That sure would ruin alot of my trip if there was no lounge present. Does Amtrak ever offer any substitute for the lost lounge, like snack items for those who don't need a full meal? I'd want a bit of money back if I was stuck in a coach seat for thirty+ straight hours, only getting up for dinner.
Well on the Seattle section for the first night out going eastbound, the LSA in the Dining car ran a quasi cafe out of one of the booths. He didn't have the normal full cafe menu, but he did have some things for those not wanting to pay for dinner in the diner. I didn't go look at just what the menu had, so I can't answer that.
Therefore, I would tend to think that Amtrak would do what they can, but remember that on the Portland section without the lounge car, there would be no freezers, no refrigerators, and no convection ovens. So for that section things would get interesting, perhaps just to the point of a boxed dinner for everyone.
Since there appears to be 11 cars still in the consist, does that mean that the EB consist has in fact been permanently lengthened? (Since there seems to be an extra coach there)
I count 9 cars, 1 Trans/Dorm, 2 Seattle sleepers, 1 diner, 2 Seattle coaches, 2 Portland coaches, 1 Portland sleeper. The missing lounge would have made 10 and a standard consist. And then of course during peak times they'll add an 11th car MSP to CHI.
Ps. I didn't count the baggage car either, since that's not a passenger car.