Passenger Trains > Train 92 -- No Diners Here

Entering Alexandria 2/4/16.

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One sleeper for crew, one for pax, no (real) food for either??? LOL

B&OB

what's that all about???

DISGUSTING !!!

teebone Wrote:
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> what's that all about???

You haven't heard about the No Diner Silver Starvation? 

But now there are fewer OBS crew taking up revenue space!

A stub train that Amtrak ought to be ashamed of.   New Name:   Silver Starvation!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/16 15:17 by MEKoch.

Does any of the space in the 2nd sleeper get sold as revenue space or is the whole car reserved for the crew?

wzd Wrote:
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> Does any of the space in the 2nd sleeper get sold
> as revenue space or is the whole car reserved for
> the crew?

Only part of it has EVER been reserved for employees.

Amtrak should remove the Silver Star name, and replace it with one of SCL's secondary train names such as "Palmland" or "Sunland". I'm sure CSX cares less about the image, unlike the Santa Fe back when Amtrak downgraded the Super Chief and had to rename it to "Southwest Limited".

And it would be cool to rename the Meteor the "Champion!"

Sad.  I actually had hope for a brighter future with the Viewliner diners, additional sleepers, and crew sleeper/bag combos on order, but now I'm starting to wonder. 

should be   called the Silver Local

Get rid of it all together, no more complaints----for this train anyway.

MEKoch Wrote:
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> A stub train that Amtrak ought to be ashamed
> of.   New Name:   Silver Starvation!

We don't travel the Florida market but I'd welcome the chance to have food cost removed from the sleeper fare on the trains I travel.  I've eaten a lot of Amtrak meals and can probably count the number of truly good ones on one hand.  The rest range from adequate to downright bad; in no way worth their cost.  I really don't see what all the gnashing of teeth is about.

Andy

When meals were first included in sleeper fares, was that hailed as a positive move by Amtrak? I know they did raise fares to compensate for inclusion of meals.

In 2014 I rode Silver Star in coach from Richmond to Baltimore. I chose that train over a Regional in part because it had a diner. After departing Richmond I walked back to see if they were still serving as no mention of the diner was announced. Crew occupying the end of the cafe car closest to the diner acted as if I was invading their personal clubhouse. The crew in the diner didn't seem very happy about having to serve more meals to me and a couple other newcomers. Around 50 people boarded at Richmond. It seems like a little  promotion would have helped.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/16 21:42 by railfan400.

That sounds like a bad crew too who doesn't want to work more than what's requried, that sucks and I'm still not happy myself since I know eating on the train has always been the best part of train travel!

I haven't been on a train in a few years, but so glad I got to experience Florida trains before Amtrak - and after. I remember being on the platform in NYC Penn Station,
standing next to the Silver Meteor's SCL diner where the aroma of freshly fried chicken drifted out the small windows. Yes, the train experience was the dining car -
back in the 60's and 70's everything was freshly cooked. The Amtrak French toast of today is a joke which everyone seems to enjoy. It's not the original,
that took time to prepare. I have the recipe. And early Amtrak, I'm not going to knock Amtrak's meals up to 1985 - which were decent and they still served a real
NY Strip for dinner. I keep dreaming of a ride on the Silver Meteor, before they change over to Viewliners - to sit in a real diner and think back to happier times.

Ughhhh!
I so wish I'd ridden the Meteor in the SCL days... just to enjoy those lengendary diner meals.
I have copies of the SAL & ACL Diner Car Operations manuals and the recipes are fantastic! Can you imagine fried chicken cooked in shortening on a train these days? Or a pan-seared ribeye steak with baked potato and asparagus with Hollandaise?
For breakfast your choice of bacon and eggs... or cold roast beef on rye toast... or bagals and lox.
Oh well... we've made out choices and the finer things have gone to the wayside.

Danny Harmon
Tampa


jeff56 Wrote:
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> I haven't been on a train in a few years, but so
> glad I got to experience Florida trains before
> Amtrak - and after. I remember being on the
> platform in NYC Penn Station,
> standing next to the Silver Meteor's SCL diner
> where the aroma of freshly fried chicken drifted
> out the small windows. Yes, the train experience
> was the dining car -
> back in the 60's and 70's everything was freshly
> cooked. The Amtrak French toast of today is a joke
> which everyone seems to enjoy. It's not the
> original,
> that took time to prepare. I have the recipe. And
> early Amtrak, I'm not going to knock Amtrak's
> meals up to 1985 - which were decent and they
> still served a real
> NY Strip for dinner. I keep dreaming of a ride
> on the Silver Meteor, before they change over to
> Viewliners - to sit in a real diner and think back
> to happier times.

When ridership picks up in the spring, it might get a 4th or 5th coach back. 

ctillnc Wrote:
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> When ridership picks up in the spring, it might
> get a 4th or 5th coach back. 
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And an even longer and slower queue for the crummysnackbar.  

"Where we serve up one crummysnack at a time."