Passenger Trains > Where are the new Viewliner sleepers/diners?

To me, the biggest mystery (scandal) surrounding Amtrak today is the failure to get delivery of the new Viewliner sleepers and diners.

​Nobody seems to care--and nobody even talks about them.  Amtrak never mentions them. Nor does the rail press, or Trains Magazine.

​So, this feeds my suspicions that something terrible is going on behind the scenes to deny Amtrak these cars--ordered over 5 years ago..

​Does anybody else feel like I do?

All I heard is that the body shells were completed, but the interior modules don't fit.

According to Amtrak consultant Barbara Richardson, the measurements were taken twice, and .......

"It's supposed to be the interior width of the carbody."

"Oh, sh...."

Must be seeking the lowest bidder for a lot of hack saws, bubble gum, toothpaste for spackle, and duct tape, and reading the Bazooka Joe comics in the interim.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/16 09:58 by joemvcnj.

The staff was busy removing real flowers from the diners and failed to read the specs for the new cars.

The guy who was supposed to sign off on the specs was laid off.

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We're making light of a serious matter, but the failure to deliver new cars has serious real world consequences.  Worn out diners are being removed from service, guys are losing jobs as fewer OBS dining staff are needed.  Amtrak loses revenue on trains like the Star. Customers are unhappy.

> Amtrak loses revenue on trains like the Star. Customers are unhappy.

I'm sure a few passengers are, but on the other hand I've heard that occupany in the Star's sleepers has actually gone up since the price was reduced as part of the no-diner decision. Coach passenger use of the diner was minimal all along, and absent pull-through of sleeper sales the diner was not profitable and therefore the loss of revenue does not matter.

The first diner is scheduled to come out of the factory on Tuesday Nov 1.

chuchubob Wrote:
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> The first diner is scheduled to come out of the
> factory on Tuesday Nov 1.

Wick on the case?

Yes, we make jokes of it because there is a vacuum of infor and nothing else to go on.

Is that based on the "306" codeword that has been passed around ?

On the Silver Star, all they had to do was uncouple the sleeper car fares from the diner, and sleeper car passengers could have gone to the diner  and saved money anyway. What they saved on diner car crew expenses is to drive the snack car attendant nuts, and probably drove aggregate food sales down over the former separate food service cars. They also knocked a 4th coach off the train during some months of the year.

What they have now is a train less than the Cardinal (without diner-lite service), while the Cardinal is anything but a successful business model that they should try to replicate. It is also similar to the Empire Builder between Spokane and Portland, but that is only overnight for  7 or 8 hours.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/16 10:27 by joemvcnj.

How about someone who lives nearby, knock on factory door and ask what gives.  Or ask an employee arriving or departing work.

I have read that security promptly chases off looky loos at the CAF Elmira facility unless you are very inconspicuous. I was the one who passed the 306 comment on from two other forums where I saw it, I make no promises on what it means as I do not know, however I do know by reputation, not personally, one of the posters would be quite knowledgable on the subject matter. He posts here sometimes, but I once got some wires crossed on something and well, got smack around pretty good for it by him, so I try to leave everything at face value. 
Cheers,
Nick



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/16 11:36 by NGotwalt.

The M-K security guard in Hornell would go ape$hit if he saw you take a picture through the fence.
Reading employee reviews on Glassdoor.com, CAF is a horrible place to work. I don't think any employee would want to gossip right outside the fence.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/16 12:41 by joemvcnj.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> All I heard is that the body shells were completed, but the interior modules don't fit.

Joe Boardman strikes again!  

How can VIA run diners of the same vintage and manufacturer with seeming no issues. But for Amtrak, they are just old worn out cars? Lack of maintenance?  (VIA also runs many ex. Amtrak coaches that were deemed surplus years ago). What do they know that Amtrak doesn't?

Because the Amtrak HEP and VIA HEP programs were entirely different.

Amtrak used a torch to remove discarded underbody equipment, compromising the car's structure, then did so again when they started bolting things to the center sill.

Many Amtrak diners are from the late 1940's, but VIA's are from 1955.

VIA equipment utilization is low, as is their mileage, because their trains are very slow, especially the Canadian.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/16 15:33 by joemvcnj.

So, to recap, we have two different reports.

One, that the cars will start rolling off the line on November 1

Two, the interiors don't fit, and the cars will be delayed for a while longer

Or both are true, the "while longer" has already taken place, procrastinating since last Spring, during which time half the Heritage diners were condemned.

How can the "interiors don't fit" comment be accurate given that we have seem prototypes out of CAF earlier this year?  If the interiors did not fit, how come CAF allowed Amtrak to run a diner, sleeper, and baggage dorm on the NEC?   Of course I (nor anyone else it seems) does not know what is exactly going on, but the "Interiors don't fit" argument seems a bit far-fetched.  It just would be nice if Amtrak would issue a press release stating what is EXACTLY going on with the CAF order.  NARP should be all over his also, but, again they have not done good job in keeping their members informed as to what is going on.  I know NARP has some pretty deep contacts at Amtrak...it is too bad they don't use them to find out what the status of the CAF cars are.

Don't assume too much from the "demo" version.
NARP in reality works for Amtrak and will do nothing to displease them. I have grown pretty disgusted with them, basically a news reporting outfit, a lap dog, and a fund raiser.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/16 16:29 by joemvcnj.