Dinner on the Southwest Chief, to and from Fort Madison, Iowa

OK, the question is, with sleeper booked going west from Ft Madison and later back to Ft Madison from Chicago with a depart / arv time of 6:40pm will we get dinner going and coming? Seems like in the past, when we boarded going west in a sleeper then attendant had make 8pm reservation for dinner for us. Have never had a sleeper for short trip from Chicago back to Ft Madison but the sleeper was not to many points more than coach plus we can check out the new lounge in Chicago.

From my one experience on the Southwest Chief: Barring a very late train, the diner should still be open and serving at the Fort Madison stop so you should be able to have dinner. Normally your sleeper attendant will take notice of your expected arrival and have a dinner reservation ready for you. But, if not, the diner usually makes a "last call" which you can catch...although I would advise you to head to the diner as soon as you board and inform them; even if they have no slots remaining they might be able to call you in early if they have a no-show.

Coming from Chicago west to Fort Madison you should have no problems eating dinner as long as you grab the earliest available seating. I'd recommend camping out in the corridor near the diner when the LSA announces he is about to start taking dinner reservations.

I can confirm ehbowen's experience.

Thanks all. Just up the river from you GM&O, in Hamilton IL.

To be sure, you'd get lunch on the trip from FDM to CHI since the train is scheduled to arrive at 3:15pm, correct?