Passenger Trains > Poor food on Lakeshore Ltd.

I can agree with this. We were on the Lakeshore Limited from Chicago to New York in February. We knew the Dining car was gone and an Amdinette was the substitute. The service was ok, however, the food was horrible. Cheese omelet was rubbery. Milk for cereal was sour. Then, at lunch, no comment. Wrote to Amtrak. NEVER RECEIVED A RESPONSE.

Was on the Lakeshore Ltd. for dinner and breakfast in April. Dinner was quite delicious. Breakfast had the French Toast which was excellent. Would never order an egg dish that was not being freshly prepared! Yes, the ambiance is way too bright and antiseptic for me, but given the circumstances it was fine.

I am sorry you did not have a better experience with the on-board dining.

(My trip continued to Emeryville and all the food was delicious and properly cooked .... vegetables were amazingly not overcooked!)

(BTW - my return from SFO was on Jet Blue ... food service, to say the least, was minimal)

Probably not related to it being an Amfleet-2 dinette. The only difference I ever noticed is the lack of a grill, and so no steak.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/17 10:24 by joemvcnj.

RevRandy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> My trip continued to Emeryville and all the food
> was delicious and properly cooked .... vegetables
> were amazingly not overcooked!)
>

Amtrak has somehow turned a major corner vis-à-vis the ubiquitous mixed vegetables with dinner entrées. Trip Portland–Virginia and back in late April/early May featured really tasty vegetables and interesting new entrées. It can be done.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Probably not related to it being an Amfleet-2
> dinette. The only difference I ever noticed is the
> lack of a a grill, and so no steak.

Exactly. I have not had much to complain about the stuff that I have been served on the LSL in its Amfleet-2 Diner incarnation. I wish they would do the same on the Sivler Star instead of pussyfooting around with odd excuses.

What's the difference between a combined diner lounge, Amdinette, Amfleet-2 dinette and Amfleet-2 diner? Are they all really just an Amfleet snack car with a snack bar in the center of the car where they can heat some "meals" up?

Ret. Navy Chief Bob Jensen
Manteno, IL

All refer to the same car: Amfleet-2 dinette in both halves.
Shorter haul trains use an Amfleet-1 dinette instead, less elaborate food storage and preparation.

Just returned this week from a round trip to the East Coast. Took the Capitol Limited out and the Lake Shore back. Believe it or not the food was good in both directions. The Lake Shore had sliced steak that was good along w/mashed potatoes and vegetables. Much better than when I took a similar trip in February. Both trains were clean and service was good. The only downside was that we arrived into Chicago about 1'45" late as we sat between South Bend and Chicago for NS freight traffic.

I refuse to take any LD train which does not have a proper diner.

We keep throwing more good public money after bad at NS at capital projects to improve passenger train OTP west of South Bend with nothing to show for it as they immediately re-congest themselves with more freight traffic.

Time to shut off the public spigot.

Posted from Android

teebone Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I refuse to take any LD train which does not have
> a proper diner.

This is why I take the Capitol Limited between East Coast and Midwest. And I am not the only one. There's been an increase in connecting traffic on the NEC for the Capitol Limited. Passengers from NYC and Boston will take an Acela Express to take the Capitol Limited in/out of Washington DC instead of the Lake Shore.

That is because routing via Pittsburgh is usually priced higher than via DC, and that is because the Capitol Ltd is a weak train east of Pittsburgh, and that fact rears its ugly head via yield management.

The Lake Shore is still a far better financial performer. The Capitol was ranked 5th worst performer ranked by farebox recovery, customer service index, and OTP. Remember the Cap's roots: the weaker half of the combined Broadway Ltd, with a smattering of the old Shenandoah, one of the mostly empty West Virginia political trains.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/17 09:56 by joemvcnj.

Poor excuse for a diner. Get a real diner on the train

The Amfleet-2 dinette had nothing to do with it.

There is no such thing as an Amfleet 2 diner.