In the Northeast, Thanksgiving and Christmas weekends are peak demand times for Amtrak, who responds by lengthening consists and adding additional trains. Typically, Amtrak turns to NJTransit and MARC to provide a few extra sets of equipment for this additional service. This year, realizing that operating rail equipment is in short supply due to the recent hurricane, VIA Rail Canada provided Amtrak two train sets–10 coaches and two Park Cars (observation lounge dome cars), which were put into service on the Adirondack.
From VIA Rail trainsets on the Adirondack. Posted by Tom Coughlin on 11/26/2012 (14 items)
- Park Car "Evangeline Park" on point at Amtrak Albany station. Due to tight …
- Parked in Albany–waiting for the shuttle train from NYP.
- Side shot of the Evangeline Park. This car was rebuilt in the early 1990s, but missed…
- Passing Amtrak station in Saratoga. The Saratoga & North Creek RY was running San…
- A former ATSF Budd-built full dome. Mighty homely AC installation IMHO.
- Our room at the inn in Montreal. It got really cold and snowy on Saturday, and we sle…
- The lounge of the Park Car "Tweedsmuir Park" shows off the old VIARail blue…
- An empty dome as we cross through St. Lambert, QC. The Amtrak crew had yet to announc…
- An empty HEP-I coach, except for Meg and me. Hard to believe that this coach was once…
- After a spell, the coach filled up with passengers. Notice that the trolley racks are…
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Is there a difference in cost for passengers in the cars with the dome ceiling?
Comment by Rebecca — November 27, 2012 @ 9:31 pm
At home in Canada, VIARail gives the coach passengers and sleeping car passengers separate dome lounge cars, and the Park Cars are exclusively used by the sleeping car passengers (first class lounges). Amtrak operates only coach class on the Adirondack, so everyone on the train got to use it. There is only one train on Amtrak where the sleeping car passengers get their own lounge, the Coast Starlight (Seattle to Los Angeles).
Comment by Tom — November 27, 2012 @ 9:42 pm