Can Heritage Fleet and Amfleet be prototypically run together in an Amtrak say, Phase 3 or 4 train?
Sure can, although, I think most of the heritage fleet would have been sleepers and diners, the amfleets would have taken the place of coaches.
So like running Amfleet coaches with Heritage diners/sleepers would look okay? How much Heritage fleet is still running and not replaced by Superliners or Amfleet?
(I’m heavily freelanced but, I want some plausibility.)
I am looking at what’d look okay in an 1990’s consist… any help?
And when did Phase 1 and 3 colours disappear?
Also-If I was running an Amtrak Rainbow Era train, could anything go? Like Phase1+Union Pacific+F7+FP45?
(Sorry for all the Questions…thanks for anyone who can help though! )
I think the best thing to do would be to go to http://www.railpictures.net/ or http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/ and look a pictures of actual trains. The 1990s have a lot more pictures that the 1950s, so it would be easy to find Amtrak pictures. There is really no set date when all Phase 1 painted cars were repainted, so again, look at pictures of actual trains, since they are east to find and quite numerous.
My top of the head memory is that during early 1970s, loco consists were made up of similar and compatible models, but color schemes and roadnames might be mixed.
However, I wrote down a bunch of Amtrak consists in the that period, and I can go look.
That would be a lot of help, thanks mate!
Some Amtrak motive power consists from the “rainbow era.”
Amtrak “Texas Chief”
- April 6, 1973 at Houston: ATSF “Yellowbonnet” F7A, 3 ATSF warbonnet F7Bs.
- June 1, 22, 1973 at Houston: ATSF Warbonnet ABBA F7s
- June 2, 1973 at Houston: ATSF “Yellowbonnet” F7A, ATSF warbonnet BBA F7s
- July 27, 28, 1973 at Houston: 2 Amt SDP-40Fs
- August 30, 1973 at Chicago: 2 Amt SDP-40Fs
- Dec. 21, 1973 at Houston: 2 Amt SDP-40Fs
- Dec. 23, 1973 at Houston: 1 Amt SDP-40F + ATSF bicentennial steam generator
- May 12, 1974 at Houston: 2 Amt SDP-40Fs
Amtrak InterAmerican
- June 23, 1973 at Fort Worth: Amt E8A or E9A (ex-UP?)
- March 17, 1974 at Laredo: 2 Amt E8A
- August 17, 1975 at San Antonio: 2 Amt E8 or E9
Amtrak Sunset Limited
- August 21, 1973 at Houston: SP F7 ABBA
- May 12, 1974 at Houston: Amt F7 ABB, SP F7A
Amtrak Broadway Limited
- August 26, 1973 at New York: PC GG-1
- August 27, 1973 at Chicago: 3 PC E-units, 1 Amt E-unit
Amtrak Southwest Limited
- August 18, 1975 at Albuquerque: 3 Amt SDP-40Fs
I sometimes call it the “circus train era” due to all the colorful cars. June 1973 was my first “real train ride” on a real intercity American train, albeit Amtrak, and I am glad I got to ride a time or two behind warbonnets and in cars from the Santa Fe, my favorite prototype.
I’m not sure how you feel about mixing eras. By the 1990’s, all the “rainbow” trains were gone, replaced by Amtrak paint, and a lot of newly built Amtrak equipment. On the Auto Train, we ran Amfleet II coaches in the late '80’s and early '90’s, with Heritage sleepers, lounges, and diners. In the late '80’s, we used three P30CH’s. These were replaced by three F40’s (the middle unit was often a GP40). Eventually we got P40’s when they became available, and that’s what we still use today. The Amfleets and Heritage cars were all replaced with Superliner II’s in the mid-'90’s. That’s a grossly oversimplified history, but it’s basically correct. Of course, what applies to the Auto Train doesn’t necessarily apply to other Amtrak services. One important thing for detail-conscious folks: Amfleet I’s were designed for short distances and had more seats with less legroom. Amfleet II’s were for long-distance runs. It was pretty rare for these cars to be mixed together, as far as I know