Phase III still lingers

[hsr_fan]

I've noticed in recent photos that a lot of baggage cars and Horizon coaches still have the Phase III stripes. Is Amtrak still actively updating them? I seem to remember David Gunn saying that he planned to have uniform paint schemes by a certain date.

[Gilbert B Norman]

When the equipment you observed, Mr. HSR, is due for its appropriate periodic, that is when it should be repainted. Not sooner...not later.

Amen

[Mudvalve]

I'm glad that Amtrak is going to do a uniform paint scheme around here. It was starting to look like 1971 again.

[RMadisonWI]

I haven't yet seen a Horizon car in the newest paint scheme. Some were painted in the old Phase IV scheme and refitted with a new interior that included (most importantly) electrical outlets at each seat.

Some Phase III paint scheme cars in the midwest received new seat cushions, so that their colors (green-ish) match the others in the fleet (instead of the ugly red), but hadn't been upgraded otherwise.

When I took the Coast Starlight in January, and our equipment was substituted with Horizons and a dome car from LA to Sacramento, some of those Horizons were in the Phase IV scheme, but their interiors had not been redone at all.

But still, no Horizons (nor baggage cars) in the new logo that I've seen.

[7 Train]

There are still a few AEM7's still in the Phase III scheme.

922, 931, 933, 937, 949, 950 & 951 are still in the Red/White/Blue (Phase III) scheme. But all AEM7's I've seen recently are in Acela paint.

906, 909, 911, 930 & 947 are the NortheastDirect scheme.



Does that mean the whole Amtrak fleet will be the Acela scheme?

[Pensyfan19]

Amtrak's scheme will not be in the acela scheme (sorry if this is a bit late).

Does anyone know if there is still a phase III cabbage car on Midwest routes, or did that get repainted?

[Tadman]

90368 has been repainted into phase 5. That was one of the last phase 3.

[nomis]

There just needs to be one, in order to hold onto the TacoMarks, er trademarks

[shadyjay]

Let's not forget the new Viewliner IIs are all in Phase III. Granted they're not original Phase III units, from the "Phase III era" (1980s), but the trademark is safe for awhile.

[Tadman]

I like Phase 3, but I'm also not in the "Bring it back because I hate Phase 4/5" camp.

That said I was pretty slackjawed when the new Viewliners came out in Phase 3, then they kept phase 5 for the P42, they they brought out phase something for IDTX... The message I received was "we have so many problems we can't see straight, but we're spending resources and time on choosing colors when we already have a very cohesive identity".

Why couldn't we spend that time on managing service inconsistencies? The utter crap boarding procedures? No, sorry, too busy picking out colors.

The point of a re-brand is to signal a shift in direction of company values or offerings.

In the 60's, we saw vivid new colors like Big Sky Blue, Action Red, Minutemen Blue, Bankruptcy Blue, Red Barons, etc... replacing sleepy earth tones to signal that the railroads were vibrant and forward looking rather than the ancient or backwards organizations the public (and shareholders!) perceived them to be.

Reading introduced the Beeliner brand and Santa Fe introduced the SuperC brand to communicate fast and efficient handling of time-sensative freight that would otherwise go to trucks.

Amtrak introduced Acela to indicate premium-only equipment capable of sustained high speed that will never be in local service.

What did all these mid-2015 color changes signify? Nothing other than wasted time and the same old BS in erratic service levels.