Damn, those Siemens AIRO trains look gorgeous! Can’t wait to check them out! This is Amtrak basically putting Railjet/Brightline service all around the country! Incredible!
@@LonestarTrips Yeah! Meanwhile, I’ll just have to entertain myself with rides on Charger+Venture combo on the San Joaquins! Thankfully, we have a ton of local rail upgrading right now in the Bay Area. Hopefully, that is enough tide me over fir a couple of years. Any plans to head out to the Bay Area to check out our new rail? We have a lot of goodies coming up in the nearish future!
@@TohaBgood2 I definitely want to get back out to the bay area sometime! I've never ridden on the San Joaquins, and I would love to make a video on it, especially with the new rolling stock, plus with all the other upgrades happening in the area, I'll be sure to get back out there in the near future.
@@LonestarTrips The San Joaquins is a very interesting beast. It's surprisingly great! It was designed with the full intention of being _the_ SF-LA train before they were stopped forever by freight in Bakersfield. Freight thought that they could kill it if they blocked it from reaching LA. The fact that it not only still exists but actually thrives and grows is our massive middle finger to the Class 1s! It was the 5th most popular Amtrak Intercity before the pandemic with over 1 million riders! In many ways, the fact that Caltrans could not get over the freight opposition to push the San Joaquins over the Tehachapi pass into LA is the reason why we have CAHSR under construction right now. The fact that it is now being replaced by a 220mph dedicated HSR alignment is just *chef's kiss* 🤌! Oh, how I would have loved to see the San Joaquins logo on a CAHSR Velaro or Thalys! 😁 But I'll take the new Siemens trains too! In other words, this line has a lot more pull for us than it seems like it should ever deserve to "out-of-staters". It also goes through a perpetually neglected part of California where actually a substantial part of Californians live, despite popular sentiment and all the "nowhere" talk! It's a cool service, even though no one can see it except us locals. Anyway, I'm sure you'd love seeing all of these upgrades!
I take the Hiawatha quarterly from Chicago to Milwaukee for my job. I just sit in the quiet car and listen to my music on my headphones, Then just watch the landscape roll by. It is a much better experience than driving for sure! From my experience, the lounge car is usually where the conductors reside and it tends to be locked off.
It's a great way to get to and from Milwaukee for sure! Interesting insight on the cafe car. Strange that they keep the whole car blocked off for just the conductors.
I’ve been riding that beautiful route my whole life. Two absolutely amazing cities; Chicago and Milwaukee. That’s the Milwaukee Roads “Natural High Speed Route”.
Nice video! The main purpose of the Amfleet diner is for wifi. MKE-CHI has not had true cafe service in decades -- if I recall it was provided early in Amtrak's life but never in recent times. The closest thing was onboard service from cart/cooler but that was discontinued in 2013 and was at the time said to require $230k in subsidy from WI and IL. I missed it when it ended but to be honest on a 90-minute trip it's not really needed.
Nice video! I'm thinking of taking the Hiawatha at some point since I live in Minneapolis and could take the Empire Builder down to Milwaukee. That sucks that they don't even use the cafe car anymore though, I hope they bring it back soon.
I'm glad you enjoyed! Taking the Empire Builder down to Milwaukee sounds like a great idea, especially since you'll get a taste of both Amtrak long distance and intercity services in one go. I really hope they bring the cafe car back into service. It still makes no sense to me why they include the car in the consist, but don't actually use it. Amtrak could've just removed it entirely, leaving only coaches like the keystone corridor, but who knows.
Deleting my old comment because I thought the other half of the cafe car had business class, but turns out I was wrong. They don't even sell it on Amtrak's website for the Hiawatha so I really don't know what Amtrak is thinking lol. Maybe just a lounge car for kicks?
I think I know why the Amfleets are better than Horizons. The Amfleets have dark blue bulkheads while Horizons have cream bulkheads, so dimmer panels are just more relaxing and not harsh on the eyes. The Amfleets also make use of more soft panels than Horizon, so since soft panels absorb sound, it makes for a quieter ambience
That’s what I was thinking, but Amtrak didn’t list the Hiawatha in their press release, and because it’s under Amtrak Midwest, odds are it’ll be the Midwest venture coaches instead.
I was thinking that there’s a slim chance that they have to keep the café car, even without service to satisfy a minimum axle requirement by the host railroad I know that’s why they have baggage cars on the Missouri River runner trains between St. Louis and Kansas City
I don't know how you were able to do this because technically you shouldn't have been able to do it. Amtrak doesn't allow people to book trips that are still in the metropolitan area of a city.
I really hope that routes in the Amtrak Midwest service will get electrified. Some Amtrak trains could use the South Shore Line when there would be an reinvestment and re-elctrify it to 25Kv 60Hz AC. Then Airo would be cool here.
