Restocking the Cafe Car - Midwest Regional trains

[chertling]

I was curious about when and where the Midwest regional trains (specifically, those that don't serve Chicago, such as the Missouri River Runner #311/#316) are restocked. I rode from Kirkwood to Kansas City on #311 on Friday morning, and the Cafe Car seemed to be bare. I went to the Cafe Car immediately after leaving Kirkwood (only 30 minutes after the train's initial departure from STL) to get my Coffee and a Muffin, and the person in front of me was informed that the only alcohol left on the train was Heineken and Gin.

This was actually a blessing for me, as there was a large group in the same car as me that had played a large part in depleting what little alcohol there was on the train. They were animated enough as it was... had the Cafe Car not ran out, it would have made for a very interesting trip back to KC.

While this didn't impact me (the Cafe Car had plenty of Coffee, Muffins and Mountain Dew) this did get me wondering about when and where non-Chicago Midwest trains are restocked, since the particular train I was on was NOT the MORR that is interlined with the Lincoln Service. The Muffin I bought had a sticker indicating it came from Washington, DC, which doesn't make any sense at all to me.

 

[EB_OBS]

My only experience with regional trains is the Cascades service in the Pacific NW. In general cafe cars aren't restocked mid-route or at turn-around points either. It is possible though for cafe car attendants to pick up additional stock. Some turn-around points do have mini commissaries. Additionally, if the LSA has time they can make cash purchases at local grocery stores to acquire stock. Any stock purchase has to match Amtrak's normal stock or at least be very close to it. Alcoholic beverages specifically are not usually items that a mini commissary would stock.

As for the muffin from Washington DC, any stock that's removed from an inbound train, that's not expired, is re-issued to an outbound train immediately so that it can be sold before it has to be condemned.

 

[guest rider]

I was curious about when and where the Midwest regional trains (specifically, those that don't serve Chicago, such as the Missouri River Runner #311/#316) are restocked. I rode from Kirkwood to Kansas City on #311 on Friday morning, and the Cafe Car seemed to be bare. I went to the Cafe Car immediately after leaving Kirkwood (only 30 minutes after the train's initial departure from STL) to get my Coffee and a Muffin, and the person in front of me was informed that the only alcohol left on the train was Heineken and Gin.
This was actually a blessing for me, as there was a large group in the same car as me that had played a large part in depleting what little alcohol there was on the train. They were animated enough as it was... had the Cafe Car not ran out, it would have made for a very interesting trip back to KC.

While this didn't impact me (the Cafe Car had plenty of Coffee, Muffins and Mountain Dew) this did get me wondering about when and where non-Chicago Midwest trains are restocked, since the particular train I was on was NOT the MORR that is interlined with the Lincoln Service. The Muffin I bought had a sticker indicating it came from Washington, DC, which doesn't make any sense at all to me.

I found the same thing when I rode from St. Louis to Kansas City last month on the morning train. The car was out of more than half the items from the get-go, both breakfast and lunch food. The attendant had only one type of sandwich and one type of burger, no hot dogs, no beer, no Pepsi. There's obviously something amiss in the restocking system on this train (and maybe others). I was sitting in business class so I could hear the same refrain, "Sorry, I don't have any" over and over as people came up from coach and left disappointed.