Passenger Trains > Viewliner 62043 Phase 3

Amtrak 62043 was seen in Chicago yard in fresh Phase 3, Amtrak America logo, and blue name plate with New River name in white. My opinion based on everything I've seen is Amtrak is making a return to Phase 3 regardless of discussions posted here.

1976 Wrote:
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> Amtrak 62043 was seen in Chicago yard in fresh
> Phase 3, Amtrak America logo, and blue name plate
> with New River name in white. My opinion based on
> everything I've seen is Amtrak is making a return
> to Phase 3 regardless of discussions posted here.


why would Amtrak management care about discussions on here ??? ...

Some of us are prtty sure some top Amtrak officials do lurk here. I have heard Boardman mention in speeches disparagingly of Trainorders.com, among others.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/16 06:58 by joemvcnj.

There's certainly no evidence that "top Amtrak officials" take anything or anyone seriously here on Trainorders. So this perpetuated myth about lurkers, even if it were true, would mean very little. As far as Trainorders being disparaged in speeches and the media, that is the norm. Positive or even neutral commentary about the Trainorders membership is few and far between. Unfortunate but well earned.

Indeed! Considering some of the silliness posted here, why would anyone in their right mind take it seriously anyway? ;)

Definitely a plethora of armchair trainmasters on here.

Posted from Android

Thanks for the original post. 

Any pics yet?

Mike ONeill
Parker, CO

This sure went in an unforseen direction...

My comment was directed toward those who frequently deny that Phase 3 (or III for the purist rivet counters) is coming back. My opinion is that it is regardless of what those people think.

It so often does!

Thanks for the original post.  

I didn't know that Amtrak was changing the old "View" names to "River" names.  When Beech Grove removed the "View" names from the sides of the cars, as well as the state names from the Superliner-2 sleepers, they neglected to remove the names from the end-doors where you walk from one car to the next.  I haven't been on a Viewliner in a while, so I don't know if the old "View" name is still on the end doors.  Passengers always found it helpful to see the name.  I found that my fellow passengers would remember that they were in sleeper "Atlantic View," not in sleeper 9801.  

But I'm glad to see the names reinstated.  It's a nice, low-cost touch.

ColdRainAndSnow Wrote:
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> There's certainly no evidence that "top Amtrak
> officials" take anything or anyone seriously here
> on Trainorders.

That is what you think.

> So this perpetuated myth about
> lurkers, even if it were true, would mean very
> little.

It is not a myth, and they range from middle management to the highest levels and include Transportation, Engineering, Administrative, Insector General, Office of the President.  You can choose to believe me or not, but I say what I know to be true.  They lurk to see the same interesting information the rest of us discuss, to spot leaks, for general hobby interest, and to contact people they need to contact.  I agree they are probably not lurking to get a pulse of the railfan community on restoring Phase III paint schemes.

I have to laugh about how I first learned of this.  I was called in to 30th Street to handle reconstruction design and special trackwork procurement for the UP derailment at 21st Street Interlocking/South Branch Lift Bridge about 6 years ago.  The event was so fresh, the only pictures the Engineering Department Design Manager (Chris Harding, now retired) could share with me were those posted to the thread on Trainorders, so that was where we looked to discuss what needed to be done!

Is a nice to see names on the cars. I agree that it can help passengers find their correct car. I still remember the name of the Slumbercoach I rode in on my first overnight train trip. Loch Leven on Broadway Limited in 1975. On a 1980 trip on the Canadian I rode in sleeper Emperor and a couple in an adjacent room were excited thinking the car was so named because an emperor had ridden in it.It would be nice touch for Amtrak to restore names to other cars.

abyler Wrote:
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> ColdRainAndSnow Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> > There's certainly no evidence that "top Amtrak
> > officials" take anything or anyone seriously here
> > on Trainorders.
>
> That is what you think.

Correct, that is what I think. Your anecdotes notwithstanding, I haven't seen evidence to the contrary. The myth is that "top Amtrak officials" come to Trainorders to glean important insights that then drive their operational decisions in running the railroad. Let's not assign more gravitas to the discussions and knitting circles around here than is warranted. 

The question is, does it stop with the Viewliners, or will it extend to Amfleets, Horizons, and Superliners?  I hope it's only the Viewliners, and maybe the diesel locomotives.

I think they are calling it Phase IIIb for the "Amtrak America Logo" - but I could be wrong. Pretty sure I read that somewhere. I also did read that all Viewliners sleepers were going to get a "River Series" name - just like the Diners are supposed to get East Coast state capital names. However, I think I noticed where there would not be a diner called Trenton, when all but like one Viewliner trainset doesn't pass through Trenton. Instead a more obscure capital name had been chosen - and I can't remember what caught my interest.

What I find interesting is that this scheme is coming out BEFORE the rest of the CAF order has been delivered - or at least the sleepers and diners.

And if we ever do get Viewliner II's - Amtrak indicated it was going to make all Viewliner I' similar to Viewliner II designs - hence the bathrooms in each sleepinvg accomodation would have to "go," in addition to the creation of creating the communal bathrooms where the sleeping car attendant's room is.

Not for nothing, but I would have hoped Beach Grove would be in wreck-repair and general overhaul programs, as opposed to re-painting color schemes. Was this a line item in the current year budget even?

I am happy that the color schemes will all match, but it just seems a little early to start this. GET THE VIEWLINER DINERS ROLLING!!!! Honestly though, I am waiting for the cancellation order on the Diners - or a reduction in number. Amtrak should NOT do this, but with all these "dining experiments" one has to wonder what will be left pretty soon!
 

The diners should be about ready to roll one would think.  I hope it's too late to cancel or reduce the diner order, and I'm sure it must be at this point.

As its stands now, they need 11 low level diners on any given day, 13 if the Cardinal gets one.
What will they do beyond the several needed for shop margin ?
I suppose 4 could go to the Silver Starvation, operate as a lounge car, add an unstaffed Biz Class-Dinette, assuming they can scrape up 4 more of them from the corridors,for more table space.
Then they will have 6  too many Amfleet 2 dinettes, which can displace Amfleet-1 dinettes on trains like the Adirondack and Carolinean.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/16 16:21 by joemvcnj.

ColdRainAndSnow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> abyler Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ColdRainAndSnow Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > > There's certainly no evidence that "top
> Amtrak
> > > officials" take anything or anyone
> seriously here
> > > on Trainorders.
> >
> > That is what you think.
>
> Correct, that is what I think. Your anecdotes
> notwithstanding, I haven't seen evidence to the
> contrary. The myth is that "top Amtrak officials"
> come to Trainorders to glean important insights
> that then drive their operational decisions in
> running the railroad. Let's not assign more
> gravitas to the discussions and knitting circles
> around here than is warranted. 

No, they come here to spy on Gene Poon and his leaks of official documents.

So how many of the viewliner sleepers have received new "river" names so far?