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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

 #1532434  by exvalley
 
John_Perkowski wrote: Fri Jan 17, 2020 7:10 pm Let me make this simple...

Amtrak wants me to pay $500 per person per night for a Compartment (...errrrrr... Superliner Bedroom), at 42 sq ft.

For that price I expect chef prepared meals with farm to table ingredients, a damn good wine with dinner and brandy afterward.
Then Amtrak sleepers are not for you. It’s really that simple.
 #1532448  by Tadman
 
I would suggest that the size-to-money ratio one normally expects of sleeping accommodations is quite skewed when the sleeping accommodations move. Try booking Singapore Air's cabins... You get half a roomette for $10,000+.

But the comparison to airlines ends there. An airliner has a very predictable meal schedule - everybody gets on at Time A, eats at time B and time C, alights at Time D. There is no CN coal train or Montana blizzard in the sky that adds 3-8 hours to the schedule randomly, there is nobody boarding/alighting every hour from a wayside halt that may or may not have eaten. It's easy to build the meal into the fare as it's so predictable.

Even Via's Canadian enjoys some semblance of that predictability. Eastbound, everybody gets on in Vancouver and half the train gets off in Edmonton.

I'd also suggest that separating the meals from the transport ticket has another affect: it looks better in expense accounts. If my one-way is $400 total, it looks better as $300 transport, (2) $40 meals, and (1) $20 snack or drink.
 #1532476  by WashingtonPark
 
exvalley wrote: Fri Jan 31, 2020 3:54 am
John_Perkowski wrote: Fri Jan 17, 2020 7:10 pm Let me make this simple...

Amtrak wants me to pay $500 per person per night for a Compartment (...errrrrr... Superliner Bedroom), at 42 sq ft.

For that price I expect chef prepared meals with farm to table ingredients, a damn good wine with dinner and brandy afterward.
Then Amtrak sleepers are not for you. It’s really that simple.
Actually you each pay the coach fare and the bedroom is the same price whether one or two are in it. As a matter of fact, one trip my teenage daughter joined us and the conductor doled out meal tickets for her even though the agent told us we'd only get meals for two.
 #1532484  by John_Perkowski
 
Tad,

That Singapore Air front cabin space is going to have wine and liquor ... Amtrak doesn’t.
That air flight will have quality ingredients, in many cases with documented sources. Amtrak? Sysco. Right.

That dog don’t hunt.
 #1532516  by andrewjw
 
Tadman wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 1:59 pm
Rockingham Racer wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 5:45 pm There's no such thing as a free meal. You've prepaid for all of them when you book your sleeping car accomodation.

This idea keeps coming up on various boards: why can't they serve Acela First Class type meals in dining cars?
I've dined on Acela first class and it was nothing special. Certainly not anything more than airline domestic first class. Not bad, just totally forgettable and I'd rather go to Sbarro across from NYP.

As for why it can't work on LD trains, assuming it is both better and more costly, the Acela fares pay for all above rail costs while the Slepeer + diner do not even come close.

I don't think Acela 1 food is better than the diner on an LD anyway, although I haven't had diner food for a bit.
I'm a bit late to reply on this, but Acela 1 food compares more closely to coach meals on airlines, where they are present, than to biz or first meals. It's standard on transoceanic economy to get a hot meal in a disposable, mass-produced tray. I'd even say that the food I've had on domestic economy on Alaskan is reasonably close in quality. The Alaskan on board service is exceptionally smooth - you are not at the mercy of what is still in stock when they get to you, because you can reserve your selection (nothing fancy - sandwich, salad, or meat and cheese plate) in-app ahead of time, for the same $9.50 it would cost on board. The meals are designed by a fast casual chain from Seattle, but whoever is designing them knows what flavors will fly with your taste buds at 30k feet (low pressure dulls aromas, so target texture and strong flavor). Amtrak's app could easily support a similiar feature - just like how it currently supports seat reselection for Acela First. This would solve the problem of the sold-out Cafe - reserve an item in the Cafe, the LSA scans your ticket and won't sell your item to someone else until you've gotten off the train.
 #1532534  by SouthernRailway
 
Let’s face it: the Amfleet cafe cars, and what you can get in them, are a total disaster:

1. The cars are aging and unattractive. Nobody wants the interior as the setting for a nice meal or enjoyable evening.

2. The menu is mostly overpriced junk food. Completely unappealing to any foodie or anyone who’s health-conscious.

3. Even if the menu were fine, the food prep is just a mess. Heating pizzas, in plastic wrap, in those microwave-type ovens? No thanks.

4. They close so often, even at mealtimes (e.g., the southbound Crescent at dinnertime).

The Eastern long-distance dining cars, although not as good as they were, are even a lot better.
 #1532879  by Gilbert B Norman
 
There is a report at another site, that there are placards on the "First Class Lounge" tables encouraging passengers to sit and chat together.

