Dinner on train coming into NYC at 6:30

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Gingee

OBS Chief
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We were wondering if they serve dinner on the train coming in to NYC at 630. This is coming from Chicago.
 
If you have time in Albany you may want to grab a snack in the Station since the cafe car doesn't operate on the way to NYP ( it goes with the Boston Section)! Have a late lunch and/or buy snacks before Albany and eat Dinner in New York, plenty of. great joints there!
 
On our trip to NYP in April on the Lake Shore, the dining car staff opened the diner to New York passengers after Albany and cleaned out the inventory for those who wanted to buy Amburgers, salads, etc. A long line ensued and I believe the dining car sold out nearly everything that was left. The staff allowed people to sit in the dining car seats and we sat in the extra cafe car that had been part of the NY section that day.

I would imagine this does not happen all the time, but that day, there seemed to be plenty of food for passengers who wanted to buy things from the diner car.
 
They should do that all the time. It's pretty obvious it would be insanely popular. Gingee -- if you take the train, let us know if they do that this time!
 
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With all the eating options just in Midtown Manhattan alone missing Supper is no big deal. The hard part is deciding where to where eat once off the train!
 
When the train gets in late, I need to have my dinner well before it arrives, so as not to kill and eat people. (Metaphorically.)
 
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I am certainly not a regular rider of East Coast trains, but I rode the LSL last September. We were 3 hours late, arriving NYP about 9:30 pm. There was no food service of any kind after Albany (actually I think they closed down at Schenectady, IIRC).

Grabbing something to eat in New York at 9:30 was no problem, though.
 
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Oh, it's easy enough to find food in NY, but someone with hypoglycemia who's used to eating at 5:00 can't afford to wait until 9:30.
 
I usually pick up something either from the Cafe before it closes before arrival at Albany, or something from the station cafe in Albany. I agree that waiting for food until after one arrives in New York is not a viable option for many.
 
Must be quite an easy life for the dining car crew on the eastbound LSL.

Out of 4 possible meals they could serve, they manage 2.

And people wonder why the diner looses money....
 
With the present timetable, dinner out of CHI isn't much of an option...and that largely exists because:
(A) You can't go into NYP between about 1530 and 1800 due to commuter traffic;

(B) The present timetable allows good BUF-NYP times EB and the train has a good share of the in-state traffic; and

(B) Amtrak needs a "cleanup" train out of CHI.
 
There have been rumors that 48 and 30 might eventually swap departure times from CHI, making the Cap the cleanup train. If that happens, I assume the LSL would begin serving dinner out of CHI and the CL would discontinue doing so (and probably serve lunch the next day instead).
 
railbuck said:
There have been rumors that 48 and 30 might eventually swap departure times from CHI, making the Cap the cleanup train. If that happens, I assume the LSL would begin serving dinner out of CHI and the CL would discontinue doing so (and probably serve lunch the next day instead).
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I believe the Cap is set up to serve lunch in a pinch...if the train were to drop two hours they'd probably need to serve something for the sleeper pax.

The rumors about 48 and 30 swapping places have some merit; the idea was mooted in the Cap's PIP and then refined in the LSL's PIP. Basically, the LSL would leave CHI at 1800 or so and the Cap at about 1930. I will say that this is possibly my least favorite of Amtrak's various proposed tweaks in those reports.
 
Anderson said:
The rumors about 48 and 30 swapping places have some merit; the idea was mooted in the Cap's PIP and then refined in the LSL's PIP. Basically, the LSL would leave CHI at 1800 or so and the Cap at about 1930. I will say that this is possibly my least favorite of Amtrak's various proposed tweaks in those reports.
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When the trains run on time (as they should), this change would be *extremely* beneficial for all trips between Chicago or west-of-Chicago on the one hand, and upstate NY or NYC on the other hand; this is why it was expected to substantially increase revenue. You would want to rejigger the Empire Service schedule to match, but that can be done.
 
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Anderson said:
I believe the Cap is set up to serve lunch in a pinch...if the train were to drop two hours they'd probably need to serve something for the sleeper pax.
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Normally the CL serves a brunch/light lunch, but the last time I took the CL it was late. They closed the Dining Car to service to all passengers around 9 am and reopened about 11 am for a full lunch service - only for sleeper passengers!
 
I took the CL eastbound in April and it was 2 hours late. We got an "express lunch" in the dining car.

On the CL westbound yesterday, we were 3.5 hours late and arrived around 12:20 pm (1:20pm ET according to my body clock) so I was a little surprised we did not get an extra meal. But they kept the cafe car open until just a few minutes before arrival, so I bought lunch.
 
I am on the lakeshore limited now. Running a hour and forty minutes late at the moment. Just asked about dinner and they said there won't be anything later. Dining car closed about two thirty. I am assuming we will get into NYC after eight tonight. We plan to get off in Albany and get something to take with us from the deli upstairs (provided it is still open).
 
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