Dining Car questions

Hello all,

I will be leaving on my trip to TX this Sunday, aboard the Capitol Ltd and the Texas Eagle.

I just wanted to post a few wuestions about the dining car. I have taken these trains before, by the way.

Anyway, I first wanted to ask exactly what the procedure is for ordering a meal to take back to my roomette? I believe I saw somewhere that the sleeping car attendant can order it for you and bring it back to the roomette? Or can I simply go myself into the dining car and order it "to go" from one of the waiters?

It's not that I have an aversion to sharing a table with total strangers(I'll be travelling alone), I've done it many times. But sometimes I may just want to relax with my food and read a book, and not have to make idle chit-chat with my tablemates. Which sort of brings me to my next question. On my last trip I was on the Texas Eagle, and had a late reservation for dinner. The car was not at all crowded, there were plenty of seats, and the attendant tried to seat me at a table with a woman and two small children.

The children had already trashed the entire table, they were throwing things and kicking and screaming.

It would have no doubt made for a very unpleasant dinner for me had I taken that seat.

I did NOT want to sit at that table, so I said to the attendant "I'm sorry, but I don't want to sit here. May I please have another seat?"

He sort of shrugged his shoulders and sat me at a nice, clean empty table, which I enjoyed all to myself for dinner. I just wanted to ask if it is OK in a situation like that, is it OK to request a different seat other than what was offered?

I feel that anyone having a meal in the dining car should be entitled to an adequate seat and not have to deal with unruly children.

As always, any comments and advice are welcome.

Bill B)

In the example that you were using with the noisy kids and wrecked table, I would say that asking to sit at another table was justified, especially since there were available tables/seats. To ask for a seperate table just because you don't want to sit with others and you're hoping that no one else is seated at your table, would be out of line IMHO.

Turning to your other question, your are not supposed to be able to order take out on your own, you have to request it via your attendant. I have however seen a few LSA's who didn't seem to care and would allow a pax to place their own order and carry it out.

I would recommend to have attendant order it to you, probably of liability reason with hard to carry a plate on moving train. All you have to do is to ring your attendant by using the call button in your room.

Tho "community seating" is SOP in the dining car, they shouldn't have seated anyone at the same table as the mom & unruly kids unless space was at a premium. If you run across this type of situation again, by all means request to be seated elsewhere. If that isn't possible, your sleeping car attendant is the one to take care of your "to go" order.

You were absolutely right to ask for a different seat.

When I went through training, I was told that I needed to seat people together. Do I think it's a good thing? Not necessarily. But it's the way it's been done for years, apparently. Every meal period I would have somebody who would make a stink about sitting with others. Usually I suspect it was simply because they were unsocial. One time I had a guy give me a hard time...refusing to sit with a lady because she was on her cell phone. (I could hardly blame him.) The reasons given were often amusing and creative. Maybe they sat at their seat plotting the "my dog ate my homework" type of excuse why they absolutely under no circumstances could sit at a table with others. The reason is 2 fold I think. First, it's easier on the waiters to have passengers closer together. (Especially in this day and age of Simplified Dining.) Second, if everybody wanted a table to themselves or as a couple, there wouldn't be time to feed everybody. It's just the way it is. Some LSA's in my experince don't like doing "to-go" orders. (I didn't see the problem.) The prefered method might be to ask your sleeper attendant to bring your meals to you. Despite any attitude they may have, it is part of their job.

Windy City LSA said:

The prefered method might be to ask your sleeper attendant to bring your meals to you. Despite any attitude they may have, it is part of their job.

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The method IS to request meal service from your sleeping car attendant. Passengers are not supposed to be carrying their own food from the dining car to their room.

"Despite any attitude they may have"? What's that about? Nothing like dissing your co-workers, bud.

Windy City LSA said:

When I went through training, I was told that I needed to seat people together. Do I think it's a good thing? Not necessarily. But it's the way it's been done for years, apparently. Every meal period I would have somebody who would make a stink about sitting with others. Usually I suspect it was simply because they were unsocial. One time I had a guy give me a hard time...refusing to sit with a lady because she was on her cell phone. (I could hardly blame him.) The reasons given were often amusing and creative. Maybe they sat at their seat plotting the "my dog ate my homework" type of excuse why they absolutely under no circumstances could sit at a table with others. The reason is 2 fold I think. First, it's easier on the waiters to have passengers closer together. (Especially in this day and age of Simplified Dining.) Second, if everybody wanted a table to themselves or as a couple, there wouldn't be time to feed everybody. It's just the way it is. Some LSA's in my experince don't like doing "to-go" orders. (I didn't see the problem.) The prefered method might be to ask your sleeper attendant to bring your meals to you. Despite any attitude they may have, it is part of their job.

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I have had this problem while working the dining car, too. But I was usually able to work something out. Most of the time I just didn't sit anyone with "that" (one who complained) person or put them at the crew table (when we were allowed to have one that is). Sometimes I still had to seat someone with "that" person, but it was at last resort and by then "that" person usually understood by then. And Windy City is right, to go orders are a part of the job, however, an LSA can justify not doing them when it is extremely busy. And even if that may be the case, it actually falls on the coach attendant or sleeper attendant (whichever is applicable) as long as they will not be foregoing their obligations such as station work, etc. The LSA is the employee in charge of the OBS crew when there is no supervisor on board. And of course the conductor is in charge of the train and can request the OBS crew to oblige on a matter such as that! Why some crews have a problem? There are many excuses, good and bad as I have heard them all almost! OBS...

