Passenger Trains > Amtrak 98 with Viewliner Diner Indianapolis

Friday's Southbound Silver Meteor at Folkston, Georgia.

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So many of these P42 horns are out of tune. I don't remember that being the case with the F40's.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/16 06:39 by joemvcnj.

That's a particularly bad one. I was on 97 in February, and 192 was the leader(until they pulled it off in Savannah to be used on train 90 because engine #4 had problems) and the horn didn't sound nearly as bad. Must be a recent issue..

That Phase III really makes the new equipment look old and dated, imo.  The consists would look pretty sharp now if they had stuck with the consistent Phase IV.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/16 10:16 by hsr_fan.

hsr_fan Wrote:
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> That Phase III really makes the new equipment look
> old and dated, imo.  That consists would look
> pretty sharp now if they had stuck with the
> consistent Phase IV.

Would look nicer is the entire consist was in PH III again

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

Nice to see something that resembles a r-e-a-l Florida train.  

Amtrak will make damned sure there is just one of them, having done a Three-Rivers style butcher job to the Silver Star, but have the nerve to still call it Silver Star.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/16 15:32 by joemvcnj.

Or maybe the opposite - they are finally getting ready to release some diners, so better start training the crews! The Silver Meteor and Lake Shore should be the first trains to get the new diners! They can't come quick enough......

So what will they do with the 14 of 25 diners that they don't need ? Add to Boardman's Business fleet ?

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So what will they do with the 14 of 25 diners that
> they don't need ? Add to Boardman's Business fleet
> ?

Today I learned that the Silver Star actually has 14 sets of equipment.

keelhauled Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> joemvcnj Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > So what will they do with the 14 of 25 diners
> that
> > they don't need ? Add to Boardman's Business
> fleet
> > ?
>
> Today I learned that the Silver Star actually has
> 14 sets of equipment.

Let's hope that Florida service is improved and that the stupidity of taking the Diner off the Silver Star will be restored and gain efficiencies with a re-designed Viewliner Diner:
 
4 - Crescent
4 - Silver Meteor
4 - Silver Star
3 - Lake Shore Limited
2 - Cardinal (tri-weekly)
3 - through cars from PGH to CHI
_____________________________
20 out of 26 Viewliner Diners in use

There's always the option of running the Silver Palm to Tampa and using 3 trainsets. That leaves three Viewliner diners in reserve. Amtrak should hold onto at least 4 of the best Heritage Diners, one that could be used for the business fleet.

Your 20/26 math works out very nicely. Trouble is, the authors of all the PIP's are gone, and Boardman threw out all their plans, re-NYP-PGH-CHI.

Hope to resurrect after the Utica Bus Driver goes back home in October.

The problem with the horns is that Amtrak is not maintaining them like they used to. The carbody design of these units also has something to do with it. They can put a brand new horn on one of these GEs and within a month it will be fouled. These locomotives didn't run as dirty back then (exhaust) as they do now. Carbon deposits in the exhaust get into the horn and eventually stop the moving parts from moving. Coupled to this is the fact that they are using heated back caps on the horns now, a new AirChime product, in an attempt to prevent them from freezing in the winter time, and these caps negatively affect the sound in a HUGE way since the design is different than stock. It is a design issue that I inquired about with AirChime and they didn't see it as a problem. It is a safety issue that needs addressed... maybe someone will see this and try to do something about it. I would estimate that over half of the horns on the Amtrak road unit fleet are performing below 100%. 

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Your 20/26 math works out very nicely. Trouble is,
> the authors of all the PIP's are gone, and
> Boardman threw out all their plans,
> re-NYP-PGH-CHI.
>
> Hope to resurrect after the Utica Bus Driver goes
> back home in October.

I have an extra copy that I can give the new person on his or her first day. Happy to provide. Equally happy to drive Mr. Boardman home. He's butchered things up pretty well - even on the NEC. Probably the longest tenured President since the days of Graham Claytor, only Claytor retired with dignity and heck of a lot of new cars actually coming out of manufcaturing facilities. Unlike the present hide and seek game with the CAF order. He's crying now he needs more money, yet rolls out the least expensive Viewliners that produce least amount of revenue. Does nothing for the long distance system when bedroom space is needed. Even trip times are up on the corridor and Acela is losing favorability. And if diesel makes it through its complete trip, I think THAT becomes a HUGE milestone. He is the head of Amtrak - he takes the blame. Happy to drive him home. Course who knows what the replacement will bring. No tour group or tour leader, even wants to deal with Amtrak like they deal with VIA Rail Canada. Part of this is because of capacity. Amtrak doesn't have the romettes or bedrooms available for a large trou groups - or so the appearance goes.