Amtrak Silver Star from New York to Orlando in a Viewliner II Sleeping Car

since 1947 the silver star has carried passengers between new york city and the sunshine state today the flashy streamlined trains of 1947 are no more well almost all of them high-speed rail is still taboo and downright disappointing and the privately operated bright line is turning heads in south florida and through it all the silver star has survived through good times and through bad times and it gives us the opportunity to check out the amazing viewliner cars and this trip down to florida in one of the brand new v-liner 2 sleeping cars so come join along for this in-depth and brutally honest experience of amtrak silverstar after two decades of development the amazing viewliner 2 sleeping cars entered service in 2019 now you might ask how do i book a room in one of these cars booking a room in a viewliner 2 car is simply a matter of luck amtrak's reservation system sells the rooms in order from car to car this trip was booked well in advance which is how i was able to snag a room in the 9110 car which is regularly scheduled to be a viewliner 2 sleeping car while the viewliner 1 cars are for the most part perfectly suitable for long distance travel the in-room toilet and lack of additional power outlets has me choosing the viewliner 2 sleeping car over the viewliner one sleeping cars but let me know which one you prefer and why in the comments down below while the usefulness of the moynihan train hall has been brought into question amongst perfectionists in the past year newsflash things aren't going to be perfect in today's world the beautiful space can at the very least capture just a glimpse of what was lost in the demolition of the original penn station with this project simply being a building block for a future full of new opportunity to make things the way they need to be for future generations one of the best perks of the 700 fair is access to the new metropolitan lounge after a brief period upon opening with minimal amenities the lounge is now fully staffed and offers not only a fashionable place to wait for the train but also includes a wide range of refreshments and now a full service bar a first for amtrak in any of their first class lounges the moynihan train hall is quite the place to start a 24-hour train journey down to the sunshine state now let's go jump on the star of the show the silver star [Music] oh [Music] [Music] last one on the left okay uh you got any questions for me no sure all right let's go ahead and get too much one all the pasta meats i will do the same thing brownie or blondie for dessert brownie new blonde all right is it one alcohol beverage for the whole trip is that what it is okay sorry after getting settled into the room here's a little tour of the viewliner 2 room while the toilets have been removed the sink still remains in each room with a much better faucet design next to the sink is one set of the power outlets down below where the toilet used to be is now an area with extra storage space which is always a benefit on any sleeping car trip especially when traveling with someone else flipping around we see some of the major upgrades from the viewliner 1 cars to the viewliner 2 cars a much larger and easier to access trash can is a notable change on the back wall is the room's thermostat and many of the air vents and another benefit of the viewliner ii cars is the extra set of power outlets something you will not find in a v-line or one roommate some features of the viewliner 2 sleeping car include a rarely utilized refreshment station and down the hall is a very spacious shower room complete with hot water no more ice showers for this train buff and across the hall from the shower are two shared toilets to take care of business this is the same bathroom design as you will find on a super liner one sleeping car all of which were refurbished in the mid-2000s now as i stated earlier to book a room in a specific car is luck of the draw the car assignment numbers are the only giveaway currently with uliner 1 cars being the 911 and 9113 cars with the newer viewliner 2 cars being the 9110 and 9112 cars all assignments are subject to change based on the demand equipment rotation changes and other factors the sleeping accommodations on the viewliner cars include one accessible bedroom two full-size bedrooms and twelve roomettes one of which is a crew room the roomettes offer the better value especially when traveling alone unlike the more confined super liner room at the viewliner design allows for more headspace light and luggage storage the original roomette design was not intended for two passengers but having shared their current roulette on a view liner it wasn't all that uncomfortable now that being said the full size bedroom does make sharing the space much more reasonable and it can accommodate three well more like two and a half but three has been done overall the viewliners sleeping cars offer a fantastic experience as far as sleeping accommodations on trains go a very comfortable and welcoming design that is worth a ride if you have the time pricing wise on a random date three months out the price difference is rather substantial traveling alone in a round cost as low as 481 dollars a bedroom on the other hand costs upwards of fifteen hundred dollars the high price tag for the viewliner bedroom is most likely related to the sheer lack of bedrooms available per train it is very obviously the biggest issue with the viewliner sleeping car design and not something that is going to be resolved in the near future now my question to you is this would you pay upwards of fifteen hundred dollars just for the added comfort of having a bedroom be sure to let me know in the comments down below and now for my favorite car on this train the viewliner dining car ordered to replace the vulnerable dining