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One soda or bottled water went away about seven years ago, maybe six.  Still possible there's some LSAs out there doing it wrong though.

I can say that conductors on the Empire Builder are enforcing the excess baggage fees at Libby and Sandpoint.  They are sending the passenger in at Spokane and Whitefish to pay the fee (s).

The computer case is considered a personal item.  One of the small bags could be counted as a personal item so it sounds like, in addition to that, you had 3 more bags carried on.  That's one bag more than the carry-on policy allows.  You are allowed 2 excess bags over the limit for $20 each...

The Empire Builder has 6 hours in SEA and PDX to turn the trains. It can be done in 4 hours if they can quickly get to the wye and back and there aren't any FRA defects.

The boxed breakfast on #27 is from Havre, MT, not Spokane. It's usually a breakfast croissant sandwich, fruit cup and a yogurt. A beverage is provided from the lounge car's stock.

Just FYI folks, it's TAS or TAC. Train Attendant Sleeper / Train Attendant Coach.

Sorry, but the IG would view this as theft and insist that the employees involved be fired. Yes I know there will be dozens and dozens of examples of passengers entering their rooms early and staying in them beyond their reservation, however the IG, DOES NOT CARE. Each and every instance that...

I have over half a dozen months that I've worked over 300 hours in a month. The most was 346. This was as an LSA on the extra board during summer months.

I know a TA/SA that once made over $90k in one year. He was probably home only 14 or 15 days that year. He was young and unmarried at the time.

Back in 2010 Amtrak called together all the Customer Service supervisors, the Chiefs, to a meeting in Wilmington and directly stated that the program would be expanded from the 40-50 current jobs to as many as 180 in the next couple years. 20 were jobs were created almost immediately. Then...

The auto-train though is not a true comparison to the rest of the LD service. The auto-train crew are hand picked, the cream of the crop so to say. Any Amtrak employee cannot exercise their seniority to bump onto an auto-train job.

I also don't believe those numbers $$$ published that food service lost and loses many millions of dollars every year. I don't doubt that there is loss, but I do believe that Amtrak accounting does not properly allocate the true amount of dollars from the sleeper fares to the dining car...

I agree that service is inconsistent on Amtrak, both in the diners and passenger cars. Believe me it drives me nuts too. It baffles me why Amtrak can't or won't put actual supervision on the trains with real ability to correct and discipline the bad apples.

2. Raw ingredients I'm aware of on LD dining cars Eggs, and you can still get fried eggs on the Empire Builder as far as I know. Pancakes Oatmeal Hashbrowns are shredded and dehydrated. Reconstituted and cooked onboard. Steaks Fish Baked potatoes Vegetables, bagged and steamed or heated...

Just some comments to many posts from this topic. 1. Amtrak waiters make $40k to $60K salary, depending upon seniority, regular or extra-board and OT. Quite far from upper middle-class. They have slightly better retirement than social security and pretty good health benefits.

It happens on all the trains, especially the Super Liners. The older style black & white numbers are manually operated with rollers behind the display. Many of them are so old they are nearly impossible to turn. The panel to them are inside one of the bathrooms. They are supposed to have...

The car was cut-off by the outbound #28 train crew while the fire was ablaze. By the time they were notified of the fire it was too far gone to attempt using fire extinguishers but they were able to pull the rest of the train away.

HEP failure. Damaged cables and receptacle.

The significant difference between the A-T and other long-distance trains, besides the separate seniority roster is that one cannot simply bump onto the A-T. A-T employees are basically hand picked, then, if not already trained, they are cross-trained on all positions. You must be able to work...

They should only be doing this when the space isn't needed to accommodate every passenger. In general it's so that if/when, say an unaccompanied minor boards, then that is where they will be seated. Right next to the coach attendant's seat. Those four seats are in inventory so they are sold...