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The Viewliner is a single-level car type used by Amtrak on most long-distance routes operating east of Chicago. With the exception of a prototype dining car named "Indianapolis", all cars which have been in service so far are sleeping cars and are assigned names that include the word "View." Amtrak began placing 130 additional cars into service on March 23, 2015, including diners, sleepers, baggage-dorms, and baggage cars.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/277/464/Amtrak-Previews-New-Long-Distance-Cars-ATK-13-127.pdf )〕 == Early design == In the 1980s, Amtrak was looking to replace its Heritage Fleet railcars, which had been in service as far back as the 1940s. While new Superliner cars were built starting in 1979, those cars were too tall to run on Amtrak's eastern routes because of clearance issues in and around both New York Pennsylvania Station and Baltimore Pennsylvania Station (see loading gauge and structure gauge). Working with the Budd Company, Amtrak drafted plans for new single-level sleeping and dining cars that utilized a 'modular' design where the interiors of the cars, especially the sleepers, were built in units separate from the exterior shell. These units contain all fixtures, electrical components, sewage and fresh water handling internally and are then mated with the car exterior shell upon assembly. This approach allows for easier maintenance and reconfiguration through removal and replacement of individual units. Access for this purpose is via a removable hatch on the side of the car, a distinguishing feature of the Viewliner series. Unlike the Superliners, occupants of both bunks in the bedrooms have an outside view. The design of the cars was created by Amtrak's design group, which received input from every department in the company. At the time of their introduction into service, Amtrak planned to assemble a fleet of over a thousand cars during the ten years after their introduction. The prototype Viewliner cars were assembled at Amtrak's Beech Grove Shops in Beech Grove, Indiana in 1987-1988 from Budd components. Two sleeping cars (2300 and 2301) were built, as was one dining car (8400). These cars were tested on the Capitol Limited beginning in 1988. The prototypes were in regular service until 2002; however, money from the 2009 stimulus package recently funded the restoration of dining car 8400 to service. In March 2014, prototype sleeper 2301 (which had been renumbered to 62091) was converted into an inspection car〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3796342 )〕 named "American View"〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3796343 )〕 and given the number 10004. This inspection car has rear-facing seats and a large glass window at the end that allows passengers to observe the tracks.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3929577 )〕 "American View" is used by maintenance crews to visually inspect the tracks for defects and by the Amtrak president and other executives for official purposes. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Viewliner」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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