Modeling Passenger Trains, Yay or Nay?

[Green_Elite_Cab]

I think present day modellers are limited in their choices---Amtak or Via or commuter trains.They do have their own personal appeal but cannot match the individual and colourful consists of the" good old days"

I wouldn't say that modern Amtrak trains don't have individual consists either. Until a few years ago, a mix of of paint schemes could be seen, from some early schemes to the short lived "acela regional" paint with trippy color blobs similar to what is seen on the Acela Express. Long Distance trains on the Northeast Corridor are easy to tell from each other, consisting of cars of all different shapes and sizes (MHCs, heritage baggage and diner cars, viewliner sleepers, Amfleet I/II, Horizon fleet, etc).

Commuter trains are also not necessarily identical. In this 2007 view, from left to right, are "new" Comet V single level cars, a Comet IB (former 1968 St.Louis car co. Jersey Arrow I MU made into a cab car), a comet II coach (1983) behind the Comet IB, a Comet III Cab car from the early 90s, and a 1968 Comet I cab car (the original push pull commuter trains!). The only car classes missing are Comet IIM, and IV types, each with a different paint scheme, with or without center doors, and other details.

Only in the absolute most current day have many of those cars been retired, but even the 1968 cars (Comet I and former Arrows) have found uses on SEPTA and Western commuter roads. They could very well be plying the rails in Utah and California until after their 50th birthdays, definitely contrasting with all the Bombardier and Alstom products of recent times.