I don't think anyone has addressed this issue for awhile. Is there any rumour that Amtrak may restore the Talgo train between Seattle and Vancouver BC? I tried to make a reservation for late February and it still shows nothing available for business class which leads me to believe that the Talgo is still missing. Does anyone know if it will ever return? I was given to understand that it would have been restored by the end of last year.
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
I did not realize they had discontinued the Seattle to Vancouver run. The Cascade schedule still shows the #510 from Seattle to Vancouver, leaving at 7:40 AM and arriving at 11:35 AM. It also shows the #517 leaving Vancouver at 6 PM, arriving in Seattle at 10 PM. Has there been a change? I thought they were planning 2 runs/day, in each direction by the time of the 2010 Olympics..so if it is not currently running, I would have to think it is temporary.
By the way, maybe I'm not looking at this right, but it seems there is a Portland to Seattle to Vancouver run, Train # 516. I haven't noticed that one before..is it a train or a bus. It says it leaves Seattle at 6:40 PM and gets into Vancouver at 9:05 PM (????).
Richard
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
The train is still operating but has been using Superliner coaches for months now.
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
If they include a good observation car, the Superliner can actually be better, viewwise, IMO--and this run does have a gorgeous view (all along water, with eagles right near the border crossing!). However, when I went Seattle-Vancouver round trip last May, there was only a good observation car going up; coming back the train had a smaller one, reconfigured so that the seats faced INWARD (how dumb!).
South of SEA, which I also went (to Salem OR) a few days later (early June), I had a Talgo whose air conditioner broke south of Portland (it was fine till then); and it was unseasonably hot, gone up to 90 that day! Not a comfortable trip! Train also had trouble opening and closing the doors.
Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
If you want to ride in a Pacific Parlour Car, buy your ticket now and jump on the Cascades train to BC! Because of the huge mudslide up in Oregon, one of the Starlight trainsets was up in Seattle when it happened. A Pacific Parlour Car has been "trapped" up there, so they are using Parlour Car # 39974 as the lounge car on this particular train.
For those wondering about the refurbishing of the Parlour Cars (for the Coast Starlight relaunch in May), the 4th car was just sent back to Beech Grove, Indiana on train #4 yesterday. The only car that will need to go back is the one being used on the Cascades BC train right now.
Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
quote:Originally posted by sojourner: However, when I went Seattle-Vancouver round trip last May, there was only a good observation car going up; coming back the train had a smaller one, reconfigured so that the seats faced INWARD (how dumb!).
Hmmmmm.......I'm not sure I understand this. All of the Talgo Trainset have the same interiors, with the exception of the "Las Vegas" Talgo which has a different color interior (red). There is no observation car on the Talgos. They have Coach, Business, a Bistro, and a dining car that isn't really a diner---just booth-style tables. I'm not aware of a Talgo trainset that has inward facing seats, let alone a Talgo observation car. Might you have been on something else? I know that all of the Talgo trainsets were pulled out from service last summer and they were substituted with a variety of equipment that was a mish-mash of the single level fleet that included Amfleets and Horizons. These cars have a variety of interiors, and they also do not have automatic doors like the Talgos do. On these replacement trains, each door must be manually opened and the stairs lowered. Because there is a Conductor and Assistant Conductor, that is not enough people to go around and open up every door, and then close every door. Usually only one or two doors would open up at a station stop. Also, only some of these trains had a Horizon Snack car/Business Class combo (half and half), but those business class seats were being sold as Coach seats since they could not plan in advance with any accuracy which train would have that specific type of car. I have a feeling you were not on a Talgo, because your description does not match those trains at all.
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Smitty, sorry I wasn't clear. What I had going up and back between Seattle & Vancouver was a Superliner, not a Talgo. Both ways there were observation cars, and the one going up quite marvelous, double-decker with fine views (we sat on left side facing forward). But on the trip down the observation car was weird, maybe not a true observation car, as it wasn't on 2 levels. It had a nice snack-purchase area but inward-facing seats in the seating area. At least, that is my memory. . . .
I had the TALGO when I left Seattle (a few days later) for Salem, OR. This was the one that lost its A/C south of Portland.
Departing Salem, btw, I picked up my sleeper on the Coast Starlight, heading south for Sacramento and the Zephyr. The CS was fine, btw, though Parlor Car old. I WAS a bit hot in the Parlor Car, but I think that was the wine!
