food (meals on 28 and 30)

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Dominick Stevens

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I'm trying to book passage for my brother. I'd like to know if you most knowledgeable people will tell me about food service for First class passengers. Bob will be boarding the Empire Builder (#28) at PASCO, WA and on to the Capital Limited (#30) to Washington, DC.

Q. 1.) What is the FIRST food he will get on the EB #28?

2. What is the FIRST food he will get on CL #30?

THANK YOU!! in advance for your help......Dominick Stevens
 
As JayPea said, first meal on the Empire Builder will be breakfast, and the first meal on the Capitol Limited is dinner. The Empire Builder has a full service dining car, meaning hot meals brought to your table by a waiter. However, if your brother is traveling June 1st or later, the Capitol Limited will not offer hot meals or table service, and will instead offer a limited selection of prepackaged cold meals. He will have the choice to either have his food delivered to his room, or picked up at the counter in the new dedicated lounge car for sleeper passengers.
 
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THANKS!! to all for your replies........Most appreciated. This will be my brothers first train ride IN HIS LIFE! He's 70 yrs young.
 
The first meal served on #28 departing PDX is a cold, prepackaged dinner delivered by your car attendant shortly after leaving Vancouver WA. I enjoyed one of them a month ago. It was a 'fancy salad' featuring either beef, chicken or fish with additional 'side dishes' in the 3 smaller portions of the TV-dinner style plastic tray. For a SINGLE meal, it was nutritionally balanced and reasonably tasty. Getting a 'real' bacon & eggs breakfast in the dining car (from Seattle) the following morning was a delight, along with 'real' meals the rest of the way to Chicago.

The 'bummer' is that the meals on the Capitol Limited will be a similar cold-cut dinner leaving Chicago....and an all carbohydrate cold breakfast leaving Pittsburgh. I can't imagine Amtrak going 'all cold' on the LD trains. 3 days cross country with all cold meals would be like being in a blackout eating whatever one has in their cupboards.
 
The first meal served on #28 departing PDX is a cold, prepackaged dinner delivered by your car attendant shortly after leaving Vancouver WA. I enjoyed one of them a month ago. It was a 'fancy salad' featuring either beef, chicken or fish with additional 'side dishes' in the 3 smaller portions of the TV-dinner style plastic tray. For a SINGLE meal, it was nutritionally balanced and reasonably tasty. Getting a 'real' bacon & eggs breakfast in the dining car (from Seattle) the following morning was a delight, along with 'real' meals the rest of the way to Chicago.

The 'bummer' is that the meals on the Capitol Limited will be a similar cold-cut dinner leaving Chicago....and an all carbohydrate cold breakfast leaving Pittsburgh. I can't imagine Amtrak going 'all cold' on the LD trains. 3 days cross country with all cold meals would be like being in a blackout eating whatever one has in their cupboards.
My experience on #28 about a year and a half ago was as bratkinson described above. My shrimp salad was pretty good and my wife enjoyed her chicken salad as well. I think, boarding at Pasco, you will miss this evening meal.
 
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FWIW - Amtrak hasn't had 'first class' for quite a few years now.

Meals are included in the price of sleeper accommodations and sleeper passengers get some other perks coach passengers don't get.

I'm 66 and took my first long distance overnight train trip 8 years ago (California Zephyr), and really, really liked it.

I take at least 1 long distance train trip every year now.

I hope your brother enjoys his trip as much as I enjoy traveling long distance by train.

Here's part of my March '18 trip out to California:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/72682-my-amtrak-adventure-trailer/
 
A very big and grateful THANKS!! to all who replied about meals.

One more question, please.......

Is there any way I can verify my brother Bob actually boarded the train at Pasco, WA? If I call the Amtrak 800 # will Amtrak confirm he boarded?

I want him to get a neighbor to take him to the station. He lives in Richland, WA about 15 miles away. He doesn't want to "bother" anybody and insists he knows where he can leave his car safely...........he can be such a stubborn old goat at times.

Also, has anybody on this site ever purchased and USED the trip insurance offered by Amtrak?

Thanks in advance for any info provided
 
One more question, please.......

