Viewliner II Delivery/Production

My only issues with the Viewliner sleepers is that the door to the room bangs when the train is bouncing around on the Northeast Corridor.

Doesn't matter where you are, the door rattles. More rattling at higher speed, of course.

The splashing faucets are a a problem on superliners too boy do i hate them. Its such a horrible design.

It was amazing to see the amount of tech the viewlner sleepers once had, and is now removed and replaced with "manual" things. A state of the art central fire detection system, replaced with $10 smoke detectors. Attendant call trainline system, some stand alone stuff. The video system, replaced by ipads etc. I found a few linen closets that still had the Hi8 VCRs buried in the back a few years ago. The amount of tech that was stuffed in the electric locker on these cars is nuts. And its all junk now. All of it. Its pretty much all either been disabled or replaced by cheap things. The only thing that was replaced in the last 5-6 years with something state of the art is the HVAC control. The old system was very problematic.

The compartment modules have been removed on some cars. I think any of the wreck rebuilds. The side panel does come off and they can be removed one by one. I dont know of any other reason to remove them except when they go to update the old cars to match the new production cars.

Looks like a head-on collision for the Star this morning.
Two dead as of right now. Train jackknifed just before the first sleeper. Not good news for Amtrak lately.

At least we didn't lose a new dining car for what it's worth in this HORRIBLE* situation.

*edited to add the word "horrible" and apologies to anyone who took this the wrong way.

bostontrainguy wrote:

Two dead as of right now.

At least we didn't lose a new dining car

Sir, I am from Boston too and I am a train guy too.....but your post has to be one of the most disrespectful and disturbing I have seen in years. Might be time examine your priorities in life before posting again.

Please cut bostontrainguy some slack. I wouldn't read the post in that way.

There's a time and place for everything. This place is the thread about Viewliner II Deliveries, where we have been counting the diners as they enter the fleet one by one. So the post is completely relevant. Let's assume the post is limited to the topic, with all due respect, and all our larger thoughts about losses from the crash are expressed in the thread on that subject, if not here.

ApproachMedium wrote:.The video system, replaced by ipads etc. I found a few linen closets that still had the Hi8 VCRs buried in the back a few years ago. The amount of tech that was stuffed in the electric locker on these cars is nuts.

Mr. Approach, why have all that techno gear you note been removed when societal changes have rendered them unnecessary?

Airlines are fast removing IFE gear from at least their domestic fleets, such as 739's and A32's. The rationale is that "everybody has an electronic device" so just offer IFE to connect with such.

On that same line, Amtrak has wisely gotten rid of movies - good riddance.

Recently took the Auto Train. They used to have movies every night in the lounge which have been discontinued even though the screens are still there. I would think this was a great way to generate some additional revenue since they could sell drinks and snacks during the movies. The lounges weren't exactly packed. In fact the Superliner lounge was doing so poorly that the attendant had to come upstairs to tell people she was selling drinks downstairs because no one knew there was a bar down there (only time I felt a Superliner Lounge was unnecessary. Regular lounge, which I believe is a converted diner, has an upstairs bar.)

But anyway, talking to the attendant about the situation she mentioned that they were going to try something new but she couldn't say what.

So yeah, they took out the video systems in the old Viewliner sleepers, but why not try something like movies in the diner at night? Sell snacks and drinks and generate some additional revenue. You do have a captive audience. The extra height in the Viewliner diners should provide good opportunity to mount some decent size screens.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:

ApproachMedium wrote:.The video system, replaced by ipads etc. I found a few linen closets that still had the Hi8 VCRs buried in the back a few years ago. The amount of tech that was stuffed in the electric locker on these cars is nuts.

Mr. Approach, why have all that techno gear you note been removed when societal changes have rendered them unnecessary?

Airlines are fast removing IFE gear from at least their domestic fleets, such as 739's and A32's. The rationale is that "everybody has an electronic device" so just offer IFE to connect with such.

On that same line, Amtrak has wisely gotten rid of movies - good ruddance.

You left out a big part of the rationale, "every body has an electronic device and the weight of our stuff adds up and wastes fuel". Airliners are cutting as much weight as they can.

This is correct: AA is getting rid of in-seat screens and is making content available on the AA app.

I believe that some airlines hand out tablets, and the SNCF railroad in France does as well for sleeping car passengers (at least in first class).

Flying to Miami Jan 27, I was seated on a United A-330 and next to a deadheading Captain who was going to command the aircraft's return flight.

He said getting rid of the IFE gear was all about duplicity and weight. Of interest, he further said that the nacelles atop the hull for the wi-fi stuff was definitely costing some gas. I said "Captain, I paid for it....once". All he could say was "well, it must be making 'em money". My "once" (on United) resulted in getting my $$$ back. I also used it on JetBlue where it was "comp". It worked - of sorts.

But all I can say is that if the airlines want peace and tranquility in the skies, don't even think about allowing voice communications.

I have the monthly Gogo subscription on account of my frequent travels. My office pays for it. It is really quite frustrating. I consider myself one of those guys that is good at making recalcitrant gadgets work through basic tips like cycle the power, log off/log back on, try a different browser, try a different network, etc... and it strains my bag of tricks trying to get Gogo to work. I have no idea how the common person that has less ability makes Gogo work right.

Ergo I like the IFE equipment because I can zone out and watch a movie with no hassle. If Gogo is working, I can surf/email as well.

Bringing it back to Amtrak, I would hope they make sure Gogo works better before installing it, but Mr. Norman's friend is right. It is a moneymaker and might be a ticket to self-supporting upgrades. Right now, the free Amtrak wireless is kind of crummy and doesn't ban Netflix/youtube, meaning a few hogs get all the bandwidth, and there is no financial incentive to upgrade every few years.

I thought Amtrak wifi did ban streaming video, or at least did something to make it unusable. They should copy airlines in this regard - offer a video catalog available over the wifi that is served from a server local to the railcar/train. For LD trains this would be especially helpful during the long periods of no cell reception. Perhaps put it in the aforementioned Viewliner equipment cabinet...

The video system was removed because of uh um.... theft. As for amtraks wifi until they adapt to a satellite based system like the airlines its going to suck. They also should look into a system where the cell modem in per car instead of per train. 2-400 people off one set of cell phones... its not going to work well. Airplanes can do pretty good because not many people opt to use the wifi and planes dont carry nearly as many people in one plane as an entire amtrak consist. Some regionals can have 450-500 people on board and the auto train when sold out carries close to 500 people as well.

As for movie lounge cars, its a great idea really. part of the whole train experience is to socialize. I enjoy doing this on the auto train in the lounge car. Before portable movie systems the railroads had piano bars in the lounge or something of the like. Maybe even live music.