Passenger Trains > "brown baggin' it"

Superliner lounge ambience.............gone in 60 seconds.
over the years, Amtrak has continued to allow Superliner lounges to become less than desirable as OBS configures them for their ease...........the customer coming a distant third to OBS and conductors' "office".

I have seen brand new Superliner II lounges, with the shiny chrome waste receptacles taped shut, and the ubiquitious 48" brown bags places helter skelter throughout the upstairs lounge. Some are usually overflowing with waste, taller than little old grandmothers seated within inches of the bags.

The II's have the upstairs attendent's area next to the stairs; but never attended, nor were the Lounge I's. Why waste all that space for the beverage bar, and waste receptacles, if they are never to be used "right out of the box".

finally the lounge bathroom. Heven forbid it is to be used as a bathroom, (especially in a restaurant/lounge where people eat and drink)...........but no, it is blocked off as the attendant's storage area.

Given the duration of these cavalier protocols; they are condoned right to the top.
right David?

The F D A ( Food and Drug Administration ) mandated that the restrooms in the lounge car's ( Superliner, Surfliner's, Amfleet and anyother lounge or diner ) will be closed and locked. So if you have a problem you need to complain to the FDA not Amtrak.

As to the uper beaverage area in the Superliner's they usuley use it during the summer mounth's. Rember the Superliners were created back in 1980's when money was abundent. As the Goverment started cutting back on Amtrak's money, Management keepet getting raises and the working people kept getting the well you know. Now instead of a lot of help on-board you have 1 attendent to two Superliner cars on long haul trains. Rember its not the people on-board that's the problem they are forced to comply with all Amtrak's policoes and the dreaded FDA.

This is not true. It sounds like some conductor, LCA, etc, is making up policy as he goes along.

The FDA mandates that public dining facilities ARE required to have restrooms; where else can the LCA was his/her hands to prepare food in a sanitary manner?

"The F D A ( Food and Drug Administration ) mandated that the restrooms in the lounge car's ( Superliner, Surfliner's, Amfleet and anyother lounge or diner ) will be closed and locked. So if you have a problem you need to complain to the FDA not Amtrak. "

Not just the Superliner Lounges...Ride the Silver Service trains and notice how at least two of the cafe car tables are "reserved" for train crews. Before someone starts whining about "they need somewhere to work", remember that these are trains that have crew dorm cars on them. Instead of discouraging passengers from using the cafe or Superliner lounges (which by the way GENERATE REVENUE when people buy overpriced stuff), the crews should be using the dorm car for their paperwork. By the way, most of the time they aren't even doing paperwork, they are usually just shooting the bull. In their defense, I ride Amtrak LD trains regularly and have seen a great improvement in the attitudes of sleeper car attendants, coach attendants, dining car and cafe personnel. But I still regularly encounter conductors and assistant conductors with crappy attitudes. I don't know if it is just a coincidence that I seem to run into them on the trains I ride, but many act like the passenger is a huge annoyance. Like when (Heaven forbid) one of them asks a question about why the train is 4 hours late. Also, it seems that making announcements to keep the passengers informed about delays is a thing of the past. (Again, this is a generalization, I recently rode #4 and the conductor was great with making updated announcements). I don't feel like I am alone in this observation, Virginia Railway Express recognized this "culture" of failing to keep the passengers informed. They addressed it in a seat notice to the passengers after one particularly aggregious incident and stated that they would be "re-training" Amtrak crew members on how to keep the passengers informed.

SDP40F Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The F D A ( Food and Drug Administration )
> mandated that the restrooms in the lounge car's (
> Superliner, Surfliner's, Amfleet and anyother
> lounge or diner ) will be closed and locked. So if
> you have a problem you need to complain to the FDA
> not Amtrak.
>
> As to the uper beaverage area in the Superliner's
> they usuley use it during the summer mounth's.
> Rember the Superliners were created back in 1980's
> when money was abundent. As the Goverment started
> cutting back on Amtrak's money, Management keepet
> getting raises and the working people kept getting
> the well you know. Now instead of a lot of help
> on-board you have 1 attendent to two Superliner
> cars on long haul trains. Rember its not the
> people on-board that's the problem they are forced
> to comply with all Amtrak's policoes and the
> dreaded FDA.


Put your finger where your mouth is and post proof of that. That is the most obusurd thing.

Not so quick there SDP40F. Yes, You are right that the Good employes as well as the bad on the crew have to comply with company rules no matter how assnine, However, SOME of the very front line crew are the ones that have lately been giving Amtrak a bad face and a bad name. Whether they are burned out, beaten down or were a-holes in the first place, they are the ones the riding public see and deal with. Yes there are good ones and even a few very good ones, but don't be whitewashing the bad ones with a "Bad Management" paint brush.

Amtrak has put out an OSU (operational standards update) that prohibits conductors from using table seating in lounge cars and dining cars as their "office". We are to use the conductors room in the dorm car or an unoccupied coach seat.

amcond Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Amtrak has put out an OSU (operational standards
> update) that prohibits conductors from using table
> seating in lounge cars and dining cars as their
> "office". We are to use the conductors room in
> the dorm car or an unoccupied coach seat.


Thank goodness. I hope conductors read and take this seriously. It's the best sort of oversight one could hope for with no more SBUs and trains running through several divisions with "shared" responsibility.

TBMMN Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- Not so quick there SDP40F.

Obviously his reputation preceeds him .... (good observation TBMMN)

Yeah, sure, ok, it's against federal guidelines to allow people, especially those handling food to wash their hands ??? Where do you come up with this BS ???


TCS - get back out and talk to the ballast.