Amenities Being Eliminated from Long Distance Routes

[dabrilloman]

On the Capitol Limited yesterday at breakfast, the service attendant asked us to call or write our congressmen to plead that dining cars be retained on long distance routes. There, she said, was pressure to get rid of the diners. Hope that isn't true. That would be the loss of an amenity (necessity?) that would keep me riding LD trains.

No need to wonder as several members of congress have already gone on the record attacking Amtrak in general and the dining operation in particular. I'm not sure why this information isn't getting out but it's real and it's having a demonstrable impact. But hey, US airlines removed most of the amenities too and yet Americans still ride them so what's the harm right?

As long as the 1%'ers (of which Congress is 99% made up of) still get their 1st class services, they don't care how us sheeple (the 99%) travel. As long as they are getting their tax breaks, entitlements and deregulations they are fine with us getting our "trickle down"...in other words "pissed on". Until we vote the 1%'ers out of office, get the money influence out of Congress and Citizens United repelaled nothing will change.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Heh. Amtrak won't survive the kinds of reforms we need. We need an all new government. A whole new legal system. The works. But that's not for us to think about or decide right now. The proletariat is not uncomfortable enough yet.

 

[brentrain17]

Are the snack services being removed from the Metropolitan lounges?

 

[oldtimer]

This is what I'd like to see on Amtrak, for the appropriate fee:

Alas, the image below seems to be what a large number of people would be "happy with"

Top bunk even gets bedside beverage service!

You think I jest.......................... Soon it will be nothing more than a flat bed, with a door that (sometimes) closes....

Oh the wasted opportunities..........

Oh, I thought this was our AU group on its way to another Gathering. I am not sure if this is what we mean when we say Party Train :giggle: Was that Penny in her private bedroom while the remainder of us are in the dorm car.?/

That picture was taken in "the travelers" penthouse suite!

 

[Texan Eagle]

I have a better idea for reducing costs if anyone is willing to listen- Amtrak should eliminate engines from all trains. That will save a lot of cost in terms of diesel and engineer salary. The small discomfort is that the train will now not be able to move from where it is, but these are small compromises we must adopt if we want to see Amtrak survive.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I have a better idea for reducing costs if anyone is willing to listen- Amtrak should eliminate engines from all trains. That will save a lot of cost in terms of diesel and engineer salary. The small discomfort is that the train will now not be able to move from where it is, but these are small compromises we must adopt if we want to see Amtrak survive.

Decisions, decisions. Do I want an engine/engineer that will get me from point A to point B, which is what transportation is about, or a wine & cheese tasting, which I could probably find near my home or my destination.

 

[rrdude]

I have a better idea for reducing costs if anyone is willing to listen- Amtrak should eliminate engines from all trains. That will save a lot of cost in terms of diesel and engineer salary. The small discomfort is that the train will now not be able to move from where it is, but these are small compromises we must adopt if we want to see Amtrak survive.

Decisions, decisions. Do I want an engine/engineer that will get me from point A to point B, which is what transportation is about, or a wine & cheese tasting, which I could probably find near my home or my destination.

Still more decisions, decisions...... Should I pay the very high, Market-Driven rates for sleeper service, or should I save some more moola, and plan on trip on the Candian?

fwiw, I just canx my trip on the Starlight southbound this July........... I'm 100% positive that Amtrak will re-sell the bedroom at a premium rate, but they won't get that from me.

 

[Allypet]

Alas, the image below seems to be what a large number of people would be "happy with"

Top bunk even gets bedside beverage service!

And the bottom bunk has a smoking lounge.

Is this the type of car that people refer to here as the old "slumber" car?

I think in an old I Love Lucy, Fred and Ethel Mertz road in such a train car to save money while Ricky, Lucy, and Lucy's mother had immensely large bedroom suites.

The B&O museum in Baltimore has a troop train car on display. I have to say it looked more roomier then my last night in a AT roomette upper!

 

[jimhudson]

I remember my late dad talking about troop trains and troop sleepers during WWII. The Santa Fe Rail Museum @ the Temple, Tx Amtrak Station has a troop sleeper on display along with other old heritage cars, box cars, switchers and a SF Steam Engine! It doesn't look comfortable to me (they were NOT Air Conditioned) and that's without a full load of soldiers aboard! Of course it beat Chair Coaches and Standing Up like so many old timers experienced during the War!

 

[jimhudson]

Are the snack services being removed from the Metropolitan lounges?

Yes by the pigs @ the trough that grab them soon as the attend puts an inadequate supply out! (Especially in the NYP CA and CHIs infamous Overcrowded Basement Lounge!)

