I use Amtrak Express for excess and oversize baggage. The good state of New York invested with CAF to build brand new baggage cars in Elmira NY and now we cant use them to there full extent. I contacted NARP and they have yet to get a reply.I also think a partnership with Amazon would work as station to station is fast way to move packages to lockers as its CEO says it wants to be more green.
ronrunnerI use Amtrak Express for excess and oversize baggage. The good state of New York invested with CAF to build brand new baggage cars in Elmira NY and now we cant use them to there full extent. I contacted NARP and they have yet to get a reply.I also think a partnership with Amazon would work as station to station is fast way to move packages to lockers as its CEO says it wants to be more green.
Amtrak's prior entry into the express business degraded their passenger business and after several years of passenger complaints (and I suspect complaints from UPS and FedEx as competitiors). Amtrak stopped the express business.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDAmtrak's prior entry into the express business degraded their passenger business and after several years of passenger complaints (and I suspect complaints from UPS and FedEx as competitiors). Amtrak stopped the express business.
The original Amtrak Package Express was something I heavily touted as a freshman at college (between 1975 and 1976). This would take anything under 150lb. delivered to a 'select' Amtrak station (Trenton, in my case) and deliver it to any other 'select' station (I wish I remember the list... but it involved LD trains with baggage cars.)
That was relatively easy money for Amtrak as long as they had the capacity and the staff.
Phase 2 was different: it involved adding capacity to 'trains already running' by adding dedicated cars in the form of the now-infamous MHCs, a thinly-disguised euphemism for the old IC practice of whacking a couple of pigs on the back of passenger trains for that 'expedited' speed. This was on a far grander scale; I think in their own minds they were re-creating a 'better' REA to compete with package-delivery companies for at least part of distribution. They forgot that boxcars don't switch themselves... and that neither freight railroads nor package-delivery companies were run entirely by fools.
Amazon would not tolerate Amtrak time keeping even for third class packages. As far as the empty CAF Baggage cars. Don't the CAF cars have modular inserts. Can't Amtrak take a Baggage car and convert to a crew sleeper just by means of inserting modules and punching windows in the side? Or is that too simple a representation of conversion? I thught one selling point of the CAF design is they could change the insides into something else if they wanted. Also thought the Superliner II's had a somewhat similar capability?
OvermodPhase 2 was different: it involved adding capacity to 'trains already running' by adding dedicated cars in the form of the now-infamous MHCs, a thinly-disguised euphemism for the old IC practice of whacking a couple of pigs on the back of passenger trains for that 'expedited' speed. This was on a far grander scale; I think in their own minds they were re-creating a 'better' REA to compete with package-delivery companies for at least part of distribution. They forgot that boxcars don't switch themselves... and that neither freight railroads nor package-delivery companies were run entirely by fools.
The problem I saw with Phase II as well is they seemed to base the train on one large haulage contract in a lot of cases with nothing else in the pipeline. Once that contract ended or was cancelled. Amtrak was still stuck with the passenger train and related costs.............which was the same concept that got the private railroads into trouble with the large mail contracts disappearing.
Now you would have thought that like most businesses they would have built a pipeline for the segment of new business to haul and then initiated the train once they had enough contracts locked in for x years operation of the passenger train. It did not seem from the very rapid expansion of Amtrak trains they took the more conservative outlook approach. The whole thing seemed rather reckless in implementation and execution but it was classic Amtrak management.
CMStPnPDon't the CAF cars have modular inserts. Can't Amtrak take a Baggage car and convert to a crew sleeper just by means of inserting modules and punching windows in the side?
In any case... I think the Viewliner design is heavy and obsolete compared even with the original PRIIA 'corridor car' (Amtrak 964) spec. As I believe a Siemens single-level shell is slated for new production, any conversion of Viewliners may be false economy.
Does anyone have detailed technical information on what gets done to a Viewliner I GSC70 to make it 'legal' for 125mph?
Here's a link to the original 964 spec:
http://www.highspeed-rail.org/Documents/PRIIA%20305%20DocSpec%20and%20other%20NGEC%20Documents/PRIIA%20Single%20Level%20Spec%20305%20003%20Approved%20Initial%20Release.pdf
OvermodI think the 'modularity' applies at design time to reduce the cost of different variants, and at build time, to simplify fabrication.
My interpretation was slide in slide out. They seemed to do that with both the Superliner II Lounge and Dining cars when they made changes to the seating there. I don't think they disassembled the cars that much but I have no clue, the changes were pretty rapidly done though.
Seems like the rework of the Superliner I's undergoing work now is going to be fast. I am guessing the seat covers and such slip off fairly easily after you remove the fastners wherever they are. They are flipping from blue seat covers to a mix of blue and gray naugahyde. Also replacing the bedding (finally) in the sleepers.
OvermodAs I believe a Siemens single-level shell is slated for new production, any conversion of Viewliners may be false economy.
Agree, I believe the Siemens are 125 mph capable, so in 35 more years when Amtrak gets track rehabilitated to that speed, they can use the then older cars.
So what I ment was the AMTRAK PACKAGE SERVICE and heavy express service that moves excess baggage and pallets of stuff between stations that have full baggage service that Amtrak has ran since day 1 from REA. not the short lived Intermodal Service.As of right now Amtrak is imposing airline like bag sized restrictions
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