Is breakfast always served?

[scientist]

For trains that arrive fairly early in the morning to their final destinations, is breakfast always served or not served or is this variable? For example, the Capitol Limited arrives into CHI at 8:45 and the Southwest Chief into LAX at 8:15. In the case of the Southwest Chief, it can arrive very early, such as this morning when it had an arrival of 7:08 am, or 1 hour and 7 minutes early. Conversely, what if the train is running several hours late? Any knowledge you have on breakfast status on either the CL or SC or any others with similar morning arrival times would be appreciated.

 

[SubwayNut]

I'm almost definitely sure breakfast is always served on the SL and CS before they arrive in LAX. I was on the Sunset and we were running about an hour early and breakfast was served at 5am. I was in coach and didn't indulge but did buy something from the already opened lounge car. They started serving on the sunset shortly after we stopped in Palm Springs (a bit before 5).

 

[yarrow]

on the swc we have always had breakfast offered though breakfast starts at 5 or 5:30am and lasts until 6 or 6:30. all breakfast menu items may not be available

 

[NomDePlume]

What about Capital Limited and Lake Shore Limited? What time does breakfast start/stop in the lounge? Also are the times determined by time of origin, or time zone it's currently in?

 

[johnny.menhennet]

Generally, breakfast times are 6:30 to 9:00, and dinner is 5:00 to whenever people stop coming/they just decide to quit, usually around 8:00-9:00. I cannot specifically vouch for the LSL or the CL, but the diner staff go off of current local times as all train crew do.

 

[amamba]

Yes, breakfast is available on the SWC, but it is early. I seem to recall that I had breakfast around 6 am on the SWC when I took it last year. The dining room crew walked through the sleeper saying "breakfast, breakfast" very softly on their way to the diner. I was up (I was on east coast time!) so I just followed them through. Maybe it was 5:30 am? It was definitely EARLY. I tried to order something and they were out of it, too.

 

[JamesT4]

When I rode the Capital Limited towards Chicago this past November I remember that they started serving breakfast around 6am Eastern time, & stopped servivg after leaving the South Bend Station. The dinner car crew made announcements over the PA the night before about the morning breakfast service, when the dinner service had ended. I am not be sure about the Lake Shore Limited, but I guess it is the same way as the Capital.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Breakfast on the Sunset Limited final day into LAX is still one call at 0500; as much as I enjoy eating in the Diner, I always skip that early call, wait until I get to Union Station and then point my nose straight away to Philippe!

 

[the_traveler]

Breakfast on the Sunset Limited final day into LAX is still one call at 0500; as much as I enjoy eating in the Diner, I always skip that early call, wait until I get to Union Station and then point my nose straight away to Philippe!

The same for me! The SL and SWC usually start at 5 with 1 serving. But I skip it and go to Philippe's. The CL and LSL start about (as usual) 6 - maybe 5:30 - but stop service around South Bend!

 

[NomDePlume]

Waterloo to South Bend doesn't give us much time to grab breakfast I'd be more willing to eat on the way to the station if Waterloo at least had bathrooms. For the third busiest station in IN, you'd think Waterloo would be more than a glorified bus stop.

 

[zephyr17]

Offering breakfast isn't really a variable. They either offer breakfast service on the train on the last day of the journey, or they don't. I don't know about the Capitol Limited or the Lake Shore Limited, but I can speak to last call for breakfast on both the Empire Builder and the Southwest Chief.

On the Builder westbound, they close seating for breakfast upon entering the east portal of the Cascade Tunnel.

On the Southwest Chief, they stop seating upon departure from Riverside, CA.

I don't know when they start, I am never up that early.

BTW-on the SWC, I don't bother with breakfast, but if we arrive ontime or early (I am usually connecting to the Starlight), I go up to Phillipe's which does a great breakfast in addition to their famous French Dip sandwiches.

 

[Donctor]

My experience, time and time again, has been that serving stops after South Bend.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Our recent Silver Meteor #98 was running at least half hour early and we did not get breakfast before departing WAS. As was mentioned, both the LSL and CL stop serving breakfast after South Bend.

 

[SarahZ]

What about Capital Limited and Lake Shore Limited? What time does breakfast start/stop in the lounge? Also are the times determined by time of origin, or time zone it's currently in?

Depends on what you mean by "lounge". The dining car runs on the hours others have posted, but the snack area underneath the lounge is open from about 6:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m, depending on the train/crew. You can get breakfast/brunch pretty much any time you want once it's open.

Dining car: sit at a booth and order from a menu. Reservations required. The menu prices are similar to Applebee's and that ilk.

Lounge/snack car: head downstairs and order pretty much whatever you want, whenever you want. It's like a deluxe concession stand. The approximate prices are $5 for a DiGiorno personal pizza, $2 for a can of soda, $4-5 for heated sandwiches, $1.50 for candy bars, $1.50 for a bag of chips, and so on. There are some booths in the lower area so you can enjoy your lunch/snack, or you can carry it back to your seat. You can also enjoy it upstairs in the SSL.

 

[NomDePlume]

Thanks Sorcha! It's such a short ride we have to CHI (as such things go), then a long lunch time layover at Union Station. Kids tend to demand feeding at regular intervals or they get cranky. But don't tell her she could have pizza for breakfast!