Anyone know what happened to the Michigan Metroliner coaches 44550 (814), 44551 (818), 44552 (880), 44553 (884), 44554 (888), 44555 (889), 44556 (885), 44557 (882)? It seems like they are out of service at this moment.
Anyone know if they are scrapped or in storage? Any plans to bring them back when funding becomes available? Also any recent pictures of them?
It wouldn’t surprise me if the cars, which are de-motored Metroliners, are in storage. Age (built in 1967), non-standard trucks and other factors conspire to make them non-standard.
anyone else?
Why would Amtrak bring back equipment that old? There is no need to do so because the Michigan corridor trains will get the new corridor bi-level cars to be built by Nippon-Sharyo. MI, IL, MO are getting 88 cars from the 130 car order (CA is to receiver 42) which has an option for up to 300 additional cars. Delivery is supposed to begin in 2015.
Are these new cars gallery cars, like the ones on Metra or like the design of cars on the San Diego commuter trains? The gallery design is basically the same layout as the Budd cars built for the Burlington 60 years ago. Even the newest ones on Metra are not very pleasant, IMO, while the others are a pleasure to ride.
The ex-metroliner cab cars are still in use on the Philadelphia-Harriburg trains and the New Haven Springfield shuttles. I would guess they got pulled from Michigan due to the 110 MPH speeds requiring something a little heavier for the cab end. They have appeared on the Vermonter again several times during the spring and summer, usually on a weekend in place of the usual trailing P42, boosting seating a bit.
Except for the control end and the trucks the ex-metroliners look like amfleet cars. They have enough common parts witht he amfleet cars that they’re not all that hard to maintain. The engine crews don’t particularly like them because they have effective zero crossing protection.
There was at least one Metroliner converted to a straight coach with cab removed and/or blanked out. I wonder if this is what’s being discussed…
I think the original question concerened the 44000 series conversions which had the cab control removed. Some of the 9600 series cab car conversions are still with us.