It would seem that the east coast trains are not the only ones running with extra cars, Last Wednesday, I visited Havre, MT to watch the Builder, and the Seattle Section was missing a dorm in favor of a full sleeper that was full, from what I could tell, with not only crew but passengers.
could they be testing the waters to see where to redeploy their sleepers to better serve their markets, or are they trying to find out how many extra sleepers would be needed in a Superliner 3 order?
blue streak 1 Several sites have posted that the Meteor now is running with 3 sleepers and the Cardinal has 2 sleepers. Has anyone noted this ? Of course once the July performance figures come out we may know. Will be going to Orlando next week and will check out.
Several sites have posted that the Meteor now is running with 3 sleepers and the Cardinal has 2 sleepers. Has anyone noted this ? Of course once the July performance figures come out we may know. Will be going to Orlando next week and will check out.
I can report that the Silver Meteor was all-coach until sometime after WWII. During this period the all-Pullman Orange Blossom Special, heavy-weight or mostly heavyweight, continued in operation, diesel-powered, year-around. Sleepers were introduced to the Silver Meteor in the powt-WWII period when the OBS was discontinued. I think much the same applied to the ACL's Champions and the Florida Special, except for the year-around bit.
Diesel power and a speed-up were introduced to the OBS about the same time as the Silver Meteor was inaugurated.
Robert J. Wayner's Car Names Numbers and Consists (p. 80) gives the information as to delivery dates.
I do not remember my source that states that the observation cars for the St. Pete section were square-ended, but it follows that if they ran in the same consist with the Miami cars they were not round-ended cars--and the SAL public timetables showed that the St. Pete cars were sandwiched between Miami coaches and the Miami sleepers.
Johnny
For what it's worth, I'm traveling on the southbound Meteor on the 16th (from New York to South Florida) and reserved (as of this posting) the last available roomette for those city pairs on July 24th. The Star already sold all of its roomettes when I booked.
Just checked now, and Amtrak.com is offering 3 Viewliner Accessible Bedrooms for the Meteor on that date, which would signify 3 Viewliner sleeping cars.
Deggesty Yes, Balt, when the Silver Meteor was inaugurated, in February of 1939, the SAL had only one set of equipment, so it was an every third day operation, north-south--and every other strip south went to St. Petersburg (and think of the sailings of the original Cities to the West Coast). In December of the same year, it became daily to/from Miami, and every third day to/from St. Pete. A year later, daily service to/from St. Pete began, complete with a square-end observation car that ran all the way.
Yes, Balt, when the Silver Meteor was inaugurated, in February of 1939, the SAL had only one set of equipment, so it was an every third day operation, north-south--and every other strip south went to St. Petersburg (and think of the sailings of the original Cities to the West Coast). In December of the same year, it became daily to/from Miami, and every third day to/from St. Pete. A year later, daily service to/from St. Pete began, complete with a square-end observation car that ran all the way.
What is the source of your information regarding how the Meteor went from an every third day operation when it began service in February 1939 to daily by the end of December 1939?
It appears that the SAL began the service before all the equipment was delivered even though an order for three trains sets was in the pipeline. What's interesting is that Amtrak apparently needs four sets of equipment to cover the service.
Assuming the Silver Meteor operates with three sleeping cars all year, and it requires four sets of equipment to cover the service, it can offer 122,640 seats or 61,320 rooms during the year. This assumes that each car has an attendant, and he or she uses one of the roomettes to camp out in. It further assumes that Amtrak's recommended occupancy guidelines are followed.
In FY13 the Meteor lifted the tickets for 41,889 sleeping car passengers, which was down 2.5 per cent from FY12. The load factor ranged from 34.2 per cent of the seats to 68 per cent of the rooms, assuming there was only one person per room. Many of the rooms probably were occupied by more than one passenger, so the load factor for the sleepers would have been somewhere between the extremes.
Sam1 chrsjrcj I live in S. Florida and see both the Meteor and Star quite frequently. It's been running with 3 sleepers constantly for quite a while now. Not running with 5 coaches at the moment, but that's a frequent occurrence too. Both the Meteor and Star require 4 sets of equipment. According to an article in Wikipedia, the original Silver Meteor was introduced by the SAL on February 2, 1939. The original train required 25 hours to run from New York to Miami. It was a coach only train designed to appeal to middle class travelers and required three sets of equipment. Was the original Silver Meteor a coach only train?
chrsjrcj I live in S. Florida and see both the Meteor and Star quite frequently. It's been running with 3 sleepers constantly for quite a while now. Not running with 5 coaches at the moment, but that's a frequent occurrence too. Both the Meteor and Star require 4 sets of equipment.
I live in S. Florida and see both the Meteor and Star quite frequently. It's been running with 3 sleepers constantly for quite a while now. Not running with 5 coaches at the moment, but that's a frequent occurrence too.
Both the Meteor and Star require 4 sets of equipment.
According to an article in Wikipedia, the original Silver Meteor was introduced by the SAL on February 2, 1939. The original train required 25 hours to run from New York to Miami. It was a coach only train designed to appeal to middle class travelers and required three sets of equipment.
Was the original Silver Meteor a coach only train?
Yes - Coach only! And I believe only one set of equipment.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Back to the future!! Now it takes 27 hours, 40 minutes, NY to Miami. That's progress.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
3 Sleepers, 1 Diner and 1 AmCafe Car among the Coaches and baggage car
Silver Meteor in 2012:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rCE4HSGMPk
Silver Meteor in 2013:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5leWwQYqVw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41eH-6eyIlE
chrsjrcj The Meteor has been running with 3 sleepers year round for a few years now. A 5th coach is also frequently added.
The Meteor has been running with 3 sleepers year round for a few years now. A 5th coach is also frequently added.
According to an article, as well as a picture in Wikipeda, the Meteor is running with three sleeping cars and four or five coaches. But the data is from 2008. How do you know that the Meteor is still carrying three sleeping cars?
How many sets of equipment are required for the Meteor? How may sleeping car rooms and sleeping spaces does the Meteor have for sale each day?
blue streak 1 Picture may be Cardinal at Charlottesville ( CVS ) http://www.dominionrailvoyages.com/jhd/train51cvs27july2014.jpg
Picture may be Cardinal at Charlottesville ( CVS )
http://www.dominionrailvoyages.com/jhd/train51cvs27july2014.jpg
Upside down?
I think it does fit into Charlottesville.
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