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Sojourner,
The lounge car you had with the inward facing seats was, I believe, the prototype car Amtrak built from a superliner diner to test the concept of doing lounge and sitdown meal service in the same car.
Improved versions of this concept are now in use on the City of New Orleans which I'll have an opportunity to check out firsthand next month.
Posted by jp1822 (Member # 2596) on :
The prototype "diner lite" or rather diner/lounge car operated on the Seattle-Vancouver, BC route with two Superliner coaches. The Talgo set that was assigned to this route was sacrificed so all the Talgo train sets could be rotated in for a planned overhaul (all sets), which got delayed when the Talgos had problems back in September 2007 or so. The overhaul of the Talgo train sets included new seats and other items.
So the diner/lounge Superliner prototype car was assigned to the Vancouver, BC - Seattle route but then got bad-ordered and was sent to Beech Grove for repairs. It was at this time, a Pacific Parlor Car was substituted in its place. However, I believe the diner/lounge Superliner prototype car may have returned to the Pacific Northwest for potential service. It will likely go into service once the Pacific Parlor Car is bad ordered or called to Beech Grove for its overhaul.
My question is - are they offering a full meal service, as they did on the Talgo train set between Vancouver, BC and Seattle with the the Superliner train set (perhaps within the Pacific Parlor car or Superliner diner/lite car)?
Supposedly they are trying to sell the lower level Superliner coach seats as "business class." That's quite a stretch and put down from what was offered with the Talgo business class train set.
This route is very scenic, so a lounge/cafe car that has nice windowd for taking in the scenery would be most preferable! The Superliner coaches also offer nice wide windows and spacious seating. But it will be nice to have the overhauled Talgo train sets back in order!
Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
Actually, I don't think the "diner lite" car got bad-ordered. I think the regular dining car on train #8 (Empire Builder) was bad-ordered in Seattle, and they pulled the diner lite car from the Cascades BC train to replace it. With the Pacific Parlour Car stuck in Seattle due to the Frazier mudslide, they used that car as the replacement on the Cascades BC (Superliner) train. Now, where the diner lite car went after it got sent to Chicago is unknown. I would guess that they want to get it back to Seattle somehow.
I'll have to check and see if they are actually selling lower-level seats as biz class on that train. First I heard of it---that would be a little silly if they were doing something like this, IMHO.
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
When I took the train, there was no business class. In fact, I had bought business class (mainly because I was traveling with a friend who is not such a "train" person as me) and they phoned before the trip to say there was no business class, my upgrade would be refunded, but there would be a nice observation car! Then going up we indeed did have the nice observation car. Going down we didn't, but I'm not really complaining; we saw reasonably well from our coach seat (as well as we would have seen from the old Talgo buisiness class). I simply thought it stupid to have that lounge car in lieu of observation car and then have the seats in it facing the wrong way!!! Also, I don't think the food service adjoining this lounge car had diner lite like the LSL has; certainly there was no table service. I think it had more just snack bar fare. However, we did not buy anything, so I'm not sure (I think we picked up some cool sandwiches in Vancover to bring on the train, and I recall also buying an overpriced banana and some water in Vancouver station. . . . )
Posted by royaltrain (Member # 622) on :
When I was on the Cascade from Vancouver BC in December, we had the diner lite which sold prepared food, such as sandwiches and salads. I had a Caesar and some local wine which wasn't bad. In fact I met some interesting people in the lounge portion of this car and spent most of the trip there rather than sitting in my coach seat. Since the entire route was in darkness, the seats that faced inward didn't really matter to me.
Posted by jp1822 (Member # 2596) on :
Ah, they have removed the business class booking. Yes, they were offering this at first for one of the Superliner trains. Business class was literally shown as "lower level" and an extra fare applied. I just tried booking a business class now for the Vancouver, BC - Seattle train and it is not offered (thank goodness), as I really think such would be a complete rip off.
Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
I'm glad they removed business class booking on that train! That was a little screwy.
Also, from information on Trainorders today, the Parlour Car (#39974) that was being used on the Vancouver Talgo (Superliner) train has been sent back east. I'm not sure what car is in it's place now, but maybe they got their lounge/diner back (I think it is the 37001?).
Posted by jp1822 (Member # 2596) on :
Supposedly 37001 is back - the prototype to the diner/lounge or now in operation "Cross Country Cafe." But keep in mind the 37001 car was a prototype and modifications have since been made to subsequent 37XXX diner/lounge cars.