Amfleet and Horizon: A Retrospective

For nearly 50 years, Amtrak has rostered the Amfleet passenger car, and the Horizon has followed suit for over 30! These designs have become icons for the railroad. Several generations of people have ridden and seen these cars roaming the rails. So, how have the Amfleet and Horizon survived in service this long?

Music:
Kirby Star Allies - Gallery
Mario Party - Wario's Battle Canyon
A Hat in Time - File Select
Tomodachi Life - Interior Shop
Mario Party 2 - Let the Game Begin
Yakuza Like a Dragon - Sub Apathy 2
OMORI - Hanging With The Boys
Super Mario World - Wandering the Plains

Links:

[marcleslac]

Remember kids,
Budd
Don't
Break.

[Seaboardsystem-te]

0:52 he tells the same story every video about train history and yet you somehow still find different stock footage every time😂

[masrod]

The Amfleets have gone on to become an iconic part of American railroading, even more so than the Superliners. Perhaps I'm biased since I grew up in the Northeast, but when I think of Amtrak, I think of sleek, tubular cars racing up and down the NEC. My father on the other hand hated the round design and "naked wheels" as he would call them. He told me when he first saw an Amfleet on a trip down to DC in the 70s, he deliberately missed that train to take a long distance one with the heritage fleet. I remember as a kid, we would take the Adirondack from NYP to Montreal, QC many times and I would get so excited when they put Amfleets on the train and even tease my Dad about it, to which we would share a laugh. Those Amfleets have carried me on happy days, sad days, sick days and have just been an all around positive experience on my life. I live in Europe now and only visit the US once a year to see family, but when I do, I am sure to ride and watch them as much as I can. I know their time is almost up and I will miss them dearly when they go!

[lnerbclass]

AmtrakGuy365 is the only youtuber that can make me watch over 10 minutes of random stuff that I do not care about whatsoever, and now I'm addicted to them.

[deucemckenzie]

I'm simultaneously mourning the impending retirement of those delightful 70s-futuristic tube designs, and also fairly confident that Amfleet II is likely to outlive me

[banksrail]

I say, hand those Amfleets and Horizons to start-up commuter/intercity routes and 100% replace the WWII cars on the Piedmont. Some states just don’t have the budget to buy new cars/rolling stock for their proposed routes. (Ex. Borealis) Amtrak has always used equipment shortages as a reason to not open new routes and this is where I think these old cars can help. I wouldn’t be proud of it, but something is better than nothing.

[Ostermond]

8:58 "Who thought this was a good idea?" Blame the Midwest and California for those ones; they did a combined order that's separate from the rest of Amtrak's order of Ventures and Airos.

[kvnrndn]

Ah yes, tubular fluted stainless steel, God's railcar.

[valkyrie_pilot]

the amfleets are so unbelievably resilient.
Thanks for your quality work, budd.

[lachlanlau]

Despite being from Melbourne, Australia I found this retrospective very interesting.. I guess I just love looking at the past. Glad to hear that they are being preserved!

[josieferrandino]

Just saying this, but we need a National Amtrak Museum asap

[mr.conductorfromsts]

Wow! I realized how well that Amfleet I coaches went on, ever since I saw it on Northeast Corridor. Since my my 19th Birthday. I can really tell that how comfy these seats are when I went my very first Amtrak trip from New York to Washington by taking the Early Bird of Northeast Regional: 151. And now I still can see the Amfleet Coaches roaming around on the Northeast Corridor until Amtrak Airo will roam on to the rails.

[stinkyroadhog]

It's funny hearing you talk about how old Amfleet's are when VIA Rail Canada still uses 70-80 year old Budd streamliner HEP cars. A replacement is already in the process but its truly wonderful to see the old Budds, some from 1947, still operating, still feeling modern, still comfortable and still well liked. Many are hoping the new LD fleet is very similar or based directly on the HEP cars.

[ChinyiFXE]

As always, you never disappoint with the quality of your videos

[MrJoowoneeno]

4:57 Wow I haven't seen that commercial in 40 years! I always liked how they based it on how the airlines show the plane coming out of the hangar.

[COASTER]

It's such a shame the venture cars are so much less comfortable. This is a concerningly common trend with all new transit vehicles across the US typically in the name of easier cleaning. WMATA's 7k series, BART, DART, and MBTA just to name a few. I also hate facing backward while travelling but now you have a 50% chance of it on the NE corridor. With car oriented cities in a country that can't invest in electrified rail transit transit is never going to be faster than driving, so the least mass transit should be is comfortable.

[ffwildcat]

Love that you use the 1984 National Geographic film “Love those trains” in here. I had that VHS as a kid and wore the tape out!

[InventorZahran]

3:24 Is this section narrated by a computer voice? Its speech sounds unnaturally awkward, and not very authentic to the time period of these Amfleet advertisements.

[NostallYT]

There’s something about the look of the Amfleets that clicks with me. They’re just pleasing to look at.

[steamdragon]

There’s definitely something about these coaches that feels like being transported back to a different time (in a good way). I was not alive during the time these coaches were built, but I do like to pretend that I’m a dude from the 70’s smoking a cigarette and listening to my music as the world cruises by lol. May be kinda cringe to have a favorite memory of the coaches, but one is that when in DC there’s a long wait due to the engine being switched, and these two dudes were watching a baseball game on a laptop. They were kinda loud, but the remaining passengers on that coach migrated towards the laptop to watch the game and commentate along with the two guys. Just a nice moment of life and community on a train :].