Overnight Coach Configuration Ideas

[CarterB]

Take a look for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voGVjSUeIAo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tomj]

Take a look for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voGVjSUeIAo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have seen that

We'd have to punch a new window in the Amfleet or Horizon cars and that may not be structurally possible to do. I am not saying that a new version of a slumber coach could be designed and be successful as its own car. An open section would be easier to adapt into an existing car. Not to mention it would likely be cheaper to install for an experiment.

[Arlington]

I'd propose going in two different directions on this.
1) Could View IIs be Slumbercoached?

2) Running a 2nd and 3rd overnight on the NEC (with regular NER Amfleets)
- 66/67 Currently run Boston - Newport News
- I'd add a second BOS and a new SPG on the north/east
- I'd a new one to (LYH or ROA) and a new one to (RVR or NFK)

And ideally based on trains that currently exist as wee-hour southbounds from NYP (111 and 151) or wee-hour northbounds from WAS (190 and 170)

[tomj]

I like the idea, but do we even have enough Viewliners or sidelined Superliners to try that?

Part of the reason why I am suggesting this for the Amfleets is they are going to get replaced in the not so distant future and Amtrak should take advantage of that rather than scrapping them like they normally do.

[Arlington]

I have updated to show that the Overnight NECs that I'd propose would run without sleepers. The purpose would be to freshly probe the corridor overnight market with the equipment on hand.

[mtuandrew]

Ah, I knew we had just talked about this same subject: viewtopic.php?f=46&t=163284" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mods, can you link these up?

[tomj]

A more efficient solution would be to lock one of the discussions near the top of the Amtrak sections so people can just add onto one long one.

[ryanov]

The best article I've seen so far about Slumbercoaches: https://www.train-museum.org/wp-content ... oaches.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Seems this is a demographic Amtrak has been missing since, what, 1995?

[John_Perkowski]

Admin note

Two topics, merged.

[mtuandrew]

Amtrak should have on their website information that says how much of the duration of your trip will be spent awake versus asleep. To do this people would put in when they plan on sleeping. This would make the trips a lot more reasonable, and it would probably increase ridership.

Wouldn’t that be the timetable and one’s own internal schedule?

[Greg Moore]

One would think so, but I think the "12 hours on the train, but 8 sleeping, 1 for dinner and :30 for minutes" part could be better advertised at times.

Forgetting slumbercoaches for a moment, I think it's pretty clear the new sleepers (and more) could easily be put to work, but also there needs to be better/more marketing.

[ryanov]

My first long distance trip was BOS to STL on the LSL and Texas Eagle. I agree with that sentiment -- it seemed like it was going to be really long but tolerable (I couldn't afford the flight and the Amtrak trip was free with AGR points). In reality, on that trip, you spend some time on the first train, then you're at dinner for awhile (I met some new people and drank wine for quite awhile in the diner), then some sort of after dinner entertainment -- reading or whatever -- and then you go to sleep, have breakfast, maybe a shower, and it's over. It's lots of hours, but 8 of them are theoretically sleeping, and eating is another long stretch (except Amtrak has now ruined that part on the LSL).