Amtrak has done it again. He took the diner away on the Silver Meteor.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
No diner? Might as well go by the great leaping bow-wow! 
I always rode the Star; four more train-ride hours, one more meal, and at the same fare as the Meteor FTL to either BAL or PHL. One other plus: it got me there at a better arrival time than the Meteor.
You still get food if you purchase a sleeper room. It's a flash frozen / reheated prefab meal that Amtrak says will be more consistent? This may or may not be better than the previous dinning car meals? A cost cutting measure to eliminate jobs and become more airline like!
Here's a link to a Washington Biz Journal article.
It’s almost like they don’t want you to take the train!
Well, I planned on taking the Meteor to Florida again in March. The details are still a bit vague, but it looks like the food, although giving you a number of choices, will be more like first class air food...not prepared on-board. It will be served in "a exclusive lounge space for sleeping car passengers" (whatever that means). To be honest, I can't blame them. Over the past 2 years we have taken 4 overnight train trips in sleeping cars. The dining cars were NEVER filled, and a few meals, only a few tables were taken. I never personally saw any passengers entering from the coach section. This "dining" setup will also be added to the Silver Star.
What I'm not happy about is the fact that they will be starting to use Viewliner2 sleeping cars on the Eastern runs. According to Amtrak, these will not have a toilet/sink in the roomettes.
Sorry to hear that. On my trips, one of my favorite things is eating in the dining car.
They can't use the Viewliner 2 sleeping cars If those are the ones that are used on the long distance trains. I believe they are too high. They won't go under the tunnels on the east coast.
Tinplate art. Why don't you use words people can understand?
Viewliner II sleeping cars are single level cars. Superliner II cars are the double level cars.
Call me nostalgic, but the dining car experience for me has always been one of the highlights of long distance train travel. Its a shame to see the dining car disappear off the Meteor as well. I have always enjoyed the meals and the company on Amtrak diners over the years.
I don't have any problem with what they are proposing. The food in the diner wasn't that good, and if they serve a meal equivalent to what I get on an overseas business class airline flight, it will be at least equivalent to what they served before.
I wouldn't mind at all forgoing the dining car experience if it means I can have the food delivered HOT to my roomette.
I've done five Chicago to west coast trips in the last 20 years. I'm also excited to hear of improvements in sleeping car amenities.
Regards,
GNNPNUT
One word: Beef Jerky.
(Is that one word?)
Wow Progressive Railroading that's ruining the class 1's has come to Amtrak !
Joe Hohmann posted:. It will be served in "a exclusive lounge space for sleeping car passengers" (whatever that means).
What it means is the "dining cars" will be exclusively for sleeping-car passengers. Coach class will no longer have access to the diner--they'll have the café car and that's it.
Oh, and the Crescent is supposed to go the same way too.
---PCJ (did anyone expect different with an airline exec in charge of a passenger train?)
GG1 4877 posted:Call me nostalgic, but the dining car experience for me has always been one of the highlights of long distance train travel. Its a shame to see the dining car disappear off the Meteor as well. I have always enjoyed the meals and the company on Amtrak diners over the years.
I feel exactly the same way.
I have some great memories of meals in dining cars with my wife, and also engaging conversations with other passengers over dinner.
breezinup posted:GG1 4877 posted:Call me nostalgic, but the dining car experience for me has always been one of the highlights of long distance train travel. Its a shame to see the dining car disappear off the Meteor as well. I have always enjoyed the meals and the company on Amtrak diners over the years.
I feel exactly the same way.
I have some great memories of meals in dining cars with my wife, and also engaging conversations with other passengers over dinner.
The more I think back, it really never was about the food. It was about the getting to know your neighbors at the table. A few times when traveling solo on the long gone NotSoBroadway Limited, the conversations were so interesting they moved to the lounge car after dinner was done.
You never will get that experience flying domestically.
GG1 4877 posted:The more I think back, it really never was about the food. It was about the getting to know your neighbors at the table. A few times when traveling solo on the long gone NotSoBroadway Limited, the conversations were so interesting they moved to the lounge car after dinner was done.
You never will get that experience flying domestically.
I agree, which is why my wife and I enjoyed the 5 Viking river and sea cruises we have taken. No "assigned" tables, so you could sit with different people at each meal if you chose to. In fact, I think you are better off not going with a group of friends. We noticed that those people had little contact with other travelers during the 8-15 days.
LLKJR posted:It’s almost like they don’t want you to take the train!
Ah...someone who truly understands Mr. Anderson’s mission.
Death by a thousand cuts...
Joe Hohmann posted:...snip... This "dining" setup will also be added to the Silver Star.
What I'm not happy about is the fact that they will be starting to use Viewliner2 sleeping cars on the Eastern runs. According to Amtrak, these will not have a toilet/sink in the roomettes.
I thought that the diner had already been taken from the STAR about a year ago.
As for the second statement: yuck!
PRRMP54 posted:I thought that the diner had already been taken from the STAR about a year ago.
It was, at LEAST 2 years ago. Now it will get the new whatever, same as the Meteor and Crescent.
Amtrak may be going to Toronto, Canada via Michigan Depot 🇨🇦
An excellent project that Mr. Anderson is taking on…….
Midwesterners may have a one-seat ride to Canada if Amtrak gets federal funding to add passenger service between Detroit and Toronto — a move that could take cars and buses off the roads and strengthen ties between the industrial Midwest and our neighbor to the north.
Amtrak floated its proposal to extend its 304-mile Wolverine Line into Ontario last Thursday during the Michigan Rail Conference at Michigan State University. The new line would give Michigan business leaders, commuters, and tourists another option to get to Toronto beyond driving four hours on Canadian highways.
“For many of our regional routes, our primary competition is the automobile,” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told Streetsblog. “As anyone who has driven between here in Chicago and Toronto over the years including me knows, there has to be a better way than slogging across I-94 (and I-69) and then the 401 (or 402).”
The initiative, which does not yet have a price tag, would consist of the construction of a new facility to process passports at the Michigan-Canadian border and track upgrades on the Canadian side. Once the train crossed the border, it would run as a Via Rail Canada corridor line to Toronto, according to the plan.
Source Google News, AP & Streetsblog USA: https://usa.streetsblog.org/20...-detroit-to-toronto/
Yes: Train Room Gary will still be riding the Amtrak......
Here I am on September 10, 2019 - Rail-fanning at the Michigan Central Station
See you on an Amtrak: Gary
