Viewliner sleeper luggage capacity

With track reconstruction work at Albany station,Amtrak is not able to switch off the Boston section,
there' supposed to be a fixed consist of Biz class and Coaches shuttling between Albany-Boston.

I experienced the fixed consist (baggage, lounge, 2 coaches) going to/from Chicago on 8/6 and 8/10. Heading to Chicago we were delayed at Albany by a couple hours. First cause was late arrival of NY section due to it being held at NYP to allow delayed pax to make connections. Once at Albany, it pulled into the station to let coach passengers board and then had to wait over 45 minutes to back up to allow slepper passengers to board. This delay was caused by the arrival of several other trains during that time period. Albany was a busy little station for a while!

FatNoah wrote:

#48 kept its Boston section to New York City with busses available for the Boston passengers

I rode Chicago to Boston (booked a few weeks ago) Sunday 8/9 through Monday 8/10. I was booked 48 to cross platform transfer at Albany to 448. Are you saying that they've been booking that trip as a ride through to NYC with bus from there to BOS?

There were two busses waiting at Albany for Boston passengers but the Boston sleeper (and I assume coaches) definitely went to NYP. I think if a person wanted to they could go to NYP and then take the Shore Line to Boston for an all rail trip but that is a lengthy alternative. My car attendant in the Boston sleeper said she's been told she'll be back in Boston in October. There was a lot of track construction at Albany so it should be a smoother switch in the future.

I'm a purist and think trains should be built (from the head end) coaches, lounge, diner, sleepers but if Amtrak can only handle "pull the pin" switching that results in separated sleepers than so be it. Actually I prefer a sleeper passenger only lounge as was the case in the old days (and still is on the Canadian) but I suppose that's another pipe dream.

FatNoah wrote:

With track reconstruction work at Albany station,Amtrak is not able to switch off the Boston section,
there' supposed to be a fixed consist of Biz class and Coaches shuttling between Albany-Boston.

I experienced the fixed consist (baggage, lounge, 2 coaches) going to/from Chicago on 8/6 and 8/10. Heading to Chicago we were delayed at Albany by a couple hours. First cause was late arrival of NY section due to it being held at NYP to allow delayed pax to make connections. Once at Albany, it pulled into the station to let coach passengers board and then had to wait over 45 minutes to back up to allow slepper passengers to board. This delay was caused by the arrival of several other trains during that time period. Albany was a busy little station for a while!

Even prior to the current work, around that time of day Albany could get quite crowded, especially if any of the EB/SB trains arrived late.

I've sat on a train south of the station for 20 minutes waiting for a track to clear.

The 4th track and other work should eliminate this bottleneck.

There were two busses waiting at Albany for Boston passengers but the Boston sleeper (and I assume coaches) definitely went to NYP

Interesting. There must have been some trackwork that caused that. I think the normal procedure now is that the entire train continues to New York and passengers continuing to Boston board a dedicated (#448) Boston train. On trip I took 8 years ago (April, where I had the pleasure of wine & cheese with Gene Shalit), I recall having to leave my sleeper and switch trains at Albany to connect to Boston. That said, I seem to recall a round trip to Rochester a couple years before where they combined/split the Boston section at Albany.

Now that I mention it, I live in Boston and periodically see the train going either way with a sleeper in the consist. Perhaps it depends on sleeper availability, need for service, etc.

FatNoah wrote:

There were two busses waiting at Albany for Boston passengers but the Boston sleeper (and I assume coaches) definitely went to NYP

Interesting. There must have been some trackwork that caused that. I think the normal procedure now is that the entire train continues to New York and passengers continuing to Boston board a dedicated (#448) Boston train. On trip I took 8 years ago (April, where I had the pleasure of wine & cheese with Gene Shalit), I recall having to leave my sleeper and switch trains at Albany to connect to Boston. That said, I seem to recall a round trip to Rochester a couple years before where they combined/split the Boston section at Albany.

Now that I mention it, I live in Boston and periodically see the train going either way with a sleeper in the consist. Perhaps it depends on sleeper availability, need for service, etc.

Yes, as mentioned (here and elsewhere) there's a lot of track work going on at Albany that prevents them from joining the two trains. In addition, occasionally CSX work prevents a stub 448/449 and a bustitution is used.

brokenrail wrote: ...
Actually I prefer a sleeper passenger only lounge as was the case in the old days (and still is on the Canadian) but I suppose that's another pipe dream.

You still can enjoy sleeper-only lounge on the Coast Starlight and Auto Train, I believe.

*except during January-February slack season.

Until they get around to killing the PPC

rohr turbo wrote:

brokenrail wrote: ...
Actually I prefer a sleeper passenger only lounge as was the case in the old days (and still is on the Canadian) but I suppose that's another pipe dream.

You still can enjoy sleeper-only lounge on the Coast Starlight and Auto Train, I believe.

I don't want to sound like a snob since I've done my share of coach miles but the problem is that the coach passengers use the lounge as a café and/or sleeping car. On both trains the seats were filled with people eating and sleeping in the middle of the day. I get that too. The old GN full length domes made for some pretty comfortable beds in the 70's when I always rode coach on long distance trains. So a lounge for people that have a bedroom as well as meals in the dinner has a much different atmosphere.