mtuandrew wrote:If it’s the Silver Starve, it ought to be the Silver MeatierCongratulations on Silver Meatier. Perfect.
Railroad Forums
Viewliner II Delivery/Production
- Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman
F40CFan wrote:Then I would think if the Star is considered a sleeper passenger magnet, I'd transfer one of the sleepers from the Meteor over to the Star and cash in until CAF delivers the new sleepers.My hypothesis: Given on already paying the fixed costs for the diner, the marginal revenue of a sleeper passenger on the Meteor is probably higher than that on the Star, so they'd rather have more Meteor passengers than more Star passengers.
Entirely true. The artificial constraints of the small Viewliner fleet make this impossible.
Last edited by gokeefe on Sat Aug 25, 2018 3:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
gokeefe
BandA wrote:flerrg? Koffefe!Ah the joys of posting from the cell phone ...
gokeefe
Mackensen wrote:I'm in this exact same boat. I'm 36 and I travel almost only for business. I avoid the buffs holding court in the diner/lounge because, among other things, half their information is a bit off usually.Tadman wrote:Agreed. Most of the bad news has been anecdotal and come from three sources - Trains Mag, PTJ, and NARP. Most of their writers and personnel seem to be of the same mind: "We must preserve A-day which has the mission of preserving 1959". Hard pass... makes no sense and probably doesn't make financial sense either.I found it rather telling that Bob Johnston at Trains wrote several pieces on the changes, dwelt at length on the supposed difficulty passengers were having with the packaging (I did not observe such and had no real problems myself), and avoided the question of food quality. Make of that what you will. Admittedly, I'm an atypical sleeper passenger. I travel on business. I'm under 40. I've had good times in the dining car but I could take it or leave it as a social function (I could definitely leave listening to railfans in their 60s and 70s complaining about management).
The new Acela: It's not Aveliable.
I'm reluctant to take this thread which is not about food into the same territory as the nearly 3 others on the subject, but hey, if the moderator is doing it: I can't speculate on why he didn't say the replacement food was bad, but it is, and somehow they managed to run out of the not-good vegan wrap on my trip, meaning you either go hungry or eat the slightly worse food comped in the cafe. I am not planning on taking the Capitol Limited or Lake Shore Limited anymore -- it's not worth the money and it's no longer pleasant. I am also 36, have not yet traveled for business on Amtrak (apart from the corridor), but have nearly always travelled because I'm going someplace, not because I wanted to ride a train -- I just found it a nice way to go. I did a single "for the train" trip to St. Louis earlier this summer to ride on the Capitol Limited before they screwed it all up, and was planning on cancelling the rest of my travel this summer on either train and flying instead, but I figured it would be better to actually see for myself before making a decision. I'd like to ride a western train at some point and will work it into a vacation, but I'll fly to the Midwest to do it unless something changes in this area.
I also don't know what trips you're taking, but on the trips I've taken, it's generally older people (in fact most of the people who ever end up on the train in sleeper are), or families. Everyone seemed to be aware of the changes to the food (it was a topic of conversation at most meals at at least one table, sometimes more), but there were no foamers to be found. I tend to eat on the late side. Most recently the only people in the diner were a guy and his kid (I had got the feeling they hadn't ridden before), two older couples, a younger woman alone with her iPad, and a guy who was apparently telling everyone he ate with the same story about some wild night he once had (our companion at a meal gestured that she'd heard it the night before).
Anyway, this still has nothing to do with delivery or production, but if other folks are going to spin a narrative, or attempt to discredit others', I think it's fair to dispute it.
I also don't know what trips you're taking, but on the trips I've taken, it's generally older people (in fact most of the people who ever end up on the train in sleeper are), or families. Everyone seemed to be aware of the changes to the food (it was a topic of conversation at most meals at at least one table, sometimes more), but there were no foamers to be found. I tend to eat on the late side. Most recently the only people in the diner were a guy and his kid (I had got the feeling they hadn't ridden before), two older couples, a younger woman alone with her iPad, and a guy who was apparently telling everyone he ate with the same story about some wild night he once had (our companion at a meal gestured that she'd heard it the night before).
Anyway, this still has nothing to do with delivery or production, but if other folks are going to spin a narrative, or attempt to discredit others', I think it's fair to dispute it.
|=| R. Novosielski |=|
I agree 100% with the previous post.
I have been riding Amtrak long distance trains since 1977 mainly because I enjoy train travel. Our most recent trip on Train #448 has made me and my wife reconsider traveling on the Lake Shore Limited or Capitol Limited in the future.