The United States of America, A country and a people who are so damn gong ho on Technology. They gave up their lives and gave in to computers. They dont mind at all giving up their personal information to make purchases, everything's online, do away with money and everything old especially if it's something that makes life easy. But one thing they just cant seem to make changes on or give up and that is the slow and lethargic american trains called Amtrak. They would give up the simplicities of life and keep complexities of technology but keep the same ole trains. America needs highspeed bullet trains and even better yet, maglev super train technology. Now you wanna talk about technology? These modern marvels will definitely fit a country and people who are gong ho on Technology. Identify theft? No one in America cares about that. Their businesses will take your card and bank account information, putting you in danger of identity theft but they wount take your money which is still the safest way to do business. But when it come to the technologies of travel, the americans are blind, So much so that the far more advanced countries of the far east are walking all over them. Even poorer countries are obtaining highspeed rail. A great bullet train line from Boston Massachusetts to Miami Florida would more than prove great in the United States of America's Atlantic eastern seaboard. Cruising at speeds of up to 220 to 250 plus mph, they could move people all up and down the entire coast quickly, comfortably and more effectively than flying. Highspeed bullet train services would have arrivals and departures more frequent in many cities between Boston Massachusetts and Miami Florida. You can board a train alot easier than a flight and alot less dangerous. Yes America, Do you really want to advance yourselves? Get rid of those old slow and lethargic american trains and slip into a new technology called highspeed bullet trains. Sorry but yous aint ready for maglev super train technology. That technology supersedes you and belongs to the far more advanced countries of the far east. Traveling at speeds of up to 375mph you could board in Washington DC and be in your office in New York city in an hour or less. Try that in your beloved cars. But yous are to ignorant to see it. With a government that works to slow and loves to put its billions of dollars into putting a man on the moon to jump around and pick up rocks, America will continue to lag behind in better infrastructure. Highspeed bullet trains and maglev super train technology, the new american dream but a reality on earth......
The Hiawatha Service is part of the original Midwest venture order for coaches. They’re also getting cab cars but ones based on the SC44.
I figured that would be the case, but given the relevance of the topic, it was worth at least talking about the Airo sets.
Damn, those Siemens AIRO trains look gorgeous! Can’t wait to check them out!
This is Amtrak basically putting Railjet/Brightline service all around the country! Incredible!
Right?! I can't wait for them to be out on the rails!
@@LonestarTrips Yeah! Meanwhile, I’ll just have to entertain myself with rides on Charger+Venture combo on the San Joaquins!
Thankfully, we have a ton of local rail upgrading right now in the Bay Area. Hopefully, that is enough tide me over fir a couple of years.
Any plans to head out to the Bay Area to check out our new rail? We have a lot of goodies coming up in the nearish future!
@@TohaBgood2 I definitely want to get back out to the bay area sometime! I've never ridden on the San Joaquins, and I would love to make a video on it, especially with the new rolling stock, plus with all the other upgrades happening in the area, I'll be sure to get back out there in the near future.
@@LonestarTrips The San Joaquins is a very interesting beast. It's surprisingly great! It was designed with the full intention of being _the_ SF-LA train before they were stopped forever by freight in Bakersfield. Freight thought that they could kill it if they blocked it from reaching LA. The fact that it not only still exists but actually thrives and grows is our massive middle finger to the Class 1s! It was the 5th most popular Amtrak Intercity before the pandemic with over 1 million riders! In many ways, the fact that Caltrans could not get over the freight opposition to push the San Joaquins over the Tehachapi pass into LA is the reason why we have CAHSR under construction right now. The fact that it is now being replaced by a 220mph dedicated HSR alignment is just *chef's kiss* 🤌! Oh, how I would have loved to see the San Joaquins logo on a CAHSR Velaro or Thalys! 😁 But I'll take the new Siemens trains too!
In other words, this line has a lot more pull for us than it seems like it should ever deserve to "out-of-staters". It also goes through a perpetually neglected part of California where actually a substantial part of Californians live, despite popular sentiment and all the "nowhere" talk!
It's a cool service, even though no one can see it except us locals. Anyway, I'm sure you'd love seeing all of these upgrades!
Frequency is too bad but yeah
I take the Hiawatha quarterly from Chicago to Milwaukee for my job. I just sit in the quiet car and listen to my music on my headphones, Then just watch the landscape roll by. It is a much better experience than driving for sure! From my experience, the lounge car is usually where the conductors reside and it tends to be locked off.
It's a great way to get to and from Milwaukee for sure! Interesting insight on the cafe car. Strange that they keep the whole car blocked off for just the conductors.
I’ve been riding that beautiful route my whole life. Two absolutely amazing cities; Chicago and Milwaukee. That’s the Milwaukee Roads “Natural High Speed Route”.
Nice video! The main purpose of the Amfleet diner is for wifi. MKE-CHI has not had true cafe service in decades -- if I recall it was provided early in Amtrak's life but never in recent times. The closest thing was onboard service from cart/cooler but that was discontinued in 2013 and was at the time said to require $230k in subsidy from WI and IL. I missed it when it ended but to be honest on a 90-minute trip it's not really needed.
Nice video! I'm thinking of taking the Hiawatha at some point since I live in Minneapolis and could take the Empire Builder down to Milwaukee. That sucks that they don't even use the cafe car anymore though, I hope they bring it back soon.
