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Mark

Mark

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Apr 12, 2006
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302
Location
Chicago
I just returned from a short trip to Wisconsin on the EB. I had a GREAT attendant northbound in the 0731 sleeper. I asked her a few questions about her job, the usual stuff: How many days off do you get, how long have you worked for Amtrak, etc. She stopped by my roomette several times in the course of her duties to chat. We wound up discussing the dining services, SDS, CCC and of course how EB had not significantly changed its dining system.

What came next gave me a shock. She told me that the SDS and all the other new incentives were temporary and that everybody from the top-down knew it. In other words all the changes are smoke and mirrors that nobody really expected to work. They were ordered to cut food service costs so they did, the best way they could. "Its not working. The pre-plated meals have no flexibility and people are complaining." According to this 26 year Amtrak veteran employee. "Just wait, you'll see full service dining return to most of the long distance routes."

I guess time will tell.
 
Mark said:
I just returned from a short trip to Wisconsin on the EB. I had a GREAT attendant northbound in the 0731 sleeper. I asked her a few questions about her job, the usual stuff: How many days off do you get, how long have you worked for Amtrak, etc. She stopped by my roomette several times in the course of her duties to chat. We wound up discussing the dining services, SDS, CCC and of course how EB had not significantly changed its dining system.
What came next gave me a shock. She told me that the SDS and all the other new incentives were temporary and that everybody from the top-down knew it. In other words all the changes are smoke and mirrors that nobody really expected to work. They were ordered to cut food service costs so they did, the best way they could. "Its not working. The pre-plated meals have no flexibility and people are complaining." According to this 26 year Amtrak veteran employee. "Just wait, you'll see full service dining return to most of the long distance routes."

I guess time will tell.
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Which LD Routes have full service dinning?
 
gswager said:
Yes, you can, but those meals at the dining car is more than enough.
Also you can buy at the snack bar which is located downstairs of sightseer lounge.
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Being a rookie at this, I tend to get concerned when I hear so many complaints about food service and quality. Don't know why because I LOVE Vienna Sausage and crackers!!! (Gotta put that on my list!)
 
The difference between Full Service dining (Empire Builder) and SDS dining (Capitol and Silver), is minimal. Full service dining cooks a few more choices on board, than does SDS and Full Service means that you'll get glass plates instead of plastic. Additonally Full service will have three main seatings that fill up the car for dinner, whereas SDS will seat 8 to 12 people in 15 minute seatings.

But you should still get a filling meal, be it in the dining car or in your room.
 
AlanB said:
The difference between Full Service dining (Empire Builder) and SDS dining (Capitol and Silver), is minimal. Full service dining cooks a few more choices on board, than does SDS and Full Service means that you'll get glass plates instead of plastic. Additonally Full service will have three main seatings that fill up the car for dinner, whereas SDS will seat 8 to 12 people in 15 minute seatings.
But you should still get a filling meal, be it in the dining car or in your room.
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SDS Dinning??? again!
 
Rail Freak said:
AlanB said:
The difference between Full Service dining (Empire Builder) and SDS dining (Capitol and Silver), is minimal. Full service dining cooks a few more choices on board, than does SDS and Full Service means that you'll get glass plates instead of plastic. Additonally Full service will have three main seatings that fill up the car for dinner, whereas SDS will seat 8 to 12 people in 15 minute seatings.
But you should still get a filling meal, be it in the dining car or in your room.
Click to expand...
SDS Dinning??? again!
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Simplified Dining Service, SDS. It just means that the crew is smaller, you get plastic plates, and most of the meals are pre-plated and warmed in a convection oven.

For full service dining, you get glass as already mentioned, more crew members, and maybe 1/4th to 1/3rd of the menu choices are cooked on board. The rest are pre-plated and heated in a convection oven.
 
While yes they are heated in a convection oven, they are not "pre-plated" like on an airline where they pop the whole thing into an oven and then serve it to you as is. Rather the entree's are heated in the convection oven, and then plated along with pre-made sides such as Potatoe, Rice, etc.

To be fair, almost all chain restaurants such as O'Charleys, Applebees, Fridays, etc. Do this same thing with many menu items.
 