We departed Chicago on Train #448 on August 1. In the train was the new Viewliner dining car "Harrisburg". The breakfast offering was beyond bad: the fruit was not ripe and the portions too large. I am not a big fan of yogurt, so "breakfast" consisted of some of the fruit and the muffin. Train #448 then experienced two extensive delays between Erie and Buffalo causing us to depart Buffalo 4 hours 15 minutes late. The beef short rib for lunch was "passable", but at least it was a hot option. At no point during our trip did we ever observe more that 6 or 8 people in the dining car.
CSX did a good job keeping us moving along, but Train #448 was still 3 hours 45 minutes late upon departing Rensselaer. My wife and I could not stand the thought of three of those boxed meals in the same trip, so upon departing Rensselaer we went to the cafe car. (By now, some sleeping car passengers were ordering off of the children's menu just for the sake of change). Even though the train still had nearly 5 hours to travel before reaching Boston (our destination was Springfield, MA), the cafe car was out of just about everything and we were fortunate to get the last couple of hot dogs. Looks like the car was never restocked in Rensselaer...
Let me conclude by saying that if it is the long term goal of Amtrak to alienate long time customers and discourage repeat business, I say to them "Congratulations". Their plan is working. As mentioned by the previous poster, it is no longer an enjoyable experience and simply not worth the cost of the sleeping car accommodations.
I have been riding Amtrak long distance trains since 1977 mainly because I enjoy train travel. Our most recent trip on Train #448 has made me and my wife reconsider traveling on the Lake Shore Limited or Capitol Limited in the future.
We departed Chicago on Train #448 on August 1. In the train was the new Viewliner dining car "Harrisburg". The breakfast offering was beyond bad: the fruit was not ripe and the portions too large. I am not a big fan of yogurt, so "breakfast" consisted of some of the fruit and the muffin. Train #448 then experienced two extensive delays between Erie and Buffalo causing us to depart Buffalo 4 hours 15 minutes late. The beef short rib for lunch was "passable", but at least it was a hot option. At no point during our trip did we ever observe more that 6 or 8 people in the dining car.
CSX did a good job keeping us moving along, but Train #448 was still 3 hours 45 minutes late upon departing Rensselaer. My wife and I could not stand the thought of three of those boxed meals in the same trip, so upon departing Rensselaer we went to the cafe car. (By now, some sleeping car passengers were ordering off of the children's menu just for the sake of change). Even though the train still had nearly 5 hours to travel before reaching Boston (our destination was Springfield, MA), the cafe car was out of just about everything and we were fortunate to get the last couple of hot dogs. Looks like the car was never restocked in Rensselaer...
Let me conclude by saying that if it is the long term goal of Amtrak to alienate long time customers and discourage repeat business, I say to them "Congratulations". Their plan is working. As mentioned by the previous poster, it is no longer an enjoyable experience and simply not worth the cost of the sleeping car accommodations.
Viewliner diner 68020 is traveling right now as I speak on the back of Train #137 as per a post on Facebook's Amtrak Northeast Corridor Railfans.
Train2009 wrote:Viewliner diner 68020 is traveling right now as I speak on the back of Train #137 as per a post on Facebook's Amtrak Northeast Corridor Railfans.Confirmed: O/S GUNPOW @ 20:49
yea i saw it on there from train 90. Where was this car coming from? They have not started any service back up south of richmond yet.
No good deed goes unpunished.
This might be a car finally cut loose by CAF quietly.
The Land of Enchantment is not Flyover country!
ApproachMedium wrote:yea i saw it on there from train 90. Where was this car coming from? They have not started any service back up south of richmond yet.That car was sitting on the storage track in South Hampton St yard for at least a month now, was added to 137 yesterday am and sent packing.
Backshophoss wrote:This might be a car finally cut loose by CAF quietly.20 - Providence has been on the property "for a while"; the remaining undelivered Diners are 00 Albany, 10 Dover, and 11 Frankfort.
Undelivered are thirty seven cars; 25 Sleepers, 9 Dorms, 3 Diners.
Maybe by the time i retire ill see them all delievered. MEANWHILE AT SIEMENS: 5 complete Brightline sets were delievered, how many chargers were delievered.... oh 80 plus ACS64s.....And starting on caltran cars now. I bet the entire midwest/caltran order will be done and the Siemens factory closed before CAF meets their commitment.
No good deed goes unpunished.