Viewliner II Delivery/Production

[Matt Johnson]

So apparently they have destroyed one of the beautiful new Viewliner diners to showcase Anderson's vision for downgrading them into cafe cars. A photo on another site shows very little seating and sort of an island cafe counter. (The seating is a mockup - don't know what they did with the actual seats and tables.) I imagine additional photos will be floating around before long.

Most unfortunate, imo, and I'm not happy to see the long-sought after, carefully designed new dining cars being torn apart. Total waste of money.

[bostontrainguy]

So apparently they have destroyed one of the beautiful new Viewliner diners to showcase Anderson's vision for downgrading them into cafe cars. A photo on another site shows very little seating and sort of an island cafe counter. (The seating is a mockup - don't know what they did with the actual seats and tables.) I imagine additional photos will be floating around before long.

Most unfortunate, imo, and I'm not happy to see the long-sought after, carefully designed new dining cars being torn apart. Total waste of money.

Sounds bad. Does it look like the seating is reserved for sleeper passengers?

[Gilbert B Norman]

So apparently they have destroyed one of the beautiful new Viewliner diners to showcase Anderson's vision for downgrading them into cafe cars......
Total waste of money.

I sure agree there, Mr. Johnson. An absolute utter waste of $$$$ brought to you by a bureaucracy that directs all too much of its activities to playing "who's on first" skits.

Now just watch it; no sooner than they start to convert these cars to a Diner-Lite configuration. Down comes the edict - restore full service dining.

Ir will remind me of the scene from "Flight of the Phoenix" when the co-pilot (Richard Attenborough) learns the kid (Hardy Kruger) who is designing their rescue craft from the wreckage has only designed model airplanes.

Finally. I learned somewhere that two cars have been withdrawn with which to play. One is at Wash where the "players" can have their Abbott and Costello skits and another at Bear on which the work is done.

[David Benton]

Whilst unlikely , they could be trying a prototype to order more viewliner shells , to replace all Amfleet cafes on l.d and regional(non NEC) services. I'm still waiting for the report on that cafe folded in 2 in the Cayce crash.

[Matt Johnson]

Sounds bad. Does it look like the seating is reserved for sleeper passengers?

Looks to be very little seating - two full booths and three half booths apparently. Maybe they want an Acela style cafe where most people stand - it definitely has that sort of feel. A fellow railfan friend of mine had this suggestion: Just remove all diners and cafe cars and install vending machines in the restrooms.

[lordsigma12345]

The only way this makes sense money wise is if it eliminated the need to buy any cafe cars as part of the Amfleet II order. This probably works on a train like the Cardinal but it does seem like such an arrangement on busier trains could be more problematic. Unless they figure that lounge seating on the single night routes isn’t important....

[lordsigma12345]

Can someone PM me a link to said photo?

[bostontrainguy]

So the big plan is to get every single-level train down to one food-service car. Alright, the intent I assume is to reduce food service personal to one person. Got it. But why not keep the Viewliner diner as is (sleeper passenger lounge/table/kitchen car) and keep the Amfleet cafe as a table car/lounge for coach passengers. Close off the cafe service area and make a take out window at the coach end of the Viewliner diner for coach passengers to purchase food and drinks.

I think trying to make one Viewliner diner into a solo food-service car for an entire train is not practical. Reduce the payroll but keep the seating areas with an unstaffed Amcafe.

[ApproachMedium]

having a cafe plus the diner is having two non revenue cars in the consist. If you cant sell seats in it, it isnt making money. Maybe a half cafe half business class car maybe? But idk.

I saw the mock up car today in DC. It had a sleeper coupled to it as well.

[bostontrainguy]

Amtrak is not that desperate. They have been pulling those Amcafes around for years and the retaining of one of these cars on each low-level train to give coach passengers a more civilized "experiential" and pleasant trip is not going to break the bank. They don't need to cut to the bone.

Could you tell from what you saw if the seating was reserved for sleeper passengers?

[Tadman]

I don't mind rearranging the diner to be more efficient. On many trains the diner is half empty while the cafe is slammed with a line around the block, er... vestibule. It is really aggravating boarding a Talgo and literally seeing the line go through two cars. But then if you're in business class, why doesn't the coach attendant take orders?

But it also goes back to the break pattern for the cafe attendant. Sometimes I work on my laptop in the cafe tables and notice this: The cafe attendant will stand there for an hour and maybe see three customers. Then there's a rush. Then there's not. Then the attendant has quite a lot of quiet time. During that quiet time the attendant often sits at the tables and gabs with the other employees taking up tables.

Then the attendant takes a break, sits at the table, and refuses to serve anybody for a block of time.

DUDE THE QUIET TIME IS YOUR BREAK!!! Most of the people I know don't get a "break", we get ten minutes here or there when the phone quits ringing, the car is being gassed up, etc... and we work far harder jobs with much more pressure than selling $2 mars bars and $10 frozen personal pizzas.

I know the union won't just abolish breaks for the cafe attendants, but a commission structure might certainly incentivize the attendants to sell more and enjoy the quiet time as their break. Meanwhile, the greater revenue for the cafe will probably have much greater effect than moving tables and chairs around or implementing stools. Heck you might even see the cafe attendant shopping business class once an hour and doing table service for some extra orders and/or tips.

[lordsigma12345]

It appears they have NOT removed the kitchen, instead they have removed much of the seating and installed a service counter at the end of the kitchen along with a smaller seating area. While going back to a full diner seems like it would be difficult given this configuration, the fact that the kitchen is still there means they could offer some more substantial food (including some cooked on board options) if there was a change in attitudes.

[Gilbert B Norman]

It would appear to me, Mr. Lord Sigma, they are "keeping all bases covered" in that they are not making structural changes to the Kitchen.

Who knows if or when "the edict" to offer Full Service dining again will come crashing down. In a bureaucracy that has played "whose on first" for now fifty years, best to "be prepared".

[gokeefe]

In a bureaucracy that has played "whose on first" for now fifty years, best to "be prepared".

Mr. Norman,

That same bureaucracy has managed to do something Penn Central never could. Run integrated operations.

Depending on where you drop your marker it was either "Day 1" or "Year 3" when Amtrak took over the crews.

I'll take all the pushback of "it was the red vs. the green" but Amtrak had to meld a dozen or so operations together and not just two. Arguably their task was harder.

[Backshophoss]

This was Mr Anderson's last hurah,the "Panera Bread" model of food service along with the "sleeper lounge" concept.
Hopefully the "Silver Starvation"will now have a diner that will hold up better than the "Cross Country Cafe" that's
there now.
The "Micascope"has been sent home and retired,might be scrapped now.
Give Mr Flynn the time figure out a better quality model of food service.






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