 

[greatcats]

Chicago's lounge does not win awards, but it isn't a bad place to wait. Better than the cattle scenes.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I can't disagree that waiting in Chicagos Metropolitan lounge is better than being squeezed into a glorified cattle pen. Maybe that's why the Chicago lounge dragons believe they're guarding something actually worth sneaking into. Premium lounges have more than a seat and a cup of Pepsi...

Link 1: http://boardingarea.com/onemileatatime/2014/01/26/review-virgin-atlantic-clubhouse-new-york-jfk-airport/

Link 2: http://boardingarea.com/onemileatatime/2014/03/20/review-american-express-centurion-lounge-dallas-dfw-airport/

 

[andersone]

My sainted pappy, who went into the Navy as a Chief in 1942 and came out in 1945 as a Chief - even though he had a masters in mathematics (he was too short an fat for the officer qual) spent almost the last year of his career ferrying troops from Great Lakes to San Diego on the old Super Chief. With four chiefs underneath him and a fifth of whiskey his only orders were "don't loose even one of them" . Maybe that's why he loved trains - although he claimed it was only forty hours of fun,

 

[OBS]

More revisions announced to dining car service. Tablecloths will no longer be used for breakfast/lunch service, just placemats on the bare table. For dinner, a tablecloth will be placed with sheets of butcherblock paper on top, one for each estimated dinner seating for the evening. Also sliced pickles being removed from use as a garnish, mainly because of a procurement issue that causes more waste/condemmage than is considered worthwhile. It is a complicated reason which I can explain if requested....

 

[rrdude]

More revisions announced to dining car service. Tablecloths will no longer be used for breakfast/lunch service, just placemats on the bare table. For dinner, a tablecloth will be placed with sheets of butcherblock paper on top, one for each estimated dinner seating for the evening. Also sliced pickles being removed from use as a garnish, mainly because of a procurement issue that causes more waste/condemmage than is considered worthwhile. It is a complicated reason which I can explain if requested....

And so it goes.................................. Away

 

[greatcats]

Thank you, OBS. More info, please. I could do without the tablecloths, but in my letter to Mr. Boardman, I said the dining cars look like a cheap coffee shop. I mean that and I am awaiting some kind of a reply.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Wow! No table cloths or pickles! That will save millions! What's next? Maybe doing away with Silverware and letting the Pax eat with their hands will do the trick?!

Thanks for the update OBS, please keep us posted about this BeanCounters go beserk! Starring the Three Stooges and the Keystone Cops!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Amtrak dining cars are shedding the accoutrements that once gave them a more appealing atmosphere and exposing the cheap McDonald's core that is probably more appropriate for the high calorie low nutrition preprocessed cooking.

 

[jis]

Even McDonalds and Burger King gives pickles buried within various burgers. Oh well.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I, for one, am not disappointed about the pickle. I have never understood why a strong flavored food item is automatically added to the plate (anywhere, not just Amtrak) w/o asking the customer first. I hate when my food touches the pickle or pickle juice.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Even McDonalds and Burger King gives pickles buried within various burgers. Oh well.

Unfortunately even when you order the burger plain (and mustard too) :angry2:

 

[CHamilton]

I don't wanna pickle,

I just wanna ride on my train so fickle...

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I, for one, am not disappointed about the pickle. I have never understood why a strong flavored food item is automatically added to the plate (anywhere, not just Amtrak) w/o asking the customer first. I hate when my food touches the pickle or pickle juice.

I could understand being upset if your burger came dressed with horseradish or sriracha or something but a pickle or two seems like such a minor issue to me. Where I come from pickles are often used on foods kids eat precisely because they are not too strong for young taste buds. I'm not a fan of pickles myself because I don't like the limp rubbery texture that is typical of low quality cucumber pickling. On the other hand I don't expect my food to come from a sterile clean room with cooks dressed in anti-contamination suits.

We're here to make your pickle free burger, ma'am.

 

[OBS]

The (complicated) story regarding the pickle involves the vendor (B&G brand) and the West coast commissaries. Evidently the pickle spears are a special order item that B&G makes specifically for Amtrak. In the past few years, B&G has consistently raised the minimum order quantity to the point Amtrak has to order so many, that they are past their shelf life before large quantities are ever used.

Thus massive waste. I didn't realize pickle spears were such a rare commodity, but this is the story the memo gave out.

 

[SarahZ]

I think it's the vinegar, honestly. I LOVE pickles, but I know many do not like them because of that brine-y, vinegar taste. I always take the pickle off my boyfriend's plate because he can't stand them.

If the pickles aren't patted with a paper towel first, the pickle juice can run all over and soak the hamburger bun and chips, making them soggy and pickle-y. So, in that case, I can see why it would annoy people.