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AMTRAK 350 JUST WENT THROUGH BATTLE CREEK, ALL SUPERLINERS.

SWEET!

A few weeks ago an eastbound train out of Dearborn had SuperLiner cars. Normally we don't see them in Michigan until after some heavy snow and cold weather.

Anthony J. Rzucidlo

Pere Marquette has them all winter.

I'm hoping Amtrak is being a bit more pre-emptive this winter, and put them on the train early, rather than after the first big snowfall/delay disaster out of Chicago. The Superliners, of course, don't freeze up in the same way that Horizons do. With such a short turnaround time at Pontiac, the 350/355 set has had Superliners the past several winters, to help minimize thawing/freezing problems. Many winters, a single level Horizon set goes west to California, and trades places till March with the Superliner set which serves to protect Pacific Surfliner cars. The PM has the Superliners too, as was already said. If you've never traveled on a Superliner, they're pretty nice....more leg room, larger bathrooms, big windows. The 350/355 set runs with two coaches and a coach/cafe, where the cafe is on the lower level.

Hmmmm...Superliners you say? Might be time to head down to that line to get some shots.

Here's a shot of 355 in Jackson a few nights ago.

As Nathan mentioned, 350 and 355 usually get Superliners during the colder months of the year, while 351-354 retain their horizon coaches.
The Blue Water has also had Superliners over the past few winters as well. They haven't done a switch yet this year, however.

Im surprised Amtrak 350/355 is the first to get superliners when they dont spend the night in Pontiac to freeze up. They seem like they should be the last to get Superliners.

Here is 350 over John R in Detroit after just leaving the station on Woodward.

The Empire Builder has them all year!

milineamtrak wrote:Im surprised Amtrak 350/355 is the first to get superliners when they dont spend the night in Pontiac to freeze up. They seem like they should be the last to get Superliners.

---That's because they spend the night in Chicago to freeze up---and stuff tends to freeze up faster there for some reason

Buster Manning wrote:

milineamtrak wrote:Im surprised Amtrak 350/355 is the first to get superliners when they dont spend the night in Pontiac to freeze up. They seem like they should be the last to get Superliners.

---That's because they spend the night in Chicago to freeze up---and stuff tends to freeze up faster there for some reason

They use the Horizons all winter on the Hiawathas.... So the Freezing thing not quite as important to the equation as previously thought... More so of Amtrak needing the Horizions elsewhere (LA or out east for Charters)....

railohio wrote:The Empire Builder has them all year!

REALLY!!?!??!?!?!?

by railohio on Fri Dec 25, 2009 7:57 pm

The Empire Builder has them all year!

WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DIDN'T KNOW THAT
WHEN I RODE THE SW CHIEF , THE COAST STARLIGHT, THE EMPIRE BUILDER. THE PIONER, THE DESERT WIND, AND THE CAL ZEPHER ---I THOUGHT THEY WERE DOUBLE DECKER BUSES TIED TOGETHER.

Couple videos from Depot Town in Ypsilanti of 350 with Superliners last winter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb7lVCxtHtc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ycUa4FiS44

Enjoy!

I thought the problem with Horizon cars was the fact that the Lake effect snows get up and under the car, then freezes solid, causing problems to the water and toilet retention tanks. You definately have colder temps on the west side of the lake, but generally less snowfall overall. Superliners with their lower profile don't accumulate as much snow?

Practice Safe CSX

SO today I got 350 at Agusta, MI. The old MC Coaling tower. LOST THE SUN BUT STILL COOL.

Any way, Today, NO SUPERLINERS!!!! WTF!

Nice shot at the old coaling tower Aaron, and you managed to get the photo in the thread

CSX_CO wrote:I thought the problem with Horizon cars was the fact that the Lake effect snows get up and under the car, then freezes solid, causing problems to the water and toilet retention tanks. You definately have colder temps on the west side of the lake, but generally less snowfall overall.

West side of the lake...as in along the Illinois and Wisconsin shoreline?

CSX_CO wrote:I thought the problem with Horizon cars was the fact that the Lake effect snows get up and under the car, then freezes solid, causing problems to the water and toilet retention tanks. You definately have colder temps on the west side of the lake, but generally less snowfall overall. Superliners with their lower profile don't accumulate as much snow?

Practice Safe CSX

The tanks do have something to do with it, along with the low hanging HEP connections. Under ideal circumstances, in the Chicago in the inspection pit, they can steam the frozen lines, but we all know how well things get looked at when productivity and turning out product matter. Some of the tanks on the supers, are located in the ends of the cars above the trucks, ergo are a bit more protected from the elements.

Personally I'd like to see how the Amtrak Cal cars would do in the cold, and see if those could be an acceptable replacement for the equipment currently used....

Yeah JT... Route of the Hiawathas, and the Illinois/St. Louis Trains.

amtrak1007 wrote:Personally I'd like to see how the Amtrak Cal cars would do in the cold, and see if those could be an acceptable replacement for the equipment currently used....

Problems with the Horizon cars is one reason Wisconsin is picking up the tab for new Talgo cars for the Hiawatha service. Once the Talgo equipment is established on one Midwest route it would make sense to continue using it throughout the region. It's already proven to work in Europe in conditions similar to those in the American Midwest. There's no need to re-engineer the California cars to replace the Horizon cars which were already re-engineered from commuter cars.

railohio wrote: Problems with the Horizon cars is one reason Wisconsin is picking up the tab for new Talgo cars for the Hiawatha service. Once the Talgo equipment is established on one Midwest route it would make sense to continue using it throughout the region. It's already proven to work in Europe in conditions similar to those in the American Midwest. There's no need to re-engineer the California cars to replace the Horizon cars which were already re-engineered from commuter cars.

Talgos are fine and good and all, but require special mechanical forces to maintain, change trainsets around etc. A few years ago when the structural problem sidelined the fleet, Amtrak was scrounging to find any equipment to substitute ALL of the Northwest service trains... The Amtrak Cal cars can be easily subbed by a superliner, so with the way that Amtrak likes to maintain things, I see the Amtrak Cal cars being a better fit....

Amtrak Superliner Cars were seen again today on Amtrak Wolverine's 351-350.