Amfleet Replacement Discussion.

The Viewliner shell is based on max car profile that can fit anywhere Amtrak operates , yes they can go little higher but for what ??
you would probably see drop in HVAC units like Acela and M-7 and M-8.
Change the design ?? why it can't really get bigger and why would you make it smaller.

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:There's also the fact that the Viewliners are modular and have snap-in fixtures. You can change what type of car it is to suit changing needs, and you can upgrade the fixtures easily so the livery isn't frozen in time for 30 years.

Greg Moore wrote:

Tom6921 wrote:How about building new coaches based off the Amfleet design? If the design worked once, why not again?

Because it sucks?

Honestly, it was a design built for the "jet-age" that's woefully out of date.

Even the Amfleet IIs with larger windows are honestly nowhere as nice and bright and airy as an Acela.

100% agree on all counts. Even with the refurbished interior, you can only go so far to make 30 year old shells look nicer. My brother (who's in the military) who came home a few years back to go to New Carrollton for a Navy game instantly noticed how old the Amfleets were compared to the Acela, and he's been on both.

Rebuilding the Amfleets is akin to "why not re-use NJ Transit's Arrow III shells." They are out of date and not cost effective. There are much better technological upgrades/seating layouts/lighting/restrooms/ventilation that can be implemented in a brand new shell. A total gut job will not make sense.

I'd like to see Wilmington (or whichever shop has it) do up 2300 as a coach/cafe/business interior testbed.

A potential competitor to the Viewliner design?

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/pas ... shell.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Matt Johnson wrote:A potential competitor to the Viewliner design?

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/pas ... shell.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And it's in production!

Siemens didn't go to all this trouble to build 20 coaches. Hopefully VIA Rail will get some too... although we up here can't afford anything American these days with the state of the C$/US$ exchange...

Would be interesting, but I think we know that any order that VIA Rail is going to make is going to be a handout for Bombardier.

I'm interested if anyone has the specs for the Brightline cars

Matt Johnson wrote:A potential competitor to the Viewliner design?

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/pas ... shell.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

assuming the Viewliner is a serious contender for the Amfleet replacement, which I don't think it will be.

The "Brightline" cars are not standalone,but a part of a "set" like MU cars,may have shared systems between cars.
Viewliner based coaches,Food service cars are standalone,all needed systems are part of the car.

For what it's worth, I believe this is a worthy discussion, but the "starting point" needs to recognize the serious constraints the Amfleet replacements will meet on the NEC:

FIRST: limited platform lengths, and,

SECOND: limited line capacity at peak periods, and,

THIRD: tunnel constraints.

Any plan that blindly relies upon single-level equipment as the "next-generation Amfleet replacement" would simply lock in a sub-optimal outcome for the investment.

IMHO.

Amtrak Fleet Strategy document

Amtrak has previously reviewed (bilevel) equipment for potential use in the NEC. That analysis found that the configuration allowed little additional seating for an Amtrak style of service. Additionally, through train access issues would be problematic. Further work is, however, underway and Amtrak will study the results to see if the initial concerns have been overcome and a suitable configuration for our customers can be developed. These studies continue and will be reflected in future updates.
Page 49 of 82

Backshophoss wrote:The "Brightline" cars are not standalone,but a part of a "set" like MU cars,may have shared systems between cars.
Viewliner based coaches,Food service cars are standalone,all needed systems are part of the car.

The Brightline cars might be tightly integrated but surely you're not arguing Siemens can't/won't offer unitary models in an Amtrak context if an RFP is put forward? It just won't have as nice a train management system like you would get in an all-Siemens consist I guess.

Why would Amtrak pay for brightliner car design and engineering , while Amtrak owns the Viewliner engineering???
there would be no gain ? and they would lock themselves in with Siemens.
Meanwhile with Viewliner plans, they can go to any manufacturer, not only now but in future and tell them to build them.

Has anyone given a timeline for replacement? Are we talking about both the Amfleet I and II? I imagine they must be nearing the end of their useful lives. Seeing as it's a big part of the NEC fleet, they better get on the horse.

Regarding fleet strategy previously referenced, I found this link to a PDF: https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/36/921/201 ... -29-12.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's from 2012.

Page 31:

-A demand of approximately 100 cars per year for single level cars for the period FY2016 through FY2022
-A demand of approximately 100 cars per year for bi-level cars beginning in FY2018 through FY2022

DutchRailnut wrote:with Viewliner plans, they can go to any manufacturer, not only now but in future and tell them to build them.

And "any manufacturer" can reply, "We only build our own designs". Who will blink 1st?