Food and other questions

[Nick]

Hello,

I'll be riding from denver to chicago soon, and I was wondering if food is served on the train, or if I should bring my own.

Can I bring as much luggage as I usually do on a plane? ie, 1 40lbs suitcase, and a carry on?

Thanks.

 

[Anthony]

There is a full service dining car as well as a lounge/snack bar for lighter fare. Yes, you can bring the luggage you mentioned, in fact, probably a bit more. I believe Amtrak's baggage policies have changed recently, so hopefully someone can clarify those currently in effect.

 

[jccollins]

The Amtrak California Zephyr train you will be traveling on features a full-service dining car. Menu selections can be found here: http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/Dining_Car_Menu.r5.pdf

Yes, there is also a snack bar, but I would highly recommend patronizing the dining car over the snack bar due to the length of your trip. In addition, if you purchase sleeping car accommodations for your trip all your meals will be included in the price of your ticket and will be served in the dining car. If you do not go with a sleeping car, you can pay for your meals with cash or credit card at the time of service just as you would in a regular restaurant.

Amtrak's baggage policy permits two carry on bags not to exceed fifty pounds each. This rule does not apply to purses or laptops or other such necessities. Example: you could carry on two suitcases up to fifty pounds + a laptop + foldup stroller etc. since the laptop and stroller would not count against your two carry on items. In addition to your carry on items, you can also check in three pieces of baggage not to exceed fifty pounds each. For full details of Amtrak's baggage policy, check out this page: http://www.amtrak.com/plan/onboard.html

 

[amtrakmichigan]

The only thing I have to add to JC is with the 50lb. per bag rule. On the Silver Meteor a couple weeks ago our Sleeper attendent almost refused a bag because it was clearly over 50lbs. I asked him about the new rule and he said basically that it cant be over 50lbs." ONLY IF AN AMTRAK EMPLOYEE HANDLES IT ". (conductor, coach or sleeper attendent or baggage people or redcaps) however he went on to say that if your willing to carry it yourself and handle it yourself, then that's your business. He said that it's to help protect the employees from hurting themselves from such a heavy package. The way we both looked at it was, if an Amtrak employee doesn't lift it , then nobody would know but you that it's over 50 lbs. I still would recomend not exceding that weight anyway, since it's very hard to lug such a heavy bag on the train and try to lift it overhead. You might end up hitting somebody over the head with it :blink:

 

[jccollins]

I asked him about the new rule and he said basically that it cant be over 50lbs." ONLY IF AN AMTRAK EMPLOYEE HANDLES IT ". (conductor, coach or sleeper attendent or baggage people or redcaps) however he went on to say that if your willing to carry it yourself and handle it yourself, then that's your business.

Sure the rule is to protect the employees, but it still strictly prohibits ANY carry on baggage of over 50 lbs, regardless of who handles it. The rule is also in place to ensure that heavy, bulky items are not onboard and a nuisance if the train needed to be evacuated for some reason. It is an all-around rule, and I HAVE seen conductors (especially this Thanksgiving weekend) refuse passengers boarding because their bags were obviously way too heavy, even though the passengers planned on carrying their own bags the entire trip. So beware, 50 lbs max all around, checked or carry on. If your bag is heavier than that you can just break it up into more bags.

 

[tp49]

I asked him about the new rule and he said basically that it cant be over 50lbs." ONLY IF AN AMTRAK EMPLOYEE HANDLES IT ". (conductor, coach or sleeper attendent or baggage people or redcaps) however he went on to say that if your willing to carry it yourself and handle it yourself, then that's your business.

Sure the rule is to protect the employees, but it still strictly prohibits ANY carry on baggage of over 50 lbs, regardless of who handles it. The rule is also in place to ensure that heavy, bulky items are not onboard and a nuisance if the train needed to be evacuated for some reason. It is an all-around rule, and I HAVE seen conductors (especially this Thanksgiving weekend) refuse passengers boarding because their bags were obviously way too heavy, even though the passengers planned on carrying their own bags the entire trip. So beware, 50 lbs max all around, checked or carry on. If your bag is heavier than that you can just break it up into more bags.

One question then if no one other than the owner of the bag habdles it, and there is no scale or anything like that in the station or on the train how can this possibly be enforced? It's a bit of a "slippery slope" as well considering that scales can give different readings depending upon numerous factors.

 

[jccollins]

One question then if no one other than the owner of the bag habdles it, and there is no scale or anything like that in the station or on the train how can this possibly be enforced? It's a bit of a "slippery slope" as well considering that scales can give different readings depending upon numerous factors.

Ultimately it is just the conductor's call, so you might get lucky and get away with it one time and not the next. Amtrak will provide small luggage boxes in staffed stations for a nominal fee if passengers bags look/are too heavy. I have seen quite a few of them being used (it's obvious because "Amtrak" is stamped across the box and it says something like "passenger baggage inside.")