I have no idea what anyone at Amtrak has to gain by keeping ice out of the sleeping cars. Years ago ice was freely available and we didn't have any problems. On Viewliners the attendants kept a box in their room or near the coffee machine. On many Superliners there was an ice compartment below the coffee machine. No one died from using that ice. Today we just take our own cooler full of ice aboard.
Right. Nobody has anything at all to gain except maintenance of public health standards, and protection for Amtrak against lawsuits and citations for FDA violations.
The Auto Train converted to the enclosed Doue-Egbert machines many years ago after some unsupervised kids were caught putting some very objectionable substances into a 36 cup percolator. Amtrak personnel are there to provide service, but they can''t do that if they have to play the role of prison guard and ride herd over people with uncivilized behavior.
I remembered those Doue-Egbert as being capable of dispensing coffee, decaf, or hot water for tea. I texted my friend, who is working a sleeper on the Auto Train today, to ask him whether this is still true. He responded, "Some of the machines are and some are not". I believe most of the machines in the sleepers will dispense hot water.
To understand why Amtrak doesn't allow free access to ice in open, accessible ice wells anymore, please refer to my comments about the kids and the 36 cup percolator. We always kept an ice scoop available by the machine, clearly marked. In fact, when I worked the sleepers, I always kept one or two extra ice scoops in my grip in case the scoop magically disappeared enroute. Nevertheless, I caught passengers more than once reaching into the well to get ice with their bare hands. It's hard to be diplomatic and patient with somebody who is being that idiotic, but I usually tried. I got great, imaginative excuses like "But I only took one" or "I didn't think anybody would care". Once I was so mad that I just emptied the well in front of the offending person. He asked why and I calmly said. "It's been contaminated, so it's condemned until I get a chance to disinfect it. But I won't have time to do that for a while. Too many beds to make right now." It stayed empty for the rest of that trip. Call it passive aggressive if you like, but it p***ed me off. By the way, I never hesitated to go to the lounge or diner to get ice for a passenger on that trip or any other. so nobody can discipline me for not handling the situation right. Anyway, I'm retired now, so it's water under the bridge.
I have often said way over 95% of passengers in my experience were great people who just wanted to have a nice trip and get along. The cretins have always been a tiny minority, but they do exist.
We can transport the passengers, but we can't give them a sense of civic responsibility if they didn't get it at home.
Tom