I'm glad you enjoyed! Taking the Empire Builder down to Milwaukee sounds like a great idea, especially since you'll get a taste of both Amtrak long distance and intercity services in one go. I really hope they bring the cafe car back into service. It still makes no sense to me why they include the car in the consist, but don't actually use it. Amtrak could've just removed it entirely, leaving only coaches like the keystone corridor, but who knows.
Great video, I love your Amtrak videos
Deleting my old comment because I thought the other half of the cafe car had business class, but turns out I was wrong. They don't even sell it on Amtrak's website for the Hiawatha so I really don't know what Amtrak is thinking lol. Maybe just a lounge car for kicks?
Who knows. Amtrak does some wild stuff, including not putting traditional dining and observation cars back on all of their long distance routes...
I live next to the track they usually don’t have the amfleet on
The yard at 9:52 is the Metra-UP California Avenue Coach Yard!
Amtrak should get Double decker siemens trains to replace their superliners and viewliners when they get old
I think I know why the Amfleets are better than Horizons. The Amfleets have dark blue bulkheads while Horizons have cream bulkheads, so dimmer panels are just more relaxing and not harsh on the eyes. The Amfleets also make use of more soft panels than Horizon, so since soft panels absorb sound, it makes for a quieter ambience
I’m pretty sure the Airo’s will be on the Hiawatha Service
That’s what I was thinking, but Amtrak didn’t list the Hiawatha in their press release, and because it’s under Amtrak Midwest, odds are it’ll be the Midwest venture coaches instead.
@@LonestarTrips yeah probably, in reality it’s basically the same things just with a different paint scheme
@@IGuessIDoThings yeah pretty much.
I feel like some of these host railroads should start taking pages from brightline 's playback to create profitable quality rail services
I was thinking that there’s a slim chance that they have to keep the café car, even without service to satisfy a minimum axle requirement by the host railroad
I know that’s why they have baggage cars on the Missouri River runner trains between St. Louis and Kansas City
I thought Glenview station the trains have to stop in the intersection and the town got annoyed or something like that,
Blame Wisconsin for lack of food service, they opted not to pay for it
Blame Scott Walker whose hatred for trains is pathologically irrational.
Many Wisconsinites like myself would love to have food service on the Hiawatha. Also the proposed extension to Green Bay.
@@mason9483 Tell your General Assembly (If the Conservatives In it will listen or care?
The new seats suck…. I’m sitting in one now.
Amtrak Midwest should be all Horizon
It's a nice train but it's a pitty that it does not operates at its ancestors speeds (100 Mph). That would shave off some 15 minutes in trip time
I will be very upset if those cars replace the NPCU
The Station was not rebuilt, the old one was torn down and this one built in its place
Why exactly did you not take Metra?
I took Metra up from Chicago, so I wanted to take the Hiawatha back south.
I don't know how you were able to do this because technically you shouldn't have been able to do it. Amtrak doesn't allow people to book trips that are still in the metropolitan area of a city.
I really hope that routes in the Amtrak Midwest service will get electrified. Some Amtrak trains could use the South Shore Line when there would be an reinvestment and re-elctrify it to 25Kv 60Hz AC. Then Airo would be cool here.
I m sorry but I don t like the new looks of Amtrak None the less I would like to see passenger business on the railroads start booming in America
The United States of America, A country and a people who are so damn gong ho on Technology. They gave up their lives and gave in to computers. They dont mind at all giving up their personal information to make purchases, everything's online, do away with money and everything old especially if it's something that makes life easy. But one thing they just cant seem to make changes on or give up and that is the slow and lethargic american trains called Amtrak. They would give up the simplicities of life and keep complexities of technology but keep the same ole trains. America needs highspeed bullet trains and even better yet, maglev super train technology. Now you wanna talk about technology? These modern marvels will definitely fit a country and people who are gong ho on Technology. Identify theft? No one in America cares about that. Their businesses will take your card and bank account information, putting you in danger of identity theft but they wount take your money which is still the safest way to do business. But when it come to the technologies of travel, the americans are blind, So much so that the far more advanced countries of the far east are walking all over them. Even poorer countries are obtaining highspeed rail. A great bullet train line from Boston Massachusetts to Miami Florida would more than prove great in the United States of America's Atlantic eastern seaboard. Cruising at speeds of up to 220 to 250 plus mph, they could move people all up and down the entire coast quickly, comfortably and more effectively than flying. Highspeed bullet train services would have arrivals and departures more frequent in many cities between Boston Massachusetts and Miami Florida. You can board a train alot easier than a flight and alot less dangerous. Yes America, Do you really want to advance yourselves? Get rid of those old slow and lethargic american trains and slip into a new technology called highspeed bullet trains. Sorry but yous aint ready for maglev super train technology. That technology supersedes you and belongs to the far more advanced countries of the far east. Traveling at speeds of up to 375mph you could board in Washington DC and be in your office in New York city in an hour or less. Try that in your beloved cars. But yous are to ignorant to see it. With a government that works to slow and loves to put its billions of dollars into putting a man on the moon to jump around and pick up rocks, America will continue to lag behind in better infrastructure. Highspeed bullet trains and maglev super train technology, the new american dream but a reality on earth......