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Last updated: 10/10/98
Conference-Club car #9800
||Dome cars
||FL9 Info updated 3/20/98
||P32AC-DM (Genesis II's) updated 4/25/98
||GP40TC info
GP40TC News updated 4/25/98
||HiLevel cars
||HUGE Lake Shore Ltd. NEWS!!!
||Turboliners updated 3/20/98
||Viewliner Diner updated 3/20/98
4/25/98 GP40TC 198 was taken out of stoage in March and is undergoing its 720 day inspection along with getting a new cab
signal in Beech Grove Indiana. I have been told by a friend of mine that he saw the 198 inside the fence at the facility at Beech Grove and it had a new
coat of paint. Looks like 198 is going to return to service.
3/20/98 GP40TC 199 is currently in Wilmington Delaware getting an upgrade. I have been told that the front pilot is being replaced and a cab signal unit
is being added in the rear of the locomotive.
#9800 is a rebuilt Metroliner cab-control car. The pantograph was taken out, and the inside was rebuilt with conference style seating for groups to have meetings while traveling.
12/17/97 I saw the Conference-Club car on the Buffalo Bill's Express train going through Savannah, NY, Sunday, December the 14th.
It has been painted into Phase IV paint since the last time I saw it. It was the first passenger car on the westbound train behind a Northeast Corridor
Phase IV P42 and Phase III F40. I asked a friend at Amtrak why the car was on the train and they said that it was added to the consist for some Conrail
employees that were going to the game.
I have also seen Amtraks only conferrence-club car in August 1995. I first saw it coupled onto the Lake Shore Limited between the second F40 and Boston
baggage (it wasn't in use). Then about a week later, I happened to be in Boston's South Station and there it was. It was on a special train--its consist
was A Genesis I, a Metroliner Service Amfleet coach, and then on the rear was the Conference-club Car. I asked an employee there what a Genesis and the
Conference-club were doing there, but he had no idea.
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Amtrak still has a dome car! It's not in regular passenger service, but it's not dead. Since the Auto Train went Superliner, the Domes have "vanished",
but not really. Amtrak didn't sell all of them. Thanx to Tom Batts, here's the story of the last run of a dome, he writes:
Amtrak former GN great Dome 9301, Mountain view was out in CA on the Reno Fun Train. It then headed down to San Deigo on May 4th and was on tour for
Amtrak Railroad Family Day. I was there, they had equipment sovenouirs and a GP-7 locomotive you could go on. On May 8th 1997, it deadhead eastbound to
Chicago on the Final Desert Wind (which I was also on). My friend is a Manager for the DW/Calif. Zephyr and invited me up into the Great Dome for the
ride through Cajon Pass. It was great and was like our own private car since it was not open to the public. He said since Auto Train is now all
Superliner, the Great Domes will be stored, not scrapped at beech groove for private charters on Amtrak.
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3/20/98 Amtrak FL9's, 484
is stored "servicable, but with uncorrected MCB problems,"
487
is stored servicable, and
488
and
489
are stored "unservicable" at Albany-Rensselaer. The
485
and
486
are the only active FL9's as of this date. They are based out of Sunny Side Yard in NYC as protect units.
notes:
- In January, 97, I saw #'s 486, 487, 488 (my favorite FL9), and 489 outside the Albany engine house---All four had the "Authorized Employees Only"
stickers on their doors as seen on some F40's.
- The numbers on the sides of some FL9's (488 and 484 for sure) are placed a bit higher than normal.
- 486's red, white, and blue stripes are the height of one color stripe higher than they should be. It is very distinctive when it is couples to other
Phase III engines or cars.
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4/25/98 Amtrak has received all of the new, dual mode P32's numbers 710 - 718(?) which have taken over for the FL9's. These units are assigned to Albany
and Ney York City and can be seen on trains from Niagra Falls to NYC. The F40's on the Empire Corridor have been disappearing since the arrival of the
new P32's, but at least 3 have to stay for a while longer as crews in Niagra Falls do not yet have certification on the new GE's.
3/20/98 This past week, BRAND NEW P32AC-DM #712 was seen in Niagra Falls, NY and was sent out on a eastbound train. The 710, 711, and 713 were spotted
south of Albany - each had an older P32 (they are #'s 700-709) coupled behind them. These new P32's are in the Phase IV (Northeast Direct) paint scheme.
