CHICAGO β Carbuilder Nippon Sharyo confirms to Trains News Wire that California and three Midwest states have signified their intent to exercise an option to purchase an additional 45 bilevel cars. The transaction must obtain Federal Railroad Administration approval before it is finalized because the money comes from a yet-unspent portion of a $551 million 2009 stimulus grant administered by the FRA.
Brief passage (Bad News):
Meanwhile, Amtrak tells Trains News Wire that it has added 15 baggage cars and dropped 15 baggage-dormitory cars from its order of 130 Viewliner II single-level cars now being built by CAF USA in Elmira, N.Y., βto address business needs.β The company has declined to elaborate. That puts the new Viewliner totals at 70 baggage cars, 25 dining cars, 25 full sleepers, and 10 baggage-dormitory cars.
Posted by Jerome Nicholson (Member # 3116) on :
10 baggage - dorms? That's about enough to supply the Cardinal, Crescent, the Lake Shore,and maybe one of the Florida Silver trains.or both Florida trains and just the Boston section of the LSL. This leaves no margin for preventative maintenance. While 25 baggage - dorms might have been a little too much, I think cutting them down to 10 is ill advised.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
They may, as theyve done in the past, take spaces in revenue cars for crew service. Lest we forget, the Pullman Company did that for Porters, Conductors, and attendants, especially in compartment cars.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Corner bet: the ten Bagg Dorms will be assigned to 19-20 Crescent and 91-92 Silver Star - four cars each. Because, as Mr. Nicholson notes, there would only be two spares, the protect pool of the 75 Viewliners will have to be larger than otherwise in order to protect Bad Order Bagg Dorms.
As a result, it would be best to stow away any thoughts of expansion Sleeper service such as BOS-WAS and CHI-PGH-NYP.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
On my quick trip to Whitewater, WI last month I spent a night on the return leg in the Rochelle, IL Comfort Inn.
When I made my way downstairs the following morning for the complimentary breakfast I wondered why they had white rice on the buffet..... until a half dozen engineer-looking young men wearing Nippon Sharyo identification badges came in for breakfast.
Posted by Jerome Nicholson (Member # 3116) on :
I would think the Cardinal and the Boston section of the Lake Shore would be prime candidates for the Bagg Dorms unless Amtrak plans to use new sleepers to house the crew and not use them purely for sleeper expansion.