GOOD:

Sounds like a jet when you stand next to the locomotive.

SMOOTH oh so smooth and quiet. Almost as smooth as the Acela and actually quieter as the Acela has some real noisy fans running in the cabin.

Intercom you can hear and understand

Really big windows, like the Acela

BAD:

Inside looked cheap and Spartan. Basically no decorative trim. Industrial looking knobs, switches and fixtures.

Seats were covered in beautiful fabric BUT they were small and and hard. I am just over 6 feet tall and only weigh 165 and my butt was exactly as wide as the seat. The seats were separated by a 3 inch gap so you can’t lounge like in the amfleet cars.

The seat frame was a cheesy tubular steel kind of like they made them from off the shelf parts bought at a supply house. Real cheap plastic arm rests that were less than comfortable to use. Looked like a commuter train.

The seats reclined in a way that kind of pivots so the head rest drops very low meaning you are seeing a lot of heads in front of you. Not as intimate a space as on the amfleet coaches where if you have 2 seats to yourself you are in your own little world.

The coach itself had indoor/outdoor carpet on the floor and the walls and ceiling were covered with a plain cheap looking plastic.

Electronic sign announcing the next stop kept saying that it was Hudson even though that was 4 stops away.

Last 8 feet or so of the outside of the car tapers inward so you have a really big gap to jump over to get onto the platform.

Half the seats are facing backwards at any one point. I HATE riding backwards.

Doors between cars stuck open and every window completely fogged over so the last 25 minutes was like riding in a semi-opaque tube. Even 15 minutes after the conductor closed the door the windows were still fogged when I detrained.

Though I listed this as a good point, I personally don’t like the big windows. Really gives the car a lack of intimacy. I like the feeling in the amfleets that you are in a little cocoon gliding to your destination.

And last but not least, the horn sounded really wimpy.

I am really kicking my self now for not checking out the café or the bathrooms but I was quite uninspired at that point.

I like the amfleets much better, think they are more comfortable, and think that Amtrak is barking up the wrong tree with this one. I would not want to sit in one of those seats for the whole 2.5 hour trip from NYP to ALB. For similar reasons RE: overall comfort, I take the regional trains over the Acela when traveling on the NR Corridor unless the time saved will help me make a connection or I can travel first class on the business to take advantage of the really good food and free booze.

I am really not a stickler (how can I be if I like Amtrak) but other than the smooth ride, and cool sound I heard when standing on the platform after detraining, I was greatly unimpressed and disappointed. Perhaps this is why NY is balking on the rest of the trainsets.

Jon

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JONATHON D. ORTIZ
 

Amtrak partnered with NY state to refurbish 7 or so turboliner train sets to do the NYP/ALB run. The work is done somewhere in NY state so it provided jobs, and theoretically was to provide a 2 hr run time between ALB and NYP. Of course that is a joke because Amtrak can't upgrade the track to support higher speeds because they are broke.

NY is now dragging their heels after 2 trainsets were delivered, apparently not happy with something about them.

Amtrak really should concentrate on comfort and on time perfomance rather than "high speed" trains that can't go fast due to infrastructure problems.
 

A total of seven turboliner trainsets are to be upgraded with new turbines and passenger amenities, with work being performed by Super Steel in its Schenectady facility. Work on two trains has been completed and the trains have successfully been tested on the Empire corridor line at speeds up to 125 mph. The remaining trainsets will be completed over the next two years.

The one redeeming feature was that passengers could sit right behind the engineer and watch him work and get the same forward view he had.

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Trust Jesus,Ride Amtrak.

[This message has been edited by espeefoamer (edited 02-04-2004).]