Passenger Trains > Damaged Superliner Cars

Is there any information available regarding damaged Superliner cars such as:

- The recent count of the number of damaged cars that haven't been scrapped?
- Estimates of what such cars require in terms of parts,labor and other costs?
- If Amtrak had the funds would they repair such cars for return to service?
- How many Amtrak employees would be tasked to repair the cars if they were rebuilt one-by-one?
- Is Amtrak interested to purchase new Superliners from the patent holder and if a number were floated, perhaps an order of 20+ new cars?

In the spirit of brainstorming the "what if", your thoughts and ideas would be appreciated.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/18 08:12 by NYC4096.

Would building new Superliners based on the old design even meet current safety standards?

Posted from iPhone

Builders  do not  want to  bother  with  20  cars!!

An order of <150-200 cars is not something any builder would likely take on.
Nick

I think it is wise to rebuild almost any damaged car. Yes, it might cost $600,000+ to repair a wrecked Superliner, BUT the cost of a new car is $3M-4M. In addition, the car is returned to the fleet in much less time, than a new car can be built.

It may be a slow process fixing a car that has been cornered, or scraped badly on one side, but Amtrak is so short of cars, that rebuilding is wise.

walstib Wrote:
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> Would building new Superliners based on the old design even meet current safety standards?

Good question. The new bilevel corridor cars couldn't pass the current crush test and so have been shelved.

Some years ago a friend of mine who was in upper mgmt with Amtrak told me that wrecked cars stay at Beech Grove untouched for years while awaiting lawsuit settlements from the wrecks fhey were involved in. My friend unfortunately is deceased so I have no one else to verify this with.
C

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

CarolVoss Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Some years ago a friend of mine who was in upper
> mgmt with Amtrak told me that wrecked cars stay at
> Beech Grove untouched for years while awaiting
> lawsuit settlements from the wrecks fhey were
> involved in. My friend unfortunately is deceased
> so I have no one else to verify this with.
> C

Yes, that is true.

How many wreck related Super Liners are in Beech Grove now?

5 or 10 or 50?

Thanks

Posted from Android

A lot less than back in 2000 that's for sure!

CPR_4000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> walstib Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Would building new Superliners based on the old
> design even meet current safety standards?
>
> Good question. The new bilevel corridor cars
> couldn't pass the current crush test and so have
> been shelved.

That was the Cab Cars that failed because the standards for Cab Cars is higher then for normal equipment.
They could have completed the order minus the Cab Cars but chose not to.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How many wreck related Super Liners are in Beech
> Grove now?
>
> 5 or 10 or 50?
>
> Thanks
>
> Posted from Android

Sounds like its time for a Drone Reconnaissance Flight
over Beech Grove! Any pilots in that area want to take
on that challenge!!

Mike

I have been over and looked down the back lot and have seen about 30, but that might be too many. I am going to a train show in BG Saturday, so I will try to get a better number from the ground unless they have too many other cars covering them up. I think some are way beyond repair. I will start a new thread when I find out.

Someone already did an aerial view of the Northwest side of Beech Grove https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,4070723

The view is 2016 and shows 5 superliner lounges.

Railpax71 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Someone already did an aerial view of the
> Northwest side of Beech Grove
> https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,
> 4070723
>
> The view is 2016 and shows 5 superliner lounges.

Thanks for that info. I've heard numbers all over the lot, but Amtrak has rebuilt some damaged cars pretty quickly, and left others for a while.