50-51, Cardinal. One would be a protect at Wash.

I wouldn't get my hopes up on that. The Cardinal is one of the most neglected routes and I just don't see them putting the nice and shiny equipment on it anytime soon.

Of course, the "flipside" to that would be, first, the AmCafe lost at Kayce "ain't a comin' back", and secondly, Amtrak is still "experimenting" with the delivery of F&B on the LDSL's. Having a "tryout" on a lower volume train like The Cardinal, will enable them to see if F&B for everyone - purchased Snack Bar fare and the "Fresh and Comtemporary" for the Sleepers, can be efficiently handled by, say, one LSA. It appears that handling food for Sleeper passengers is within the job description for the SCSA.

But they're already doing exactly that on the CL and LSL. So why are you saying they should/would put ViewDiners on the Cardinal, just to test out something that's already in place on two routes?

 

[lordsigma]

I think he’s getting at experimenting with combining coach cafe/sleeper “fresh” dining into one LSA working in one prep area (presumably using the ViewDiner kitchen.) Id hate to see more employees lose their jobs but at least that would make better use of the new Viewliner kitchens. If that’s something they are considering that would be a good train to try it out on.

 

[cpotisch]

I think he’s getting at experimenting with combining coach cafe/sleeper “fresh” dining into one LSA working in one prep area (presumably using the ViewDiner kitchen.) Id hate to see more employees lose their jobs but at least that would make better use of the new Viewliner kitchens. If that’s something they are considering that would be a good train to try it out on.

Then what's the relevance of the ViewDiners? There's nothing about a V-II that would make that any more doable. In fact, the current AM-II diner-lite would probably be a lot more conducive to that than a V-II diner.

 

[lordsigma]

Then what's the relevance of the ViewDiners? There's nothing about a V-II that would make that any more doable. In fact, the current AM-II diner-lite would probably be a lot more conducive to that than a V-II diner.

True. I guess a benefit with V-II would be it’s a newer car and would be a way to make use of the newer cars. Obviously everything is just speculation at this point. Will be interesting to see why they do nonetheless.

 

[bretton88]

I could see the V-2s on the Cardinal if only because there's no other place to put them. It's possible that they could operate as sleeper lounges only. While that would be a gross underuse of the cars, on a scenic route like the Cardinal it would be a major improvement over the existing sightseeing options.

 

[me_little_me]

Now apparently it will be close to the last quarter before the Diners are done.

Gosh, you're being such an optimist today!

Not necessarily. jis did not mention what year!

 

[Palmetto]

Waiting on Thirdrail's exit signs...............

 

[cpotisch]

Waiting on Thirdrail's exit signs...............

I have a hunch it's going to be for a "river." That's a shame. I love the V-I sleepers.

 

[jis]

I am in a V-I Sleeper. Its name “Croton River” is prominently visible on its side. The other V-I Sleeper on this train also has its name “New River” displayed on its side. All VL Sleepers are Rivers now.

 

[pennyk]

I am in a V-I Sleeper. Its name Croton River is prominently visible on its side. The other V-I Sleeper on this train also has its name New River displayed on its side. All VL Sleepers are Rivers now.

I traveled in New River yesterday.

 

[Thirdrail7]

Waiting on Thirdrail's exit signs...............

The conference call is today.

 

[PVD]

OTOL has an excellent listing of both the renamed for rivers VL1 and the intended rivers for the VL2 (sleepers)

 

[cpotisch]

I am in a V-I Sleeper. Its name “Croton River” is prominently visible on its side. The other V-I Sleeper on this train also has its name “New River” displayed on its side. All VL Sleepers are Rivers now.

I know that. However I doubt CAF will be delivering any V-I sleepers anytime soon.