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First Amtrak Viewliner baggage cars enter service
Its about time they start using the New cars after 4 to 5 years wait.
Finally! New equipment! In service! Now Amtrak’s really poised for growth!
Wait, what? They’re baggage cars?
Sigh…
A new Viewliner baggage car beats any Amfleet car hands down! Looking forward to the day we have all Viewliner consists.
Saw one at South Station at a platform a week or two ago, by itself and connected to house power. Perhaps for training purposes?
All things being equal, I’d rather ride in an Amfleet car than a Viewliner baggage car.
does anyone know the dates, of the first trips on each route?
Aren’t there going to be 70 baggage cars?
RIP Heritage Fleet
1971-2015
Any word on when Amtrak will begin offering roll-on bicycle service associated with the new cars?
I have seen two of them on the 92 (Silver Star) by my house. They look sharp!
When we get through growling, how about a picture? I live over 200 miles from the nearest ATK location…
And when may we anticipate new sleepers and dining cars? Anybody have a clue?
To the one who said they’re looking forward to the day when we have all viewliner consists, don’t hold your breath. If nothing else, by the time the last viewliner equipment comes online to complete a consist, the first ones will be ready to retire and they’ll be looking at getting something else. That just seems to have been the pattern all along.
To the gentleman who said he’d rather ride in a Viewliner baggage car than an Amfleet car, you need to recognize that, in the early 1970’s, the delivery of the 492 Amfleet I cars saved Amtrak from disaster by giving them a standardized car fleet crews could work with. Add the 150 Amfleet II cars that arrived in 1981 for the single-level Eastern trains, they provided again a standardized level of equipment and have been quite frankly comfortable veterans on the road. The rebuilding of the Amfleet I cars under the Capstone program enhanced both their reliability and comfort. Budd Company built them best at Red Lion in Philadelphia, believe me.
Saw one of the new baggage cars this morning (4-2-15). It was the last car on the east bound Lakeshore which was making its Depew, NY station stop. The car looks very sharp.