Chefs being removed off Capitol Limited

[Dakota 400]

I have enjoyed the box meals on the Portland section of the Empire Builder. I have enjoyed the scenery as well on that section of the route.

I have more enjoyed, from a dining point of view, the meals on the Empire Builder on the route to/from Seattle. What about the scenery one might fairly ask. The views along Puget Sound and into the Cascades as the train turns East leaving from Seattle is what causes me to be a repeated Empire Builder traveler.

 

[Seaboard92]

I would rather ride the Gorge actually even with the meal difference. I look at it as variety for meals after multiple days of the same.

 

[cpotisch]

New York to L.A. via LSL & the Texas Eagle would cover 9 meals, though you could get whatever meal you wanted for lunch in CHI between trains.

I was just playing around on the Amtrak web site and was surprised to see that the roomette fare CHI-LAX, departing 5/13, is $670 on the Southwest Chief and $1858 on the Texas Eagle -- almost 3x as much! I've traveled CHI-LAX on the TE when the roomette fare was less that on the Southwest Chief, though the distance is longer. The vagaries of demand pricing...

As for box meals, I am not a fan -- never mind multiple box meals in a row. One of the pleasures of train travel is sharing a meal with others in the dining car. I prefer to take the Empire Builder to/from Seattle rather than Portland because you get a box meal in the Portland section. I would choose flying over the train for many more trips if Amtrak went to box meals. Of course I can speak only for myself; I don't know what percentage of their passengers feel that strongly about hot meals served in the diner.

Taking the LSL and the Eagle/Sunset from NYP to LAX is 10 meals (I took it). When it comes to roomette price buckets, the Eagle and SWC are about the same.

 

[BillyJo]

I just went from Chicago to WAS on the CL earlier in the week. This was my first trip on the CL since 2008, and the experience was definately not as good as I remembered. As others point out, I'm assuming they were using the CCC design, since both the CL and the CONO, which I was on to Chicago, were devided between the dining concept and the cafe concept. The dinner menu offered more unique selections, but I thought the steak was not nearly as good as what I had in prior years. They also only had one waiter handing all of the dining customers, which could not have been easy. Service was gruff and rough, but I'll chalk this up to one person having to handle so many customers.

The breakfast selection was much better on the CL than what we saw on the CONO. On both trains, I was surprised that the lower level of the SSL was off-limits. Finally, I was a little surprised that they didn't offer lunch, or at least make some sort of annoucement that lunch was not available. The attendant in the cafe said they don't serve lunch, since the train would get to DC prior to that. We didn't get in until after 2, and I usually eat before then. Of course, the train was so empty at that point, it wouldn't make much sense to serve a full meal.

I'd hate to see the chef removed from the CL, but would be interested to see what they did without a chef...

 

[crescent-zephyr]

The Capitol Limited lunch service is the gold standard of Amtrak inconsistencies. I am pretty sure that everytime I have ridden that route it was a different setup.

Sine the lower level of the SSL is not staffed on those trains, it makes sense that it is closed. Conductors probably wouldn't want to deal with what may go on down there....

 

[Lonestar648]

When the CL arrived about an hour later in WAS, they would do a quick lunch, but that was a while back.

 

[pennyk]

Any eta for the removal? The Cap has been on my near term bucket list because its the only Chicago to East Coast train with a full service diner.

Seeing this trend is exactly why I booked a trip on the Sunset Limited next month.

Unless I missed it, I do not believe there has been an answer to this question: When is the anticipated date of the removal of the chef on the Capitol Limited?

 

[Lonestar648]

You are correct, no date has been posted, just expectation of the pending action.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

I have a feeling it won't just be the Capitol losing the chefs...

 

[cpotisch]

This still doesn't seem to be confirmed. Forget about the date, we don't know for sure that this is happening at all.

 

[Thirdrail7]

This still doesn't seem to be confirmed. Forget about the date, we don't know for sure that this is happening at all.

You don't know if anything is happening....until it actually happens.

 

[Lonestar648]

Rumor mills generate a lot of concern but rarely any facts. Though this rumor has foundation, there is no confirmation yet. Probably will not know until the CL departs less the Chef..