As anyone that has ridden quite a few train trips undoubtedly knows, there are indeed some (fortunately not very many) crew members who have an attitude problem. Let's not pretend otherwise. When you refer to somebody that DOES have an attitude problem, by saying they have an attitude problem, they haven't been "dissed". Disrespect is only disrespect when the person deserves respect and doesn't get it. As the saying goes, sometimes the truth hurts, and one thing we do try to support and defend on this board is the truth, and the right to speak it. We don't always get it, and we don't always like it, but let's not even think of criticizing somebody when they believe have spoken the truth.

AmtrakWPK said:

As anyone that has ridden quite a few train trips undoubtedly knows, there are indeed some (fortunately not very many) crew members who have an attitude problem. Let's not pretend otherwise. When you refer to somebody that DOES have an attitude problem, by saying they have an attitude problem, they haven't been "dissed". Disrespect is only disrespect when the person deserves respect and doesn't get it. As the saying goes, sometimes the truth hurts, and one thing we do try to support and defend on this board is the truth, and the right to speak it. We don't always get it, and we don't always like it, but let's not even think of criticizing somebody when they believe have spoken the truth.

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I concur.............. OBS...

My wife and I had to request a different table on the Texas Eagle in June because of the airconditioner vent.

We had been seated there one before and she nearly turned blue from the chill. :unsure: The other couple seated there fully understood and replied they should have requested a different table for the same reason.

The attendent was very understanding also and placed us in a warmer area......

At several meals we were being seated next to some people I wasn't sure I wanted seated by but can honestly say that I enjoyed each and every one of them. I only hope they felt the same way....

I do enjoy the Community Seating in the Diner, you meet some very interasting people. Like I remember one discussion when I rode the Starlight about Politics, that one was interasting to say the least...

AmtrakWPK said:

As anyone that has ridden quite a few train trips undoubtedly knows, there are indeed some (fortunately not very many) crew members who have an attitude problem. Let's not pretend otherwise. When you refer to somebody that DOES have an attitude problem, by saying they have an attitude problem, they haven't been "dissed". Disrespect is only disrespect when the person deserves respect and doesn't get it. As the saying goes, sometimes the truth hurts, and one thing we do try to support and defend on this board is the truth, and the right to speak it. We don't always get it, and we don't always like it, but let's not even think of criticizing somebody when they believe have spoken the truth.

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Well put. Thank you. Sounds almost as if I insulted a guilty party or something! I could tell numerous stories of co-workers with poor attitudes, but I won't. Co-workers were always wonderful to me, especially while they were on a break or whatever. I never had any personal issues with any of them. I did however witness some not so stellar service with the passengers...treatment that I personally would never dream of. I do of course recall examples of excellent service as well. Just speaking the truth...not "dissing" anybody.

P.S. And I'm not a "pal", I'm a gal.

I am very glad the waiter seated you at another table, away from those screaming food throwng kids. That was a good thing.

But as a general rule, community seating is what works best and has done so for years.

Pure logistics.

There are not enough spare tables sitting around for each individual to have his own space---usually. They want four people to sit together so they can bring the beverages at the same time, the salads at the same time, the entrees at the same time and finally the dessert--just as a party of four would be served at a normal restaurant.

Most single level diners have about 44 seats, there may be 200 or more passengers on board. (of course they do not all use the diner)

Over and over through the years I have felt people were originally shocked at the idea of sitting with strangers but eventually warmed up to it. I enjoy eating with strangers on the train and am, myself , in many respects a loner.

I feel sorry for the service attendants who have had to put up with uncooprative passengers.

But as to the original situation, so glad the waiter bowed to common sense and seated you elsewhere.

Thanks everyone for all your input.

I suspected the answer about the "meal to go" thing. The problem I have with that is that very often the sleeping car attendants are nowhere to be found when you need them or ring for them. On my last trip aboard the Texas Eagle, the sleeping car attendant showed me to my roomette. I asked him if he'd be coming back around to take dinner reservations, and he said yes, around 5pm.

Well, I never saw the guy again for the rest of the entire trip! Not once.

They made no announcements about dinner hours at all.

Around 9pm that evening I went up to the dining car. The attendant sat me and didn't ask me if I had reserved a seating time.

The following morning around 8am I rang for the attendant to ask about breakfast seating. I waited for over two hours, and he never showed up. The train was running a bit late so I was able to go up and get a quick breakfast before we pulled into Longview.

So, what do I do if I want to order a meal "to go" and can't find my sleeping car attendant?

Also, I wanted to point out my strategy for avoiding unruly children in the dining car. I usually have my meals at the latest possible hour, especially dinner. The car is usually far less crowded later, and usually there are no children there at a late hour.

