Viewliner II Delivery/Production

[Gilbert B Norman]

I am not convinced that the snow birds are going to exchange dry sunny Florida....

Mr. O'Keefe, may I be allowed a bit of off topic levity? Please accept advance apology made to a Member whose knowledge and maturity is noted with great respect.

But with that being said, anyone wonder why "this old Florida hand", whose "been going down" likely for the last fifty years, is never there earlier than Thanx, or later than Easter?

One exception; an August '98 family emergency.

Flying down, I was wondering why the flight was vectored over Mobile (love my flightseeing). Well, now vectored towards Tampa, the Captain announced to look out the Left side to see why we were so vectored.

Nice hurricane.

And after the cabin door (aviation is such a mix of land and nautical terms, isn't it?) was opened at FLL, the last time I felt such a blast of hot humid air was after landing at SGN (look it up; ICAO is VVTS).

[trainviews]

The discussion of air intake versus recirculated air in relation to COVID-19 is pretty moot. As I understand it the virus causing the disease is droplet borne, not airborne. This means that it doesn't float around in free air (other infections, like measles do this) It floats with small droplets as far as they are carried from people coughing and sneezing. And that's not terribly far.

This means that passengers tightlty packed like in an airplane cabin are at risk if they are within a couple of rows from each other. A strong ventilation will probably expand this area somewhat. It is also true, that dry air will probably not carry droplets with active virus as far as humid air, but the likelyhood of any virus making it through any ventilation system like from one viewliner room to the next is very low.

The place where virus in droplets do survive well though is in any kind of contaminated surface - door handles, light switches and of course people's hands. That's why handwashing and coughing into your sleeve instead of hands are the main hygenic advice, while face masks are way down the list unless you have to directly handle patients or you are sick yourself to stop as much virus as possible to enter the environment.

[gokeefe]

But with that being said, anyone wonder why "this old Florida hand", whose "been going down" likely for the last fifty years, is never there earlier than Thanx, or later than Easter?

Mr. Norman,

Much agreed that sticking around for "all the fun" of hurricane season isn't the preferred choice for most of the snowbirds by any measure.

That being said ... it's "pick your poison" right now. New Viewliners or not ...

[Gilbert B Norman]

62506 - Rivianna River, and 62508 - Rocky River, are reported at another site to be delivered next week.

The Reporter is "deemed reliable".

That will make six cars on the property. When accepted (that of course will take a month), time for a revenue line?

[ApproachMedium]

correct me if i am wrong, 6 cars should be enough to support the cardinal but i dont think they are going to roll them out there. Most likely will be on 91/92 first.

[gokeefe]

When accepted (that of course will take a month), time for a revenue line?

At the rate things are going right now? Might be next year before they let them out into the wild.

[bostontrainguy]

When accepted (that of course will take a month), time for a revenue line?

At the rate things are going right now? Might be next year before they let them out into the wild.

Yeah but if I had to travel right now, I would love the ability to ride in a brand new squeaky clean private room on a train vs. all other options. Get them out ASAP.

[gokeefe]

Yeah but if I had to travel right now, I would love the ability to ride in a brand new squeaky clean private room on a train vs. all other options. Get them out ASAP.

I'm sure you would but I doubt Amtrak wants to let its new equipment risk being contaminated.

"Sorry guys these ones can never be put back in service again."

[Wash]

Yeah but if I had to travel right now, I would love the ability to ride in a brand new squeaky clean private room on a train vs. all other options. Get them out ASAP.

I'm sure you would but I doubt Amtrak wants to let its new equipment risk being contaminated.

"Sorry guys these ones can never be put back in service again."

...so use the "disposable" heritage fleet sleepers instead?

[gokeefe]

No ... Keep running the old Viewliner Is. Just hold off on the Viewliner IIs until the madness subsides.

[mtuandrew]

I don’t think contamination is a good reason to keep the V-II sleepers out of service; they’re designed to be disinfected thoroughly. I do think individual Roomette bathrooms is an excellent reason to only use V-Is for the duration of the pandemic. Shared bathrooms are a particular hotspot for disease spread, and seniors are both more likely to use sleepers and more at risk from COVID symptoms than the general public.

[gokeefe]

I don’t think contamination is a good reason to keep the V-II sleepers out of service; they’re designed to be disinfected thoroughly.

I think this is a fair point. They must have a way of sanitizing the air systems. This wouldn't be the first example of an airborne pathogen which Amtrak might be concerned about.

[ApproachMedium]

The viewliner 1s have a horrible, electronic air santization system in them. Does it still work? I dont know. Is it serviced properly? probably not. The filters are changed at the END of every run. They get dirty very fast!

[east point]

AM::: Electrostatic air cleaners ? If so same model as originally provided or the newer ones ?

[ApproachMedium]

AM::: Electrostatic air cleaners ? If so same model as originally provided or the newer ones ?

I have not worked on a viewliner car in nearly 10 years so i really could not tell you.