Don't know what the game is, but apparently lack of space doesn't appear to be it.

In my twilight years, the only place I've been into voluntary communal seating, has been at "free breakfast" hotel brands such as Express and Hampton, which have communal tables near the TV.

Finally on last month's Auto-Train journey, the Flat Iron steak was "edible", unlike the "Hockey puck Short Ribs" from a few years ago. Also, the vaunted Food Truck was MIA @ SFA.
 #1532982  by lordsigma12345
 
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 11:12 am There is a report at another site, that there are placards on the "First Class Lounge" tables encouraging passengers to sit and chat together.

Don't know what the game is, but apparently lack of space doesn't appear to be it.

In my twilight years, the only place I've been into voluntary communal seating, has been at "free breakfast" hotel brands such as Express and Hampton, which have communal tables near the TV.

Finally on last month's Auto-Train journey, the Flat Iron steak was "edible", unlike the "Hockey puck Short Ribs" from a few years ago. Also, the vaunted Food Truck was MIA @ SFA.
Just out of curiosity was the sleeper lounge car on your trip one of the converted dining car variety (with the food service area upstairs) or was it a converted sightseer?
 #1533077  by Gilbert B Norman
 
lordsigma12345 wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:43 amJust out of curiosity was the sleeper lounge car on your trip....
Mr. Lord, on 52(26JAN), the Dining and Lounge facilities for Coach were a 370XX "Cross.Country" and a 3350X Lounge. For Sleeper, a 3350X Lounge and 380XX Diner.

It is encouraging to see that three additional X-Country's have assignments. Regarding.the one 330XX Sightseer in the AT pool, maybe it's gone and reassigned where needed.

I reiterate why any road in the Florida msrket has ever spent a dime on glassed cars escapes me. I think I can be condidered an "Old Florida Hand" having gone down each year for the past forty. Trust me, "if you've seen one Pine Tree, you've seen 'em all". My Auto-Train "drill" is first Dinner seating, my "bottle" chilling down in the Bedroom sink, and my New York Times. The only reason for the Lounge, and especially now with eight Sleepers, is overflow Dining space. What purpose beyond that escapes me, but then I must consider my age and "not all that high" sociability level.
 #1533131  by lordsigma12345
 
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 8:58 am
lordsigma12345 wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:43 amJust out of curiosity was the sleeper lounge car on your trip....
Mr. Lord, on 52(26JAN), the Dining and Lounge facilities for Coach were a 370XX "Cross.Country" and a 3350X Lounge. For Sleeper, a 3350X Lounge and 380XX Diner.

It is encouraging to see that three additional X-Country's have assignments. Regarding.the one 330XX Sightseer in the AT pool, maybe it's gone and reassigned where needed.

I reiterate why any road in the Florida msrket has ever spent a dime on glassed cars escapes me. I think I can be condidered an "Old Florida Hand" having gone down each year for the past forty. Trust me, "if you've seen one Pine Tree, you've seen 'em all". My Auto-Train "drill" is first Dinner seating, my "bottle" chilling down in the Bedroom sink, and my New York Times. The only reason for the Lounge, and especially now with eight Sleepers, is overflow Dining space. What purpose beyond that escapes me, but then I must consider my age and "not all that high" sociability level.
Thanks for the report. When I rode in October it was still kicking around. On that round trip to Walt Disney World I had the X Country heading south for the lounge, and the former Sightseer heading north. If my memory is working from my recent trips, that Sightseer has been permanently modified for the Auto Train by converting it to all tables and they also had installed the new Point of Sale so it appeared it was sticking around - though it probably could see better use elsewhere. I think the other reason for the Lounge besides the overflow dining is just a place to go and drink socially for those that want to do so on my last trip people were calling it the "bar car" - but I think the X Country with the service area upstairs actually works better as a "bar car".
 #1533166  by ryanch
 
Tadman wrote: Fri Jan 31, 2020 9:15 am But the comparison to airlines ends there. An airliner has a very predictable meal schedule - everybody gets on at Time A, eats at time B and time C, alights at Time D. There is no CN coal train or Montana blizzard in the sky that adds 3-8 hours to the schedule randomly,
Well, I've probably flown 30 times in the last 15 years, and my experiences include a blizzard knocking out our Chicago-Albuquergue flight and forcing us to a 6-hour hotel in, um, well, I'm not even sure where it was anymore, within 15 minutes of some damn airport, maybe Vegas, followed by a late connection the next morning; and a return that was cancelled because of a minor snow storm in friggin' Atlanta, which had nothing to do with our flight except that it grounded the plane that was supposed to take us back to Chicago; and another time, my wife got diverted to Milwaukee because of a storm, although I guess that shouldn't count among my 30 flights since I wasn't with her.

Airlines are more reliable than Amtrak, but I think you've overstated it.
Last edited by ryanch on Sat Feb 08, 2020 2:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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