SWC in June, Kansas City to L.A.

[Pam]

I am taking the SWC in June with my 14 year old son. We have a roomette. I was thinking of having some meals delivered to our room, at least breakfast anyway. My son will like sleep in. If I wanted to, could I go to the dining car to eat and bring back something for him? I wasn't sure if that was appropriate. Also, is breakfast available before we arrive in LA at 8:15am (if on time)?

Also, the plan was to have our two small backpacks and a small duffle in our room. Feasible? We'd leave our other two bags out in the carryon area.

We are incredibly excited for our trip!

 

[printman2000]

They usually do have a short breakfast early before arriving on Los Angeles.

We always travel with a duffle and a backpack in my roomettes with two people so it should not be a problem.

As for taking for back, not sure about that. I think you may have to go through your car attendant to get take out food.

 

[the_traveler]

You can have breakfast yourself in the Dining Car, but you can not bring back a complete meal for your son. (As an example during other meals, you could take your dessert back with you.) If you want a complete meal brought to your room, all you have to do is ask your car attendant (SCA). But note that in the morning, he has to do that in between his or her other duties - such as setting every room back to its daytime configuration - thus even though you may request it for (say) 7:30, it may be later.

Normally, prior to arrival in LA at 8:15 there is a limited breakfast menu served, and normally there is only ONE seating - and that is like at 5 am!

 

[tomfuller]

Your SCA will have coffee brewing in the car and some juice available. There may even be some fruit (apples oranges).

If you get to LAX early without breakfast, ask someone for directions to Phillipes. You can leave your luggage safely in the LAX lounge while you go for breakfast.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

You can have breakfast yourself in the Dining Car, but you can not bring back a complete meal for your son.

As Dave has indicated the dining car staff will often balk at the idea of handing you a meal to go. I don't know why this is. It may have something to do with not wanting to assemble the various accoutrements and package it up. Or perhaps it's an issue with crossing lines and stepping on toes between service jobs.

If you want a complete meal brought to your room, all you have to do is ask your car attendant (SCA). But note that in the morning, he has to do that in between his or her other duties - such as setting every room back to its daytime configuration - thus even though you may request it for (say) 7:30, it may be later.

In my experience the SCA's have been surprisingly good at honoring requested meal times and managing meal related expectations. However, that being said they still have to work within the serving window and menu selections determined by the LSA.

Normally, prior to arrival in LA at 8:15 there is a limited breakfast menu served, and normally there is only ONE seating - and that is like at 5 am!

Amtrak's "full service" breakfast menu is already extremely limited at this point. What does Amtrak's "limited" breakfast menu offer? The Sunset Limited seems to have the right idea. Pull into the station early enough to avoid any dining related questions and immediately dump everyone out of bed and onto the nearest platform so the staff can head home and enjoy a leisurely breakfast on their own dining room table. Everybody wins.

Your SCA will have coffee brewing in the car and some juice available. There may even be some fruit (apples oranges). If you get to LAX early without breakfast, ask someone for directions to Phillipes. You can leave your luggage safely in the LAX lounge while you go for breakfast.

The coffee will be brewing but the "juice" is pretty far removed from whatever fruit it supposedly came from. It's like a juice cocktail cocktail (twice removed). On the plus side there are some name brand (but non-perishable) juice bottles in the tastefully appointed Metropolitan Lounge at LAUS. Any fruit you find on board came from your SCA rather than from Amtrak or Aramark. Philippe's has a better breakfast than any Amtrak train so if you have the time and don't mind a bit of a walk I would second this suggestion.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the information. I may just have to drag my 14 year old out of bed for breakfast :giggle:

I was planning on bringing some snacks anyway, so maybe I will just bring something for breakfast on the day we arrive.

Any idea of how busy the showers get on arrival morning? I could shower the night before, but I usually shower in the morning or I feel grimy.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Thanks for the information. I may just have to drag my 14 year old out of bed for breakfast :giggle: I was planning on bringing some snacks anyway, so maybe I will just bring something for breakfast on the day we arrive. Any idea of how busy the showers get on arrival morning? I could shower the night before, but I usually shower in the morning or I feel grimy.

I would expect the showers to be busy prior to arrival. You can use the showers in any car so if one is car is full try checking another. It would be really nice if the Metropolitan Lounge had showers on arrival for folks who get squeezed out or whose trains arrive early. It sounds like showers are in the cards for the new Metro Lounge in Chicago so maybe LAUS will up their game and add them later.

