Two long-distance train questions

The first has to do with the position of the sleeping cars on the long-distance trains. Are they normally on the front or rear end of the consist (meaning the trains are wyed at the end of the run) or are they on one end heading west and the other end returning east? Secondly, we have sleeping accommodations to Chicago and are scheduled to board at 7:17pm from Cumberland, MD. Will we get an evening meal or should we eat before arriving at the station?

Trains are normally wyed or sent around a loop track at the end of the route. Thus if the sleepers are on the rear one direction, they will be on the rear in the other direction also. Your sleeping car attendant (SCA) should have made a reservation time for you. If (s)he doesn't tell you, ask him or her.

Boarding at 7:17 pm you should still be able to make the last dinner seating unless the train is significantly delayed. Keep an eye on the actual progress of the train by monitoring http://asm.transitdocs.com (Amtrak Status Maps). If the train is running more than half an hour late, make a backup plan. (But you should be able to still have dinner if you board by eight, or even possibly a few minutes later.)

The position of the sleepers depend on specific trains, some are even seasonal in their positioning. Typically, the CL has the Sleepers between the dining car and the transition/dorm sleeper on the front. Last call for Dinner is usually 8ish, so you should be ok for dinner. A good SCA will have a reservation for you and the LSA will know you are boarding Cumberland. On a different train, it was over an hour late, but 8:45 the SCA said to drop my things in my room and head immediately to the Dining Car.

When I boarded the Texas Eagle in Texarkana at 9 p.m. my Sleeping Car Attendant said: "Welcome aboard! The Dining Car is waiting for you." I don't know if they always wait that late, but I thought it was very nice of them and I appreciated it very much.

Amtrak now specifies that passengers boarding up until 8:30 are supposed to receive dinner service. But SCAs don't always follow the rules, so if you're not offered a dinner reservation upon boarding, you should ask for one.

In my experience on the Empire Builder, boarding in Leavenworth, WA (scheduled departure time 8:00, actual departure time 8:15-ish), my SCA handed me a dinner reservation slip for 7:45 (close enough, I guess) and sent me off to the diner. I'd already eaten, so I just had a dessert and a drink.

It's been a while since I was able to ride a long distance train, but I've had both experiences, breakfast, lunch and dinner. It really depends on the hour and the disposition of the crew. The last couple of years I have found the dc crew to be really offended that you have had the temerity to come into the diner and want to be served, thereby interrupting their meal of first choice of the better entrees, or interrupting their gab sessions. It is my fondest hope that this situation has improved of late, as I am planning a DAL-LAX-SEA-CHI-DAL trip this fall.

Yes, I am indeed a foamer and Amtrak fan, and even if I have to bring my own peanut butter and jelly, I will ride in the sleepers and try to eat in the diner.

Born 50 years too late, alas.

-- Doc

I just finished with a last-call dinner aboard the Texas Eagle. My LSA Lucius and server Faith were entirely professional, gave the choice of the full range of entrées, and didn't rush me or my two companions from coach one bit. I'm looking forward to breakfast (and possibly lunch!) tomorrow.