Café Car question

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Austruck

Austruck

Service Attendant
Joined
Sep 29, 2016
Messages
184
Location
western Pennsylvania
I'm pulling together my notes from my cross-country Amtrak trip back in May. Right now I'm writing about my second day, still in coach, on the SWC, when I went to the café car to get a hot dog and chips for dinner. I remember a sign just outside the little "convenience store" where you purchase your items and where the attendant nukes anything that's supposed to be hot.

The sign mentioned how many people were allowed in there at one time -- it was probably 2 or 3. Does anyone know/remember offhand what that exact number is? Two or three, or something else?

Thanks!

Linda
 
I traveled on the Southwest Chief last month and recall seeing the sign and counting the number of people ahead of me in line that were "inside." I think it was more than 2 or 3. I am thinking 4 or possibly 5. Hopefully someone is on the train now or has a better memory than I do.
 
Same here, though. What was posted and what actually happened were not the same thing. :D Just trying to remember what the *sign* said, even if it didn't work out that way. ;)
 
Austruck said:
Same here, though. What was posted and what actually happened were not the same thing. :D Just trying to remember what the *sign* said, even if it didn't work out that way. ;)
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Even though I do not remember the number on the sign, the number of passengers equalled the number on the sign. I do remember that.

Maybe each attendant can decide what number to put on his or her sign.
 
I've heard the announcement too... but I rarely go down for anything in the cafe so I don't recall seeing a written sign.

Regarding the Sign and the Announcement... Is this officially allowed? Or just a few LSA's decided to do it?
 
Austruck said:
That could be! It was just a paper sign. Definitely not a job for the claustrophobic! :D
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Never really heard of any limit on most routes, but certainly there's isn't much space downstairs. I don't take too many long distance trains, but Capitol Corridor does use a few Superliner Cafe Cars on the route. Cramped would certainly be an appropriate word to use.

dcbd98b102894bef240b2bcd308ffd4d.jpg
 
No question the work space is small for the Attendant. During my recent EB trip, I visited the Cafe section of the SSL and sat at one of the tables. I was able to watch the gentleman at work. He was very efficient and his service quick. One learns how to work well in such an environment, I think.
 
BCL said:
I think officially they call it the "snack bar".
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The menus read "Cafe Menu" and it's also referred to as the "Cafe' Car" on Amtrak.com.

There is also mention of a "Lounge Car" on Amtrak.com

The Talgo Trainsets call them the Bistro Car... quite European of them!
 
Some help from regular Superliner passengers needed. On the single level trains all items are behind the service counter. Are there any S/L configurations where some of the items are not? If that were the case, it would make sense for someone who is responsible for the inventory to want a manageable number of people in the serving space. I'm always in a sleeper when I'm on a SL train, I've really not taken notice of the downstairs area.
 
On Superliners IIs Passengers get their own food and beverages out of coolers and cabinets, and then the LAS heats up any items that need it and collects at the Counter.

On the older Superliners it's more like the Single Level Cafes with all the Stuff behind a Counter with the LSA.

There isn't alot of room in this space, hence a limited number of passengers at a time and t heres a line during busy times.
 
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There are two lower-level configurations. Superliner I cars have all of the items behind the LSA's counter. This setup is the same for both Sightseer Lounges and Snack Coaches (see the photo upthread from a Superliner serving on the Capitol Corridor). On Superliner IIs, it's set up a bit more like a convenience store with items set up for passengers to get them and bring them to the LSA.
 
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PVD said:
Some help from regular Superliner passengers needed. On the single level trains all items are behind the service counter. Are there any S/L configurations where some of the items are not? If that were the case, it would make sense for someone who is responsible for the inventory to want a manageable number of people in the serving space. I'm always in a sleeper when I'm on a SL train, I've really not taken notice of the downstairs area.
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I've always thought the self-serve design was a little strange. The SSL is the only place this is used correct? I vaugely recall years and years ago some self service single level lounge cars this would have been back when smoking was also allowed in the lounge... wow times have changed!

I know the latest cafe car designs like the CCC cars, Surfliner, Acela, etc. do not have the self service set-up, so I would say it wasn't considered a good idea to be repeated.
 
Hotblack Desiato said:
There are two lower-level configurations. Superliner I cars have all of the items behind the LSA's counter. This setup is the same for both Sightseer Lounges and Snack Coaches (see the photo upthread from a Superliner serving on the Capitol Corridor). On Superliner IIs, it's set up a bit more like a convenience store with items set up for passengers to get them and bring them to the LSA.
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I thought I had seen both configurations but wasn't sure... that's neat to know the difference.

Anyone remember the last time the upper level "bar" was used? I remember riding the Empire Builder way back in like 99 or 2000 and it was staffed and serving drinks and snacks (just chips and candy and such).
 
Boy howdy the boxes stored on the seats really set the ambiance...

BCL said:
Austruck said:
That could be! It was just a paper sign. Definitely not a job for the claustrophobic! :D
Click to expand...
Never really heard of any limit on most routes, but certainly there's isn't much space downstairs. I don't take too many long distance trains, but Capitol Corridor does use a few Superliner Cafe Cars on the route. Cramped would certainly be an appropriate word to use.

dcbd98b102894bef240b2bcd308ffd4d.jpg
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It looks dreadful down there--is there only one of these in the whole train for the coach passengers who don't want to go to the dining car?

I wonder what's so fragile in the double-stacked boxes that say "Fragile" "Do Not Double Stack" :p
 
Devil's Advocate said:
tommylicious said:
Boy howdy the boxes stored on the seats really set the ambiance...
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Looks like they're strategically placed to keep anyone from sitting there. Kind of like how there's often a sign warning customers to stay out of the LSA's private tables and bathroom.
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Yup. Amtrak can take any boring, drab, and sterile train car and turn it into one classy looking joint! I wonder why they don't use that photo in their marketing materials? ;-)
 
Yep, can't remember the last time I saw the Cafe Bathroom downstairs Open.

And some LSAs even block off the Couch by tbe Bathroom which makes a great place to sleep at night for Lounge Lizards even though they put a Trash Box blocking the Stairs when the Cafe is Closed.

As for the Upstairs "bar" in the SSL, last time I saw it "manned" was in 2011 during the Summer High Season on the Empire Builder heading East to Chicago from Glacier Park.
 
Hotblack Desiato said:
There are two lower-level configurations. Superliner I cars have all of the items behind the LSA's counter. This setup is the same for both Sightseer Lounges and Snack Coaches (see the photo upthread from a Superliner serving on the Capitol Corridor). On Superliner IIs, it's set up a bit more like a convenience store with items set up for passengers to get them and bring them to the LSA.
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Actually, the photo isn't Capitol Corridor. The source says it was a Superliner car on the Pere Marquette. The menu definitely isn't Capitol Corridor, which has pictures.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/101190322855876872

That was the best example I could find of a downstairs Superliner snack bar. I'm not sure what it was like upstairs. Certainly when I was riding the Coast Starlight, the cafe/snack section was downstairs in the lounge car. The ones I've seen on Capitol Corridor are standard Superliner seating upstairs and the cafe downstairs.

I think there are a couple of versions of the California Car cafes. The ones with the service upstairs and storage downstairs have a pretty nice feel. There might be some versions where you need to go downstairs. At least one of the cafe attendants on Capitol Corridor has told me that he hates the setup in the Superliners.
 

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