TVRM610 said:
While yes they are heated in a convection oven, they are not "pre-plated" like on an airline where they pop the whole thing into an oven and then serve it to you as is. Rather the entree's are heated in the convection oven, and then plated along with pre-made sides such as Potatoe, Rice, etc.
To be fair, almost all chain restaurants such as O'Charleys, Applebees, Fridays, etc. Do this same thing with many menu items.
Click to expand...

I'll be hoodwinkled!

I always thought of it at Applebees as consistantsy all around the country.

Why didn't I invent T.V. Dinners? <_<
 
AlanB said:
The difference between Full Service dining (Empire Builder) and SDS dining (Capitol and Silver), is minimal.
Click to expand...
Honestly, the inability to cook to order and eat off of china aside, the difference is largely nonexistent. I've had SDS meals that one would be hard-pressed to find someone who thought that it was reheated, and full service meals that I question if they were suitable for dogs.

I'm not a fan of SDS, but it's not really because of the food. I'd like my eggs sunnyside up on china with a metal fork; I just can't get that with SDS.
 
sechs said:
AlanB said:
The difference between Full Service dining (Empire Builder) and SDS dining (Capitol and Silver), is minimal.
Click to expand...
Honestly, the inability to cook to order and eat off of china aside, the difference is largely nonexistent. I've had SDS meals that one would be hard-pressed to find someone who thought that it was reheated, and full service meals that I question if they were suitable for dogs.

I'm not a fan of SDS, but it's not really because of the food. I'd like my eggs sunnyside up on china with a metal fork; I just can't get that with SDS.
Click to expand...
As a side note... you do get a metal fork with SDS.. actual it's amtrak signature silverwear with the amtrak logo on it. And you get cloth napkins!
 
Guest said:
I assume the Crescent is SDS?
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Yes it is, the only differences I noticed is that the glassware was replaced by plastic, the menu was standardized and the crew was cut.

To me glassware is no big deal, most restaurant chains use hard plastic plates and cups, so its not really even noticeable in my opinion.

The standardized menu makes sense but I would like to see special foods offered on occasion. To me the food is the same if not a little better (probably from the repetition of preparing the same meals from the standard menu day in and day out).

The only thing the crew cut did was affect how passengers were seated. I think instead of reservations the dining car crew should start at the front of the train and seat sleepers first. As the diner empties start picking up passengers from the next car and so on. The people that board after their car as been called to dinner could be worked in with the other cars.
 
Crescent ATN & TCL said:
The standardized menu makes sense but I would like to see special foods offered on occasion. To me the food is the same if not a little better (probably from the repetition of preparing the same meals from the standard menu day in and day out).
Click to expand...
Actually I believe that Amtrak is trying to work at least a bit of regionalization back into the menu. They certainly have done so with the CONL, even though that train no longer has a diner. But I'm pretty sure that I read some where that they were going to try to get one item per train that reflected that either that train's heritage, or the local cusines from that trains territory.

Crescent ATN & TCL said:
The only thing the crew cut did was affect how passengers were seated. I think instead of reservations the dining car crew should start at the front of the train and seat sleepers first. As the diner empties start picking up passengers from the next car and so on. The people that board after their car as been called to dinner could be worked in with the other cars.
Click to expand...
No, what Amtrak should start doing is to restore the full crew so that they can actually get all of the sleeping car passengers into the diner before 10:00 PM, and actually start letting coach passengers have a chance of spending real money in the dining car for dinner.

I also don't like your idea from a personal point of view, because I'm a late eater. If I happened to be in the first sleeper and had to go get dinner at 5:00 PM or not get any, I would not be a very happy camper.
 
So, is the Capitol Limited SDS? What about the California Zephyr?

I am a vegetarian, so I just wanted to know what SDS meant for vegetarian options. I am going to call before I leave to make sure.
 
If Amtrak did that, not only would you have unhappy passengers, I think you'd find the crew not doing it. I constantly see the crew put in their own system of doing whatever, either because they like it or think it works better. I tend to think that Amtraks OBS staff cares more about their customers than the management does.

Anyway, I hope that means Southern recipe fried chicken on the Crescent!
 
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