M-8 Cars - Delivery and Acceptance

[R36 Combine Coach]

It would been fitting to have had a bar car on display for NTD, so those who missed the final run yesterday could have caught an encore today.

[DutchRailnut]

shit no, they be sold to Frontier recycling so why put on display ?

[4400Washboard]

The M2 bar cars had their last run today. Instead of paying for a conversion, either make some singles bar cars, or add drink carts.

I heard on the local TV news a day or 2 ago that the MTA is considering buying replacement M8 bar cars.

To all: Is what the news said true or just another way to get more ratings?

[runningwithscalpels]

Fairly sure an actual custom built bar car has been all but killed off, I know there have been ideas that MN would recieve kits and retrofit existing cars into a bar car type configuration, but nothing's been set in stone yet.

Waste of money IMO, buy it at Grand Central and bring it on, no need to do something for the sake of nostalgia essentially.

[lirr42]

I heard on the local TV news a day or 2 ago that the MTA is considering buying replacement M8 bar cars.

*game show buzzer sound* ... ConnDOT, not the MTA.

And ConnDOT will do ConnDOT's thing. Do lots of talk, lots of studies, and very little tangible action.

[runningwithscalpels]

By the time they decide what the bar car design should be and how to go about it, it'll be time for the M10 order.

Study the study to study the feasibility of bar cars, amirite?

[Fan Railer]

I thought dutch already established CDOT was purchasing "cafe" cars...

[DutchRailnut]

No certain cars are numbered to become Café cars, if the plan ever gets beyond planning stage.
with CDOT it takes a study, just to see if previous Study was done correctly, so they study feasibility after those first few studies.

[4400Washboard]

what do you mean by cafe cars? Do you mean like literally cars with chess tables and guys bringing around little snacks, a car with a round booth in the middle giving out wine and cheese tastings or a good ol fashioned bar car?

(They surely aren't planning to serve dinner to commuters during rush hour, right?)

[DutchRailnut]

the bar cars are called C cars or Café cars, why ???, I don't care....

[NH2060]

With the way things are no one should hold their breath on new Café/Bar cars. The paltry revenue on-board sales numbers (compared to the carts @ GCT) and the need for more seating capacity are just not going win either the DOT or MNR over. If something else can then power to whatever that would be, but it just sounds more and more like a lost cause at this point. And that's before you even get to the matter of the DOT going beyond the study phase - which for once could actually be a good thing if they didn't. Sooner or later enough peeps will call for those C cars to be converted to/back to coaches. It's happened before with the MTA-owned M2 bar cars and no doubt it could happen again with the M8s.

[runningwithscalpels]

what do you mean by cafe cars? Do you mean like literally cars with chess tables and guys bringing around little snacks, a car with a round booth in the middle giving out wine and cheese tastings or a good ol fashioned bar car?

(They surely aren't planning to serve dinner to commuters during rush hour, right?)

The old bar cars were also referred to as cafe cars - ever see a sign from them?

[fl9m2004]

Saw 9601-9609 in Harmon yard coupled to 112

[gregorygrice]

PMMO took 113 & 112 south with 6 new M8s in tow. Numbers were;
-M8 Pair #9604/9605
-M8 Pair #9606/9607
-M8 Pair #9608/9609

[dowlingm]

There has been mention up thread that the M8s may not end up being used east of New Haven because of redeployment to higher capacity on existing service. Who makes that call? Is it CTDOT alone or does MN have contractual power to say "we need 'em so that's that"