Bill

I've said it before, I'll say it again: If your attendent pulls the "disappearing act", call 1-800-USA-RAIL. When you get to speak with a human being, ask for "Customer Relations."

Tell them in a straightforward manner what has happened. Have your ticket stub handy. The Customer Relations person will ask you a question or two to verify you were actually on that train on the day. Light the lazy TA up. Think Rambo at the end of "Rambo 2." This is the mindset you should have after you've received crappy service in sleepers. For what one pays for sleeper travel, you should receive the service you paid for.

Likewise, should you have an exceptionally attentive car attendant, call 1-800-USA-RAIL, and tell Customer Relations. The Customer Relations people don't get as many calls complimenting the good TAs, so you really can make a difference by calling when you receive truly exceptional service. Oh yes, tip the good attendants really well, and stiff the not-so-good ones.

The only real way Amtrak knows about the crappy TAs is for customers to call. Likewise, the only real way to encourage the outstanding TAs is for one to call.

Bill631 said:

.So, what do I do if I want to order a meal "to go" and can't find my sleeping car attendant?

Also, I wanted to point out my strategy for avoiding unruly children in the dining car. I usually have my meals at the latest possible hour, especially dinner. The car is usually far less crowded later, and usually there are no children there at a late hour.

Bill

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Bill, I think I would let the attendant know that my plans included a meal or meals in my room and be prepared for it. I know they are busy boarding passengers at the start but there should be an opportunity to give him/her a "heads Up" before they disappear. That said, if they never show up for "Duty" and are missing in action, I wouldn't hesitate to explain to the Diner LSA of the problem and request someone in charge see that my meal was delivered to my sleeper. Of course make sure you know how to make down the bed before hand.

As for waiting to the latest hour to dine, there may be a flaw in that logic. The wife and I did that on the Texas Eagle only to find the more popular entrées to be unavailable. Instead of Braised Beef, I had to settle for a cheeseburger....

Bill631 said:

Thanks everyone for all your input.I suspected the answer about the "meal to go" thing. The problem I have with that is that very often the sleeping car attendants are nowhere to be found when you need them or ring for them. On my last trip aboard the Texas Eagle, the sleeping car attendant showed me to my roomette. I asked him if he'd be coming back around to take dinner reservations, and he said yes, around 5pm.

Well, I never saw the guy again for the rest of the entire trip! Not once.

They made no announcements about dinner hours at all.

Around 9pm that evening I went up to the dining car. The attendant sat me and didn't ask me if I had reserved a seating time.

The following morning around 8am I rang for the attendant to ask about breakfast seating. I waited for over two hours, and he never showed up. The train was running a bit late so I was able to go up and get a quick breakfast before we pulled into Longview.

So, what do I do if I want to order a meal "to go" and can't find my sleeping car attendant?

Also, I wanted to point out my strategy for avoiding unruly children in the dining car. I usually have my meals at the latest possible hour, especially dinner. The car is usually far less crowded later, and usually there are no children there at a late hour.

Bill

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I feel so badly for you having to endure this. Stories like this make me sad. Sleeper attendents certianly aren't a personal butler or there to be used and abused (which does happen, also) but they are supposed to be visible except when on breaks or legitimate down time. The LSA , not SA is supposed to come take your dinner reservation...and well before 5:00!! Dinner service starts at 5:00! The only time sleeper attendants typicaly make meal reservations are for passengers expected to board down the line and during a meal. Many times I would have sleeping car passengers coming to me and asking me where their attendant is. I once had a sleeper attendant ask ME to deliver a passengers food to their room because she "was not feeling well". (Taking advantage of the "new LSA" maybe.) She asked me do do this AFTER I had to go to her room and find her when this passengers food was ready. The LSA needs to be in the Dining Car during service. But if I didn't deliver the food, who would? So I did of course.

I would say, odds are that you won't get an attendant who hides this time. (Hint...when they're missing, they're often times either in the dining car or their room.) The advice given here to give your attendant the "heads up" about meal delivery when you board is a very good suggestion. Some things to keep in mind about the Texas Eagle... For breakfast, there are stll no reservations required. LSA "should" be taking lunch reservations. Lunch begins at 11:30-12:00...so they should see you well before then. Dinner always requires reservations. Begins at 5:00. LSA should make announcements and come to your room well before 5:00. I have heard that some (not all) LSA's won't inquire about reservations in either level of the Lounge car...so if you're there and not in your room at the time of reservations you could be missed. I always made an announcement after a meal period saying that I'd be making an announcement bofore going through the train for reservations, then immediately before I went to take reservations. Seems some epmloyees are on top of communicating, and some are lacking. Also, if the PA is not working in your room or car, that could be a problem that can't be resolved, unfortunately...another common problem in my experience.

I will hold a positive thought for you. I sincerely hope you have a better trip this time!

As others have mentioned, I have always enjoyed meeting other travelers at mealtime in the Dining Car. You can usually tell fairly quickly if those sharing your table want to talk or prefer not to. I have had some very interesting discussions with fellow passengers and learned alot. I have noticed that some LSAs or Dining Car Stewards have the intuition to seat people that are compatible together at the same table. The commaraderie of other passengers makes train travel unique.