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Steven B

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Lots of interesting stuff in the October issue of Amtrak Ink just posted on the Amtrak website:

It includes details of the fall menu updates, effective November 11. Among the highlights: Breakfast - Roasted Yukon gold and red-skinned potatoes replace hash browns, and turkey sausage patties are added as a meat option. Lunch - new chipotle black bean veggie burger and new entree salads. Dinner - two new steak cuts and new vegetarian pasta offerings.

The new fall timetable becomes effective Oct. 26. The new timetable will include the second Vancouver Cascades train, the new NE Regional service to Lynchburg, and the new Empire Builder stop at Leavenworth. However, the NE Corridor timetables will still not be included. Also, the timetable has been redesigned as a result of focus group testing.

There are also more details about the new Amtrak.com website, including a screen shot of the front page.
 
i hope they start building the station codes into the timetables. such a waste of space to keep them separate.
 
For us they are, because we all know what stations are on what route. For the rest of the population, though, the current setup makes more sense.
 
Another thin timetable huh? Are the Empire and Keystone services included in the timetable this time?

Yes. I thought they had completed thye tie work, etc. Especially since its getting cold out here in the Northeast (possibly even some snow). I'll keep an eye out for the new timetables and dining menus.
 
Lots of interesting stuff in the October issue of Amtrak Ink just posted on the Amtrak website:
It includes details of the fall menu updates, effective November 11. Among the highlights: Breakfast - Roasted Yukon gold and red-skinned potatoes replace hash browns, and turkey sausage patties are added as a meat option. Lunch - new chipotle black bean veggie burger and new entree salads. Dinner - two new steak cuts and new vegetarian pasta offerings.
I'm excited about the menu changes except for the hash browns being replaced. I'm not a fan of little potatoes that have been cut into eights and seasoned... Give me hash browns cooked on a griddle.
 
Lots of interesting stuff in the October issue of Amtrak Ink just posted on the Amtrak website:
It includes details of the fall menu updates, effective November 11. Among the highlights: Breakfast - Roasted Yukon gold and red-skinned potatoes replace hash browns, and turkey sausage patties are added as a meat option. Lunch - new chipotle black bean veggie burger and new entree salads. Dinner - two new steak cuts and new vegetarian pasta offerings.
I'm excited about the menu changes except for the hash browns being replaced. I'm not a fan of little potatoes that have been cut into eights and seasoned... Give me hash browns cooked on a griddle.

Well as stated, potatoes are probably easier to use than hash browns, but I think grits, although *interesting*, is still easier to make than hash browns.

I also think that the turkey sausage should be eliminated, and the return of chicken sausage would be well taken!
 
The new fall timetable becomes effective Oct. 26.
That doesn't make sense! October 26 is on a Monday. Previously, the schedule change was either on Sunday (which would be October 25) or on the time change date (which would be November 1)!
I seem to recall previous Amtrak schedules becoming effective on a Monday. The last major set of changes (according to the website) was May 11, neither the DST start, nor a Sunday.

What I want to know is, whatever happened to the supposed plan to issue the national timetable quarterly instead of half-yearly?
 
I got my hands on a new timetable today. The city index is totally redesigned, with city codes. No codes on the actual schedules though. Keystone, Empire Service, and Vermonter are all back. NEC is still missing. Another noticeable difference are the QuickTrack symbols. Instead of a Square 'T' they put a bold and italic, 'QT' in the symbol column. A new thruway bus is added through Wisconsin, from Milwaukee to Wausau, Eau Claire and St Paul. This makes it possible for those wanting to travel on the Empire Builder westbound from MSP. Looks like the ABQ-ELP bus is gone though. Looks like Hope, AR and Leavenworth, WA are both added as well.
 
Lots of interesting stuff in the October issue of Amtrak Ink just posted on the Amtrak website:
It includes details of the fall menu updates, effective November 11. Among the highlights: Breakfast - Roasted Yukon gold and red-skinned potatoes replace hash browns, and turkey sausage patties are added as a meat option. Lunch - new chipotle black bean veggie burger and new entree salads. Dinner - two new steak cuts and new vegetarian pasta offerings.
I'm excited about the menu changes except for the hash browns being replaced. I'm not a fan of little potatoes that have been cut into eights and seasoned... Give me hash browns cooked on a griddle.
Well as stated, potatoes are probably easier to use than hash browns, but I think grits, although *interesting*, is still easier to make than hash browns.

I also think that the turkey sausage should be eliminated, and the return of chicken sausage would be well taken!


....grits ARE, not, grits is.

Loves Grits
 
I will be anxious to try the new breakfast potatoes. I've almost always found Amtrak hash browns to be a bit greasy and bland and needing a splash of ketchup to kick some life into them.
 
So there is a singular "grit"? What's a grit, anyway?
A grain. Grits are ground corn grain boiled with water or milk.

Actually, general lesson for anyone: The answer to most questions, especially if you aren't looking for it in great detail, can be found at Wikipedia. As long as you take things with a grain of salt, its fairly safe.
 
