Peter - you have me wishing I had picked one of those up when they were available. A very nice rendition of what is my second favorite locomotive.
VGN64 - Amtrak had two window configurations for Amfleet I cars. They were coach and Food Service Cars. The exterior of the Cafe, Dinette, and Club car are the same. The differences are in the interior. The Food Service Cars interiors were done as delivered by Budd originally. The original Cafe had seating at both ends, the Club had a 2 -1 seating arrangement, and the Dinette had half tables and half chairs. When trying to capture a car that has been in service now for 46 years, there is always the challenge of which set of data points to use. Two Amfleet cars were converted to sleepers for a period. There is a rare beast of a car!
Amtrak has done numerous changes to these cars over the years and there are at least 10 separate floor plans. From a model standpoint it was impossible to capture everything so the decision was made to go with the as-delivered configurations. Currently Amtrak runs mostly two variations which is a half seating, half table configuration and an all table configuration.
Having been on the Amfleet cars in Phases I, II, III, IV and VI I can say that the Amfleet Food Service Cars all deliver the same level of microwaved cardboard and overpriced beer. I have had much better experience with the true diners with higher end menus. When I was on a very late Southwest Chief in 1991 and the train chief made the decision to clear out the freezers, I got swordfish. Never had it before, but it was a get what you get affair. It was good! I had a similar experience on a 15 hour late Broadway Limited in December of 1989 due to -15 degree weather and I recall getting lasagna. No complaints as the sleeping car passengers only got fed due to the delay on that trip .
While no decisions have been made about what happens in the future, it is possible that the all table configuration could be offered with the Amfleet II cars which is more common on the long distance trains anyway.
I got the 5 car set and added coaches. Like everyone else I have a Cafe, Club, and Dinette. I wish I had picked up a few Phase VI coaches and a Cafe to go with my Viewliners, but like everyone else, I'll have to wait for a second run.
I promised myself I wouldn't model past Phase III. This hobby has a way of expanding my interests greatly. Kind of like I promised I wouldn't model anything but Amtrak NJT, Conrail, PC, PRR and CNJ. I added ATSF first and then SP to the mix and now I have a train to build to go with my Burlington E5. Then there is that random SPS E7. What cars to run with that?
