THE REMAINING RESERVATIONS at each seating are what will be offered to coach - which may just be a few in total. In 2018 non-sleeper passengers using the dining car used a MENU THAT WAS PRICED.
Uh, that's the way it was before Flex Dining. I remember one coach trip I took on the Silver Star around 2010, a packed train (it was President's Day weekend), and no dinner in the diner for me, I had to settle for a microwaved pizza in the cafe car. A fellow coach passenger was so annoyed that he had words with the conductor that resulted in him and his family being put off the train somewhere in Southside Virginia (not at a station stop, I recall flashing blue and red lights of a vehicle parked by the tracks when we made the unscheduled stop.) On the other hand, I had no problem getting a table for breakfast in the dining car.
Breakfast the trick is to go early. That works better even when you are in Sleeper.
I would be absolutely shocked if they go back to priced menus. I suspect it will be the same deal as on the Starlight. With what restaurants cost these days with inflation in my opinion the prices are not outrageous - it is being served on a train after all. Back in the a la carte days if you actually ordered what the $45 dinner comes with the price would have been right around the same especially if one got a steak. I don't think the dining car meals need to be excessively subsidized and have no problem if they charge something that's somewhat cost based - $60 would be excessive but I think $45 for entree, appetizer, dessert, unlimited soft drinks, and an alcoholic beverage is not unreasonable. The cafe remains available for the budget traveler who wants a la carte - I 100% support coach access but I don't think people are necessarily entitled to a cheap meal in the diner. From the sounds of it they got a fairly good take in Business on the Starlight and I'm sure they'll get people from coach. Perhaps they will offer an option to save some by not having a beverage or a dessert but I wouldn't count on it.
Finally came to their senses...what skilled chef would want to be away from home for days at a time just to reheat most of the meals served with very little room for creativity?
There’s no room for creativity for the majority of cooks / chefs working in any market.
Pretty much - the issue Amtrak is going to have with OBS positions on LD trains is work-life balance - not the way in which food is prepared. Most people are just looking to make a living.
Which is why Amtrak pays significantly more than a land based restaurant.
Sometimes they even sharpened the pencils they gave you! In the 1960's I traveled a lot on the "South Wind" between Indianapolis and West Palm Beach. Winter brought a dome sleeping car from the "North Coast Limited" with four duplex single rooms under the dome. They were great for this kid going off to boarding school. Also, the PRR twin-unit dining car made a great hamburger with fries and, are you ready, Grey Poupon. Somehow, airline food never impressed me as much.
It’s worse than ignored by Amtrak. Amtrak tried the “at your seat” meals for coach and it was a success. They know it works. That’s why it’s so frustrating.
IIRC, the 1951 version of the Super Chief typically carried around 7 or 8 sleepers, with an approximate capacity of 160 or so passengers. The 1951 version had a 48 seat diner, plus overflow capacity of 9-12 more in the adjacent car's "Turquoise Room". The Fred Harvey service diner had a steward, 6 waiters, a pantryman, a chef, a couple of assistant chefs, and a dishwasher.
Amtrak chooses what it has to work with.
Actually Congress chooses the guardrails within which Amtrak has to work. Amtrak Board further restricts the space and hands it over to Amtrak Management. Then Amtrak Management gets to choose only within those guardrails.
Still good in the west! If you are in a sleeper.
6 servers in a 48 seat diner sounds like way too many. They’d run into each other! The staffing out west works for the current demand (sleeper only).
