Viewliner II Delivery/Production

Without further ado:

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRv6Kgw7RAQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

PHOTO of Whole Train: http://500px.com/photo/83639213/viewlin ... er_library" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I guess someone didn't like them

I guess the whole "Amtrak America" nomenclature is gone too, but apparently they still like the old Phase III stripes.

Good thing these things are all decals now-a-days.

I have no problem with Phase III (especially on engine 822), but I just wish Amtrak picks one scheme and matches all of their equipment for a more unified classy look.

I'll agree, a uniform look will be better. So when should Amtrak re-livery their Acela trainsets, Cascade trainsets, Surfliner, and Amtrak California trains to Phase IVb ? Since they don't plan to do so, and Amtrak has never had a nation wide livery scheme, I don't think we'll ever see one.
Additionally, I believe Phase III livery looks better on windowless baggage cars than Phase IVb, which look better on cars with windows.

electricron wrote:I'll agree, a uniform look will be better. So when should Amtrak re-livery their Acela trainsets, Cascade trainsets, Surfliner, and Amtrak California trains to Phase IVb ? Since they don't plan to do so, and Amtrak has never had a nation wide livery scheme, I don't think we'll ever see one.
Additionally, I believe Phase III livery looks better on windowless baggage cars than Phase IVb, which look better on cars with windows.

Acela has already been bought up to Phase V a few years ago when they had their overhaul. The acela, at least the current version of it, will always have its own unique bubble thing going on and the Acela "wing" but the amtrak logos are all brought up to the current 3 sheets to the wind scheme.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... xpress.JPG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I dont like how the new logo looks on the phase 3 stuff. I would imagine the old logo was probably removed because some people dont want that "pointless arrow thing" going around still.

Interesting, thanks for sharing gregorygrice!

I think this is a good sign for those (myself included) in favor of sticking with a common scheme across the board. I think that after this change it is very possible that the next batch of cars could come out in IVb.

Regarding a unified look - it's important to keep a common look, but it's not unheard of for premium or different service to get a totally distinct look. Acela and Cascades are a great example. Acela is premium. Cascades is funded and run strictly for the PNW corridor and a totally different service/market than the plodding Coast Starlight that shares the route.

Contrast this with the new Phase-3 baggage cars. It's not a totally different service, and the phase-3 look is not really distinct - it's just a rehash of a look used for 20+ years already which just means confusion rather than distinctive branding.

Tadman wrote:Regarding a unified look - it's important to keep a common look, but it's not unheard of for premium or different service to get a totally distinct look. Acela and Cascades are a great example. Acela is premium. Cascades is funded and run strictly for the PNW corridor and a totally different service/market than the plodding Coast Starlight that shares the route.

The Piedmont is another great example - the equipment looked old and dingy when it was in Phase III, but it looks great now in the new Piedmont paint scheme!

But in the case of the Viewliners, my vote would be for Phase IV to make 'em uniform with the fleet (and I just happen to like IV better than III) but regardless, I just hope to see the cars start rolling out of the plant and joining the active fleet!

Personal fav is ph IV as the better overall fleet look,can live with the ph IVb varient,
ph III b is just to show off the View II's (hopefully),was never thrilled about the "wave"logo to begin with.

While I like Phase III as a sometimes food, the world isn't stuck with EGA Graphics any more. We can use all 8 bits in each RGB channel to make something that's less harsh.

ApproachMedium wrote:

electricron wrote:
I dont like how the new logo looks on the phase 3 stuff.

I think it would look better above the stripe instead of right on it.

If you want a unified look, they're going to have to adapt the phase VI to the locomotives. As for the logo, the current "three sheets to the wind" doesn't look good on anything, in my opinion.

So, who abotu them Viewliner IIs.. (no matter what the paint scheme?)

Where's 61000 and 61001 these days?

When's the next batch coming?

The heritage diners obviously suffer from the high cost of "we gotta weld stuff back on and make custom parts" --a maintenance cost. The new diners, initially, will have fewer "fall apart" costs and cheaper (standardized) parts in the long run. So that's a "maintenance" savings and "reliablity" win. So "operations" will cost less with the V2 Diners in the "less maintenance" sense.

But here is a "operating labor" question: Will "kitchen" productivity go up? (either making more food with the same staff, or making the same food with fewer staff?) Or are we, from a staffing standpoint, just wrapping stainless steel around the existing kitchen processes?

Greg Moore wrote:So, who abotu them Viewliner IIs.. (no matter what the paint scheme?)

Where's 61000 and 61001 these days?

When's the next batch coming?

When 61000 & 61001 are done. Then they have to send back down the 3 revised cars that were down here before.

gregorygrice wrote:

Greg Moore wrote:So, who abotu them Viewliner IIs.. (no matter what the paint scheme?)

Where's 61000 and 61001 these days?

When's the next batch coming?

When 61000 & 61001 are done. Then they have to send back down the 3 revised cars that were down here before.

Ah, I figured from the photo that perhaps 61000 and 61001 had been released back into the wild with no real announcement.