Thank you very much.
Usually these investigations are worthwhile because you end up learning
something new.
sjl
Tim Wells <twells1983@kellogg.northwestern.edu> wrote:
Stephen:
I do not have the answers to your questions below, but I can work through my
channels to see if I can get some more answers and if successful will take
some time to get. I'm puzzled with the term "deferred maintenance" as it
does not fit my preconceived notion that cars were inspected and then a
repair/rehab cost estimate prepared by the inspecting party.
Tim Wells
_____
From: CBQ@yahoogroups.com [mailto:CBQ@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Stephen
J. Levine
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 9:54 AM
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [CBQ] Why didn't Silver Inn and Silver Manor go to Amtrak?
Tim
Do you have the estimates on the Q diners Amtrak took?
Silver Diner
Silver Restaurant
Silver Cafe
Silver Cuisine
Silver Chef
Silver Tureen
Also, were the estimates itemized and is that information available? I am
curious as to where the costs were.
Also, can anyone share information as to how BN utilized its ex-Q diners in
the years before Amtrak.
sjl
Tim Wells <twells1983@kellogg.
<mailto:twells1983%40kellogg.northwestern.edu> northwestern.edu> wrote:
It has taken a little while for me to gather a response, but I was able to
go through some associates and obtain a response from a project engineer
involved with Amtrak's initial selection of equipment from the railroads.
The following is most of his reply:
If you want the answer to those questions, you really have to go to one of
the two people who effectively made the decision as to which cars would be
acquired in 1971. The team leader was soon-to-be Chief Mechanical Officer
of Amtrak, Bill Edson. The other guy was Project Engineer-Passenger
Equipment of Penn Central . . . [who] still remembers (and has paperwork for
reference) some of those days. Bill Kratville led one of the two Klauder
teams to inspect the equipment, and Don Adams led the eastern team, although
they were merged as we got down to the final cars.
Kratville, who owned his own shop at the time, was helpful in knowing the UP
cars, although I was the one who nixed them, due primarily to their aluminum
construction and advanced debilitation (few shops at the time had the
heliarc welding capabilities and the knowledge to adequately repair that)
from galvanic action. Of course, in retrospect, every available car should
have been acquired.
Anyway, the specific answer may be much shorter and more concise than the
pages of railfan speculation. In the inspections, we evaluated condition
based on dollars of deferred maintenance found, in 1970 terms. Bearing in
mind that the railroads had little incentive to repair accident-damaged
cars, with the reduction in passenger trains and the imminent implementation
of Amtrak, these two cars, CB&Q/BN 199 Silver Inn, and CB&Q/BN 200 Silver
Manor, which had been built as part of the enhancements of 1951 which
allowed the California Zephyr and the AkSarBen (or perhaps Kansas City)
Zephyrs to share a common pool, were found to have $17,840. and $24,760. in
deferred maintenance, respectively. Thus, they were rejected when we were
given a bottom line number of cars (or dollar amount in acquisition funds)
by the powers that be.
It should be noted that cars 196 and 197 (Silver Salver and Silver Feast)
were also rejected, for the same reason, as was Car BN/NP 459, one of the
six North Coast Limited pool cars, built as late as 1958.
I hope this answers that question. I can't answer the larger one - why
weren't the best several hundred Budd cars rebuilt well, as was the Canadian
Pacific fleet, and still in service today? Note that when we sold the 50
Budd CB&Q bilevels in 2004 or 2005 for the West Suburban Mass Transit
District, they fetched more than their new-car cost in 1950!
I hope this provides some insight as to the decision process of how Amtrak
initially chose cars.
Tim Wells
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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