Lots of interesting stuff in the October issue of Amtrak Ink just posted on the Amtrak website:
It includes details of the fall menu updates, effective November 11. Among the highlights: Breakfast - Roasted Yukon gold and red-skinned potatoes replace hash browns, and turkey sausage patties are added as a meat option. Lunch - new chipotle black bean veggie burger and new entree salads. Dinner - two new steak cuts and new vegetarian pasta offerings.

The new fall timetable becomes effective Oct. 26. The new timetable will include the second Vancouver Cascades train, the new NE Regional service to Lynchburg, and the new Empire Builder stop at Leavenworth. However, the NE Corridor timetables will still not be included. Also, the timetable has been redesigned as a result of focus group testing.

There are also more details about the new Amtrak.com website, including a screen shot of the front page.
Second Vancouver train (extension of 513/516 to VAC) has been running since the last part of August. Hasn't been in the printed TT, but it has been running and has been in the reservation system.
 
Lots of interesting stuff in the October issue of Amtrak Ink just posted on the Amtrak website:
It includes details of the fall menu updates, effective November 11. Among the highlights: Breakfast - Roasted Yukon gold and red-skinned potatoes replace hash browns, and turkey sausage patties are added as a meat option. Lunch - new chipotle black bean veggie burger and new entree salads. Dinner - two new steak cuts and new vegetarian pasta offerings.
I'm excited about the menu changes except for the hash browns being replaced. I'm not a fan of little potatoes that have been cut into eights and seasoned... Give me hash browns cooked on a griddle.

Well as stated, potatoes are probably easier to use than hash browns, but I think grits, although *interesting*, is still easier to make than hash browns.

I also think that the turkey sausage should be eliminated, and the return of chicken sausage would be well taken!
I beg to offer about grits being easier...unless it is rip open a package for one serving. Being a Southerner, I have seen grits come anywhere from grit soup to grit wall paper paste. If you are not that familiar with them, they can be difficult to do en masse.
 
Lots of interesting stuff in the October issue of Amtrak Ink just posted on the Amtrak website:
It includes details of the fall menu updates, effective November 11. Among the highlights: Breakfast - Roasted Yukon gold and red-skinned potatoes replace hash browns, and turkey sausage patties are added as a meat option. Lunch - new chipotle black bean veggie burger and new entree salads. Dinner - two new steak cuts and new vegetarian pasta offerings.
I'm excited about the menu changes except for the hash browns being replaced. I'm not a fan of little potatoes that have been cut into eights and seasoned... Give me hash browns cooked on a griddle.
Well as stated, potatoes are probably easier to use than hash browns, but I think grits, although *interesting*, is still easier to make than hash browns.

I also think that the turkey sausage should be eliminated, and the return of chicken sausage would be well taken!
....grits ARE, not, grits is.

Loves Grits

Perhaps "GRITS are" is proper for the written page, but it is more interesting to think of the OP talking, and saying "GRITS IS........."
 
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Bummer! I was hoping the menu change would happen before our ride on the 26th.

Grits are very bland, but can be very tasty if cooked with an egg swirled in them.

Some people like cheese added, too.

Are the Hash Browns precooked, frozen, or fresh?

I would expect that they are pre-grated at least.

The difference in cooking would be that regular Grits require near constant stirring while cooking, where Hash Browns do not. Hash Browns could take longer to cook.

I had Grits on the California Zephyr in June, they were pretty soupy-I assume they were instant-but they tasted normal. Very bland.
 
I had Grits on the California Zephyr in June, they were pretty soupy-I assume they were instant-but they tasted normal. Very bland.
That's why you load them up with lots of real butter, salt and Pepper. Then they taste great!
Which is exactly what I did! :lol:

I would have preferred them to be thicker, more the consistency of hot cereal. Not so watery.

That's why I figured they must have been instant.

We use the 'quick' variety here-in general they are hard to find at the stores here.
 
...The answer to most questions, especially if you aren't looking for it in great detail, can be found at Wikipedia. As long as you take things with a grain of salt, its fairly safe.
The same goes for grits... take them with salt. ;)

 

Butter, pepper, etc.. are all good options, but if you add nothing else, add salt.

 

Grits are pretty much a breakfast staple for the rest of my family, but I never really cared for them except on the odd occasion where my mom included them as part of dinner.

 

Then again, I am the token Yankee on both sides of my family (only one born outside the South since colonial times), so maybe that's why I don't really "get" grits.
 
Aboard the train, I prefer grits over hash browns. The grits are definitely filling and tasty with butter and pepper. I haven't had a good serving of hash browns in my limited breakfasts aboard a train.

The Yukon potatoes sound like a good alternative and I would look forward to eating them. Same goes for the new sausage patties although the bacon was decent during my last trip aboard Starlight.
 
I believe hash browns are pre made, then grilled. The grits are instant.
I must have really been in a fog bank when I ordered "oatmeal" on the Crescent recently. The Southern Railway used to hand make pots at a time and it was some kind of good. On Amtrak, I was handed an empty bowl, a coffee cup of hot water and a package of "instant oatmeal." That ain't dinosaur food in my book.
 
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