 

[Seaboard92]

I asked one of the LSA's on the Cap a few days ago. And he said they've threatened taking the chef position away multiple times that he won't believe it till he sees it.

 

[Lonestar648]

Wonder if the Union is fighting Amtrak on the reduction thus the on again/off again scenario.

 

[OBS]

Wonder if the Union is fighting Amtrak on the reduction thus the on again/off again scenario.

Nice try, but the OBS union is spineless and has very little actual leverage against the company other than filing a protest and trying to point out negative consequences of their actual ideas. Occasionally, however, they do prevail, such as in talking the company out of the idea of switching attendants on/off thru trains during their layover in NYP....

 

[Lonestar648]

I remember the union I was part of, different industry, different decade, remained quiet on some matters, but others fought hard, I guess picking their battles. In this case, if the OBS union lets Amtrak do what they want all the time, Management, if they never get any push back, just makes decisions good or bad, the employees have to put up with the changes.

 

[Maverickstation]

For what it is worth the spring menu changes are overdue. It could be a sign that potential changes are being ironed out.

Ken

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

 

[dlagrua]

We will be on the CL next month and will report back. The CCC car has been used for quite some time and they did offer the full diner menu on our last trip in May 2017.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

The CCC car has been used for quite some time

It's been like 10 years now hasn't it?

 

[Reno89502]

I was on the Cap Ltd last year. I enjoyed being able to get a burger with all the fixins and chips at any time, and not that horrible packaged burger.. Not to stray off of the subject, but if they want to do something like the airlines, make a business class section that has airline style, first class seats. The kind that turn into lie-flat beds!

 

[zephyr17]

They do have lie flat seats. In the roomettes.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

They do have lie flat seats. In the roomettes.

which would be equivalent to first class on airlines.

business class on airlines has lie flat seats in a more usual seating configuration that should work on a train. If you could do it with 2-1 seating you would have an interesting product for long distance.

 

[Skyline]

You could add a unit in the Baggage Car to load trays of meals for the Sleeper Passengers that the SCA would serve to each room. The Coach Attendant could have a limited number of small meals/snacks for purchase during meal time. A cart could be used to go down the isle. Now, meal service would be similar to what Delta serves and the DC and SSL have been eliminated as well as the crews. Is this what we should be expecting in a year or two?

This is not worse than an idea I heard on a right-wing radio talk show while driving late one night (I was feeling masochistic!).

A caller suggested Amtrak just discontinue all meal service on board, and have a street vendor or food truck meet a train at stops in major cities. Pax would view the menu online and order via an app using their cell phones, picking up their meals at the station stop and taking them back to the train to eat. He also suggested soft drinks and coffee/tea be dispensed from vending machines on board. Alcoholic drinks? Discontinue!

The host seemed to love this idea, so much so he failed to question how much later this would make the schedule, and what would happen if the food truck didn't show up. There was also no mention of sleeping car passengers getting these boxed meals included in their fare.

 

[Reno89502]

They do have lie flat seats. In the roomettes.

which would be equivalent to first class on airlines.

business class on airlines has lie flat seats in a more usual seating configuration that should work on a train. If you could do it with 2-1 seating you would have an interesting product for long distance.

I used to take train 66 and 67, 2 or 3 times a month between New Haven and Richmond, VA for 2 years. Unfortunately, they took the sleepers off of those trains with the demise of the Twilight Shoreliner in 2003. I tried taking Business Class a couple of times, but just could not get comfortable in those seats. Was more comfortable in a coach seat (Until we pulled into Baltimore, when the train would fill up with people heading to DC for work.) I think a Business Class, lie flat seat, would be a best seller on your long distance trains, and your overnight service on the Northeast Corridor. Your fare could be something along the lines of when they offered the Slumbercoach, where you would just get the room and no meals.

 

[cpotisch]

I still wonder why Amtrak doesn't list the CL as a train operating with a CCC. The CONO and TE are proudly displayed not the site as using those cars, but not the Cap.