More of these P32's are to be delivered and will possibly run the whole Empire Corridor unlike the FL9's and #700-709; being kept from Albany to NYC only.
This would eliminate the change of locomotives in Albany (F40 - P32 or vice versa depending on where the train is traveling to) and possibly be the end of
F40's.
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3/20/98 GP40TC 192 is on work train duty, 193 is assigned to Boston (on yard duty??), 194 and 197 are both on a work train in Providence, RI, and 199 is
in Wilmington Delaware getting a small rebuild. The 195 and 196 are stored dead and drained while 198 is plain old stored at Beech Grove.
notes:
-The GP40TC's (also known as GP40H's) paint jobs don't match each other's. It is mainly the black that comes down from the top.
On some, like 198, the black barely comes down, and on 199, it comes down kinda far. On top of that, you can see some TC's where the black might come
down far on the roof line, but not very far down on the nose, and vice versa. It's strange. The 199 and the 194's (dont know about the 195--never seen a
pic of it) paint is the closest matching to an F40.
- 199 is the only GP40TC that has its number below the cab windows on the stripes besides the number near the middle of the unit. On 199's left side, the
number's under the cab window were put on higher than normal, and possibly tilted back a bit. 199's front door has been replaced. The engineer's would
become freezing cold because the doors fit bad. When they replaced it, they never painted the top part black, it is all platinum mist.
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1/3/98 Amtraks former Santa Fe Hi-level cars are being scrapped with the exception of 7 lounges, which were rebuilt into Parlor Cars for Amtrak's Coast Starlight. They have been rebuilt again and are now in Phase IV striping with "Pacific Parlor" written on the sides along the stripes.
The Coach and CoachDorms(step-up cars---used on Superliner trains between the baggage and
first Superliner car)have been replaced with new Superliner II Transition Sleepers(mostly used as dorm cars for the crew).
I was lucky enough to catch four Hi-levels(two Coaches and two Coach-Dorms)on the rear on the Lake Shore Ltd. (first time seeing Hi-levels) on their way
to being gutted, then scrapped.
1/3/97 Due to a shortage of California Car Food Service Lounges, Amtrak is using two ex SF Hilevel Diners - the olny two left in operable condition as a
lounge car on one of the Amtrak California San Diegan Trainsets. These cars were last used as combination Diner/Lounges on the Desert Wind Trains.
-Tom Batts
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10/10/98 Today I was informed that Amtrak will be running two separate trains for the Lake Shore Limited starting Spring 1999- one to Boston and
one to New York City. the new Boston only train will be from Boston to St Louis and will be the first train to have Superliner equipment assigned to this
route. The Lake Shore to Boston, which is currently combined 48/448 and 49/449, then 448 and 449 from Albany to Boston, will probably be assigned a new
name, but is unknown at the time.
1/3/98 I saw the Dorm Lounge on the Lake Shore on the 2nd of Jan. in between the NY Baggage and Viewliners. This time I was able to click off a good
amount of hopefully good shots and will post them soon.
11/25/97 The "Smoker Lounge" of the single level fleet, actually Dorm Lounge #2500, a former 10/6 sleeper has been in service on the Lake Shore.
More of these rebuilds are to be produced.
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3/20/98 All of Amtrak's Turbo's have been stored except for two sets. Cab units 151, & 159, and trailors 179, 180, & 189 were refurbished and make up the only Turbo left in service
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3/29/98 Amtraks only Viewliner Dining Car (# 8400) has been sidelined in Hialeah, Florida for unknown reasons.
In February, the diner was on the Lake Shore Ltd., #49 for the first time in service (probably went to Chicago to get the new green and beige interior, or
the Lake Shore's diner had problems and they needed a substitute). The Diner was seen on the east bound Lake Shore, #48 a couple months later returning
to New York. It was not in service though, it was coupled in between the Boston baggage car and Viewliner sleeper.
The Viewliner Diner was built by Amtrak and Budd in 1988. It was built as a test Viewliner Diner along with two test Viewliner sleepers. Originally,
Amtrak wanted to recieve more types of Viewliners such as the Diner, and Lounge. Amtrak has a Viewliner Lounge shell that would have a glass roof built,
but doesn't have the money to have it finished.
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