Hospitality Hour On Superliners 1987ish

According to this commercial:


Amtrak used to have a hospitality hour. Does anyone remember it?

I fondly remember the Hospitality Hours when some kind of theme drink was specially priced and bowls of snackies were laid out in the SSL. I also recall taped music would play in the Superliner Diner, but more often than not the tape deck would hang up and drag, making it sound more like a cacophony of neighborhood cats.

It mentions movies! Has anyone gone downstairs in the PPC to watch a movie?

Amtrak tried movies on several routes, (back in the VideoTAPE days) and they worked out pretty well, kinda. When the TVs (not monitors, but actual TVs) or VCRs weren't stolen while the equipment sat idle between runs in LA, Sunnyside, or Chicago.

I like what Algoma Central Railroad does for "Entertainment"

"As well, locomotive mounted digital cameras will provide an engineers ‘eye view’ on the flat screen monitors installed throughout the coaches..........."

Now, I'm betting they "get away with this" because there are so few grade crossings on the Agawa Canyon Tour, which I rode in the 70's, and am planning to ride again next year (Fingers X) as part of a two-week "Re-Discover Michigan" tour with my HS aged kids.

I'm afraid installing cameras for the passengers on Amtrak, might create panic, as the public has no, zero, nada, idea on the quantity of near-misses that happen every single day, on every single train. (Tourist, commuter, freight, Intercity)

Personally, I'd pay a few bucks, if I could get the "Engineer Eye View" streamed live to my device. (Amtrak, you listening? Money-making opportunity here, defray the cost of WiFi. Hey, the Auto Train Priority extra fee to ensure your vehicle is one of the first 25 off has worked.....)

George K said:

It mentions movies! Has anyone gone downstairs in the PPC to watch a movie?

Click to expand...

On my last trip north on the CS, I went down to watch the "One Hundred Foot Journey". There was one couple down there with their young child.

At the start it did not start to play so I went up to find the PPC guy to start the movie.

The couple left about 2/3 of the way through the movie. I stayed until the end and then retired to the roomette. Woke up north of Dunsmuir and watched the sunrise before K-Falls.

Could they add a free popcorn machine downstairs? My tire store and my oil change place both have popcorn machines and coffee available.

I do remember a TV in one end of a viewliner car that had a kids movie.

The SSL used to have movies in the 80's and early 90's, sometimes a children one first followed by a PG one for the adults and older kids. I used to view the movies on the Viewliner in its first years. I remember a Chicago Amtrak employee coming on to switch out the movies in the mini-cassette player located in the middle of the car. He had a case full of movies. It was just hard to watch on the 3" screen in the room.

I think the "hospitality hour" might work either in the evening after sunset or perhaps in scenically insignificant areas. But can you imagine trying to take

in the Colorado Rockies or the Pacific coast from the SSL while a few dozen people are partying it up in the background? Seems unnecessary, to me.

I do remember them. I once won a trivia game on the CZ and got the prize! I also remember the movies in the SSL with the two (25"?) TV sets in the corner on each end of the car. (This was before the tables on one end, it used to have all sideward facing seats.) It was sometimes hard to hear the sound.

I remember chef's round up In the lounge with chips and salsa. I also won dinner in the diner for winning a trivia contest. Yes, movies in the lounge car shown on tv's at each end with sound played over the car's intercom.

George K said:

It mentions movies! Has anyone gone downstairs in the PPC to watch a movie?

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Two movies were offered when I was on the CS last week. Didn't bother to go down to watch.

DSC00054 by Brian H, on Flickr

OlympianHiawatha said:

I fondly remember the Hospitality Hours when some kind of theme drink was specially priced and bowls of snackies were laid out in the SSL. I also recall taped music would play in the Superliner Diner, but more often than not the tape deck would hang up and drag, making it sound more like a cacophony of neighborhood cats.

Click to expand...

Was the drink mixed from the cafe below or did they use the currently abandoned food prep area on the top floor?

I remember scavenger hunts run by the On Board Service Manager (no other responsibilities) that my daughters participated in winning an Amtrak souvenir.

Neener, neener.

We had Spiderman on our trip!

And no, I didn't go downstairs either.

Those "Hospitality Hours" were very nice, but they pale in comparison to what the former Seaboard Coastline RR offered on their premier winter season train, the "Florida Special" between New York and Miami....

In their 'Recreation Car", you could watch live TV when within a coverage area, watch movies, play bingo, go shopping, and....see a live "fashion show" of the latest Jantzen swimsuits, while you enjoyed drinks and snacks! In addition, they sometimes had live music and dancing, and 'horse racing' gambling games. It varied thru the years dating back to its ACL origins...

railiner said:

Those "Hospitality Hours" were very nice, but they pale in comparison to what the former Seaboard Coastline RR offered on their premier winter season train, the "Florida Special" between New York and Miami....

In their 'Recreation Car", you could watch live TV when within a coverage area, watch movies, play bingo, go shopping, and....see a live "fashion show" of the latest Jantzen swimsuits, while you enjoyed drinks and snacks! In addition, they sometimes had live music and dancing, and 'horse racing' gambling games. It varied thru the years dating back to its ACL origins...

Click to expand...

Well "Live TV" within coverage area sounds like the the old days version of modern trying to find wifi signal while moving on the train.

seat38a said:

Well "Live TV" within coverage area sounds like the the old days version of modern trying to find wifi signal while moving on the train.

Click to expand...

At least TV signals have a much larger broadcast area than wi-fi signals!

IIRC, the attendant tried to tune it to things like the news while in metro area's.... In addition to what I previously mentioned, I recall the car having a public mobile telephone...