i'm beginning to hear stories of fatigue cracks developing in the unterframes of Amfleet cars. In addition there is significant corrosion in the draw gear area ( not stainless steel) related to crews dumping bags of salt in the vestibules during the winter. This issue may also extend to the rear of the GE locomotives. I guess we'll see if there is anything to this.
Yikes. I've been reading about concerns about metal fatigue on over 40-year-old cars that have been rehabilitated three or four times already. Amtrak has primed the market pump for Viewliner II replacements for low-height equipment. The modules, from the last reports I've seen, are having trouble being integrated into the new VL II shells, but they'll get it figured out.
The massive order of Viewliner II baggage cars can be used as a template or even as feedstock for emergency future replacements of Amfleet, if things go from bad to worse and they can't buy more (just like their huge plans for Viewliners died decades ago).
Checked baggage is still very rare in the Northeast and there are so many new VL II baggage cars already in Amtrak's possession, ripe for the repurposing, and can go 125 MPH. Hmm.
The cars Siemens are building for Brightline are designed deliberately to fit the NEC clearance diagram, so they might also get the order. I'd like to see one coupled to a viewliner to see how they differ in shape as both bow out around the middle.
Oh, yeah, I forgot about the Brightlines. They are nice but aren't they shorter than Viewliners?
Shorter in which dimension? I can't find a height measure for the Brightline car but both are 85' long.
http://archive.tcpalm.com/news/shaping-our-future/all-aboard-florida/major-milestone-for-brightline-passenger-rail-2a41618c-72e2-25c9-e053-0100007fafe8-366616441.html
aegrotatio Oh, yeah, I forgot about the Brightlines. They are nice but aren't they shorter than Viewliners?
Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.