cars of railroads past the new dual functioning dining car and sleeper lounge utilizes the aesthetics of the viewliner design to absolute perfection a bright inviting space to watch the passing scenery much like the hollywood beach private car the view liner dining car is a space that makes you realize how great just riding a train can really be not everything i can say is positive so i will bluntly address the white elephant in the room with brutal honesty the current state of dining service absolutely sucks the pre-covered dining service cuts have left passengers with an embarrassing bare bones tv dinner food offering it is a shame that this is what amtrak executives consider acceptable to serve customers paying upwards of fifteen hundred dollars but what do i know i'll just shut up and eat my amtrak edition hungry man and move on with my life [Music] so so [Music] um [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] the unexciting amphleet portion of the train includes this lounge car the harsh lighting in plain colors create an effect opposite to the welcoming viewliner diner design not to mention they couldn't even line up the booths with the windows strange design aside the lounge car menu offers a variety of sandwiches snacks and beverages to all passengers on the train including those in coach [Music] so you may ask why is washington dc where electrification ends well it has to do with the fact that the trackage south of dc is owned by the private freight railroads freight trains in the us utilize massive diesel engines rather than electric power as the overhead and not the catenary of an electric system isn't exactly practical on the large scale of the freight transported by rail in america putting it bluntly it is not cost inhibitive for the penny pinching privately run operations to pay any more than they need to and that is just the playing field passenger rail in this country is left to deal with at the current moment the good news is in this portion of the southeast a plan is in place to create what is being dubbed as the southeast corridor which is looking to cut travel times to the booming rally north carolina over a formerly abandoned route with potential upgrades cutting two hours off a trip between washington and raleigh speaking of raleigh it is the second opportunity to get fresh air raleigh is currently the eastern terminus for the north carolina-funded piedmont service currently there are three daily round trips between raleigh and charlotte as well as the carolinian which operates between new york and charlotte the piedmont service trains utilize these emd f59 locomotives and these 1960s era coaches which have been completely refurbished this train right now is departing for its three-hour trip to charlotte in the spring of 2021 i caught one of these piedmont service trains passing through the small town of salisbury north carolina [Music] [Music] so [Music] after our stop in raleigh it was time to get some rest while we were in raleigh our room was made up by our awesome attendant like the kid i am at heart i climbed into the upper berth as i always do on these sleeping car trips now the upper berth features a safety net to prevent a nasty spill a little storage tote which will need to be beefed up in the future and a set of air and light controls well it's been a long day of traveling so it's time to get some rest so i'll catch you all in the morning morning good morning enjoy slept pretty well for once [Music] so so most of what i own [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] so so [Music] the key city that the silver star hits after orlando is tampa florida in the famed yubor city portion of town is the unique diamond where the tampa streetcar crosses the csx spur into downtown tampa it is the only such intersection in the entire united states where a non-fra governed rail operation crosses an effort governed four times daily the streetcar must give way to amtrak's silver star as it crosses the diamond once backing into the tampa union station and then [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] currently the silver star is tampa's only passenger rail service but in the next decade brightline is looking to expand into the tampa market with their bright and modern trains which leads me into what amtrak needs to work on going into the next decade first of all the am fleet 2 cars are tired and getting their replacement cars right will be the key to upgrading the product a product which is currently bland and uninspiring jumping over to the food service the dining options also need to be re-evaluated again with the focus being on actually caring about the service again and move far far away from the current flexible dining service which was implemented in 2019 before the covert 19 pandemic once that can all be straightened out the viewliner 2 cards offer an amazing experience that is totally worth trying at least once in the decades of development of these cars has been very worthwhile on the end i hope you enjoyed joining along on this amtrak experience if you liked it if you like this video be sure to subscribe to the channel if you haven't already done so for more amtrak content in the near future thank you for coming along again on this trip and i'll see you on the next one you

Channel: ForeLeaf

Views: 39,009

Keywords: Amtrak, simply railways, trains, amtrak viewliner, amtrak sleeping car, amtrak first class, amtrak roomette, amtrak train, amtrak acela, amtrak acela express, amtrak empire builder, amtrak jeb brooks, amtrak paul lucas, amtrak california zephyr, amtrak moynihan, amtrak moynihan train hall, amtrak penn station, amtrak avelia liberty, amtrak metropolitan lounge, amtrak simply railways, amtrak southwest chief, amtrak sunset limited

Id: HlrLSkgrZbw

Length: 31min 14sec (1874 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 18 2022