Is there any way I can verify my brother Bob actually boarded the train at Pasco, WA? If I call the Amtrak 800 # will Amtrak confirm he boarded?
I strongly doubt that Amtrak would give out that information over the phone to anyone but law enforcement officials. It's also highly unlikely that the folks at the 800# would even have access to that information on their screens. Some of them don't even know how to choose a specific roomette number when I make reservations months in advance. (I prefer #14 in Superliners)
 
I know, at least via the app, if you bring up your ticket/reservation after its lifted, the ticket is not displayed and you are directed to call to make a change (or something along those lines).

Doing this wont provide a lot of detail but, it would at least indicate the ticket was scanned by the conductor and that your brother is indeed on the train.
 
Mr. John,

Thanks for that bit of info. Really, that's all I'm looking for, confirmation that he actually boarded the train. He's fiercely independent, which can only be admired, but reaching an age where he can easily "overreach" and I can't help being concerned, protective. Again, Thank you.
 
Mr. John,

Thanks for that bit of info. Really, that's all I'm looking for, confirmation that he actually boarded the train. He's fiercely independent, which can only be admired, but reaching an age where he can easily "overreach" and I can't help being concerned, protective. Again, Thank you.
You're welcome Dominick
 
Mr. John,

Thanks for that bit of info. Really, that's all I'm looking for, confirmation that he actually boarded the train. He's fiercely independent, which can only be admired, but reaching an age where he can easily "overreach" and I can't help being concerned, protective. Again, Thank you.
Oh. I thought you were asking if there was any way to confirm he boarded without asking your brother - that you wouldn’t trust him to tell you the truth about it since he’s so independent. So yeah, just text/call/email him to verify, and you should be all good!
 
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Mr. John,

Thanks for that bit of info. Really, that's all I'm looking for, confirmation that he actually boarded the train. He's fiercely independent, which can only be admired, but reaching an age where he can easily "overreach" and I can't help being concerned, protective. Again, Thank you.
Oh. I thought you were asking if there was any way to confirm he boarded without asking your brother - that you wouldn’t trust him to tell you the truth about it since he’s so independent. So yeah, just text/call/email him to verify, and you should be all good!
That, cpotisch, was the basis for my response. Dominick could use that as a method of checking rather than waiting for a text from his brother. If he knows the reservation number and email address attached to the ticket, he could "Find a Reservation" via the app.
 
Many are talking about the dinner box out of Portland and how it is given around Vancouver. Note that he is boarding in Pasco (which is almost to Spokane) around 9 pm!
The context was primarily that the Capitol will soon offer cold boxed meals, somewhat like the Portland section dinner. Not that Bob will be served it.
 
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A very big and grateful THANKS!! to all who replied about meals.

One more question, please.......

Is there any way I can verify my brother Bob actually boarded the train at Pasco, WA? If I call the Amtrak 800 # will Amtrak confirm he boarded?

I want him to get a neighbor to take him to the station. He lives in Richland, WA about 15 miles away. He doesn't want to "bother" anybody and insists he knows where he can leave his car safely...........he can be such a stubborn old goat at times.

Also, has anybody on this site ever purchased and USED the trip insurance offered by Amtrak?

Thanks in advance for any info provided

Why not have him simply call you when he boards the train? He does have a cell phone?
 
Good luck to your independent brother. He will enjoy himself immensely. I am over 80 and do a trans-continental Amtrak trek every year. It is not the easiest thing in the world, however. I have always said it's a bit like "Fancy Camping". There are unknowns and rules and certain knowledges that one must understand in order to make ones journey a pleasant one. A 90 year old friend of mine, who took a solo journey like mine thought he could do it as well. Well, he didn't hear the announcements and missed dinner once. Then after meeting new friends at a meal, decided they would have dinner again at 8PM that night. He went at eight only to discover that the last seating had passed. I encourage your Brother to do his "homework" on sites like this. It will make for a much more enjoyable Amtrak experience.
 
A very big and grateful THANKS!! to all who replied about meals.

One more question, please.......

Is there any way I can verify my brother Bob actually boarded the train at Pasco, WA? If I call the Amtrak 800 # will Amtrak confirm he boarded?

I want him to get a neighbor to take him to the station. He lives in Richland, WA about 15 miles away. He doesn't want to "bother" anybody and insists he knows where he can leave his car safely...........he can be such a stubborn old goat at times.

Also, has anybody on this site ever purchased and USED the trip insurance offered by Amtrak?

Thanks in advance for any info provided

Why not have him simply call you when he boards the train? He does have a cell phone?
He already said that's what he was going to do.
 
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