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  • Amtrak Diner and Food Service Discussion

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1543886  by Gilbert B Norman
 
I can see it now; Mr. Train Guy.

Amtrak orders conversion of the entire V-II Diner fleet to all purpose, all passengers, Food and Beverage Service Cars...…

And then, the edict from Congress (through the Board) comes down.

"Restore Full Service Dining and separate Lounge service to all Single Level LD trains".

Oh the Eumenides; What waste :( :(
 #1543888  by STrRedWolf
 
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 6:30 pm I can see it now; Mr. Train Guy.

Amtrak orders conversion of the entire V-II Diner fleet to all purpose, all passengers, Food and Beverage Service Cars...…

And then, the edict from Congress (through the Board) comes down.

"Restore Full Service Dining and separate Lounge service to all Single Level LD trains".

Oh the Eumenides; What waste :( :(
The thing is... this is Congress mandating these moves with dining. It's going to take Congress doing a u-turn on it. And you know how Congress moves (great, what critter pulled the emergency brake again...)
 #1543918  by Pensyfan19
 
STrRedWolf wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 6:58 pm
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 6:30 pm I can see it now; Mr. Train Guy.

Amtrak orders conversion of the entire V-II Diner fleet to all purpose, all passengers, Food and Beverage Service Cars...…

And then, the edict from Congress (through the Board) comes down.

"Restore Full Service Dining and separate Lounge service to all Single Level LD trains".

Oh the Eumenides; What waste :( :(
The thing is... this is Congress mandating these moves with dining. It's going to take Congress doing a u-turn on it. And you know how Congress moves (great, what critter pulled the emergency brake again...)
And by that time the Viewliners will be as old as the Amfleets. :P

I personally feel that each LD train should have actual dining service (the status quo before Anderson and the Cold Cuts Limited) with at least one Diner (it doesn't even have to be a Viewliner. I've been on a few heritage diners before, but new diners don't have to be Viewliners) and at least one café car. Better yet, why not have two diner cars like most of the LD trains before the 2000s? Or at least one and one so that there can be enough food to go around for almost everyone?
 #1543936  by Rockingham Racer
 
I can think of only two trains that Amtrak ran with "two diners". The former Pennsy twin-unit diner on its version of the Broadway Limited, which paled compared with the PRR's version, to say the least. The second would be the Auto Train.
 #1543937  by Rockingham Racer
 
bostontrainguy wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 6:11 pm
Rockingham Racer wrote: Thu May 14, 2020 5:50 am Not for too long; a single food service car scenario is in the cards, they say.
If Congress can mandate that Amtrak reinstate station agents then they can mandate Amtrak reinstate real dining service.

The idea that one Viewliner II diner can adequately serve an entire LD train is insanity and insulting to us passengers.
Perhaps, but:

In the planned model, there will be no sit-down service AFAIK. Everyone carries back to either their seat or their room [or gets delivery to their room].

This is an Amtrak-conceived idea, IIRC. Congress had nothing to do with this specific plan of operation. So yes, it will be up to them to reverse this downward trend in on-board service.

I'm not a Biblical scholar, but if this plan goes through, there will be a lot of "longing for the onions of Egypt."
 #1543948  by bostontrainguy
 
Rockingham Racer wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 4:39 am Perhaps, but:

In the planned model, there will be no sit-down service AFAIK. Everyone carries back to either their seat or their room [or gets delivery to their room].

This is an Amtrak-conceived idea, IIRC. Congress had nothing to do with this specific plan of operation. So yes, it will be up to them to reverse this downward trend in on-board service.

I'm not a Biblical scholar, but if this plan goes through, there will be a lot of "longing for the onions of Egypt."
Disgusting and unsanitary. Maybe I can't stand the smell of shrimp and the guy next to me is eating his shrimp and grits dinner (or whatever it's called) in the coach seat next to me. How much food is going to be spilled and dropped along the way to your seat and also find its way down the seat cushion? Where are all these dirty "dishes", utensils and trays going to end up?

LD train passengers should not be treated this way, period.
 #1543951  by STrRedWolf
 
Rockingham Racer wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 4:39 am Perhaps, but:

In the planned model, there will be no sit-down service AFAIK. Everyone carries back to either their seat or their room [or gets delivery to their room].

This is an Amtrak-conceived idea, IIRC. Congress had nothing to do with this specific plan of operation. So yes, it will be up to them to reverse this downward trend in on-board service.

I'm not a Biblical scholar, but if this plan goes through, there will be a lot of "longing for the onions of Egypt."
IIRC, Congress mandated a reduction of food costs (w/o saying how).

That said, the Amtrak plan looks very much like the LD airline model, just w/o the stewards/stewardesses asking you "Chicken or fish?" at your seat. I won't mind that if it was communicated/marketed as such, and if the food was good. Right now, I'm hearing that a TV dinner is better. Maxim #7: If the food is good enough, the grunts will stop complaining about the incoming fire.
 #1543955  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Rockingham Racer wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 4:31 am I can think of only two trains that Amtrak ran with "two diners". The former Pennsy twin-unit diner on its version of the Broadway Limited, which paled compared with the PRR's version, to say the least. The second would be the Auto Train.
Mr. Rockingham, lest we forget the "twin unit" Diners Amtrak converted from Coaches and called them "Table Cars". They were coupled (not articulated as were the Triple Unit varietals the SP had) to Diners that had been converted to provide Cafeteria Service.

Such service was provided during the '80's on the Florida trains - including Auto Train; I had very "mixed" thoughts and didn't exactly sob when it was "markers"; especially on the Auto Train, where it was replaced with the ultimate dining experience I'd known on my twenty five Auto Train rides. That experience was when from '91 until introduction of the S-II's with the ex-MILW Super Domes Amtrak acquired from Princess Tours (defunct OAK-LAX "Luxocar"). The food was prepared on board, and Princess had added Gold tint to the dome windows.
 #1543956  by SouthernRailway
 
As long as the Flexible Dining breakfasts are improved, I will deal with Flexible Dining.

But to have just one meal- gas station food in a cardboard tray, combined with consistently being told how I'm "wrong" when I ask for breakfast- on the northbound Crescent (almost 8 hours of daytime travel time on its last day of a northbound trip) is just too much. I get off the train, hungry and angry. That shouldn't be.
 #1543966  by Tadman
 
bostontrainguy wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 8:26 am Disgusting and unsanitary. Maybe I can't stand the smell of shrimp and the guy next to me is eating his shrimp and grits dinner (or whatever it's called) in the coach seat next to me. How much food is going to be spilled and dropped along the way to your seat and also find its way down the seat cushion? Where are all these dirty "dishes", utensils and trays going to end up?

LD train passengers should not be treated this way, period.
How is this any different than what we have now? What if the guy next to you in the diner order said shrimp? Where do your dirty dishes end up when you get a lounge car meal and carry it to your seat? How do people in other countries suffer the outrage of carrying a meal back to their seat on the ICE, TGV, or Talgo? What do US passengers do on the Palmetto or Pennsylvanian? What would you do if I carried on a huge styrafoam tub of Lebanese food and sat down next to you in coach?
 #1543968  by Jeff Smith
 
So future ex-Mrs. el Jefe and I are in the throes of planning a three leg trip out west for SEP/OCT. NYP-CHI-SEA (LSL and EB) and after a couple days in SEA, a trip on the Coast Starlight down to LA. Are the western LD's as bad as the eastern LD's have apparently become?
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