 

[the_traveler]

Also, the showers are available 24/7. They may be busy at (say) 7 am, but maybe not at 6 or 6:30.

The longest "line" I've had was 1 person. While I don't go at a specific time, most every time I find it immediately available.

 

[PeeweeTM]

My country is about 100 miles wide. Yours is wider, meaning you have extra sleeping time going West. Might still be too early for the wannabe-adult though...

 

[FormerOBS]

There are a couple reasons that the dining crew will balk at giving you a breakfast to go.

First, they're not set up for it. Getting a breakfast to go often means having a server leave the floor at a time when he/she is needed to serve seated passengers.

Second, they don't know whether you can do it safely. It's one thing for a passenger to be given a small box of snacks and a soda in the lounge, to be taken to the passenger's seat. It's quite another to carry a full tray with hot food through several swaying cars. If you spill it, that's likely to happen between cars, where it's difficult and potentially dangerous to clean up the mess while the train is in motion. And of course nobody wants you to spill it on yourself or another passenger, particularly if hot liquids are involved.

Let the attendant do it. It's safer and easier.

Tom

 

[Pam]

My oldest son has decided to take the train as well, but he will be in coach. Would our attendant be able to make a reservation for all three of us for lunch and dinner?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

First, they're not set up for it. Getting a breakfast to go often means having a server leave the floor at a time when he/she is needed to serve seated passengers.

If they're leaving the floor where are they going? Would they prepare your food on the table or ceiling? :lol:

Second, they don't know whether you can do it safely. It's one thing for a passenger to be given a small box of snacks and a soda in the lounge, to be taken to the passenger's seat. It's quite another to carry a full tray with hot food through several swaying cars.

The snack car will happily hand you boiling hot pizza and other hot items like it's child's play.

If you spill it, that's likely to happen between cars, where it's difficult and potentially dangerous to clean up the mess while the train is in motion. And of course nobody wants you to spill it on yourself or another passenger, particularly if hot liquids are involved.

When I've had food delivered to my room it came sealed and wrapped in foil before being packed inside in a thick paper bag with handles. Didn't seem to represent much if any threat that I could see.

Let the attendant do it. It's safer and easier.

This is what I do, and to be fair I've experienced few problems so far, but what about those times where the SCA is MIA? Seems like there should be an option to pick it up yourself without having to argue or beg.

My oldest son has decided to take the train as well, but he will be in coach. Would our attendant be able to make a reservation for all three of us for lunch and dinner?

Yep. I would suggest having a sleeper passenger stay in their compartment during the scheduling period and list the total number of diners including the coach passenger.

 

[Pam]

Awesome. Thank you! I think I have decided to just have breakfast delivered and eat lunch & dinner in the dining car with my oldest.

 

[FormerOBS]

No, they won't be leaving the train. And they will keep their feet under them. They would be leaving the dining room "floor" to go downstairs to the kitchen to assemble the to-go breakfast. The chef is already busy enough with his/her duties. In the kitchen, this server would wrap appropriate items in foil and put everything into that "thick paper bag with handles". It doesn't happen unless somebody does it. These items do not come to the train wrapped in that foil. Hot liquids in soft-side paper bags are an invitation to disaster, IMO. In my career, I generally avoided use of the paper bags and carried meals through on a tray. I would not allow a passenger to carry a tray with a complete hot meal like that because I can't be sure they can do it safely.

A hot pizza in a carryout box from the lounge is certainly not as formidable a load as a full hot meal (or two), whether in a box, in a bag, or on a tray.

If the SCA is truly MIA, then that's an entirely separate issue.

Tom

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Hot liquids in soft-side paper bags are an invitation to disaster, IMO. In my career, I generally avoided use of the paper bags and carried meals through on a tray. I would not allow a passenger to carry a tray with a complete hot meal like that because I can't be sure they can do it safely. A hot pizza in a carryout box from the lounge is certainly not as formidable a load as a full hot meal (or two), whether in a box, in a bag, or on a tray.

What are all these "hot liquids" you keep talking about? Are you referring to the reheated factory brewed coffee syrup drink? Or did I miss the announcement about Amtrak's new hot soup selection? If you think Amtrak's microwave cafe pizza isn't a formidable burn hazard maybe you should try nudging one back into place as you carry it back to your seat.

If the SCA is truly MIA, then that's an entirely separate issue.

Does it have an entirely separate solution? What constitutes "truly MIA" in this context? An hour or two? A meal or two? A day or two? When this happened to me the LSA didn't seem to know what to do. It's almost like they'd never considered the possibility that doing absolutely nothing might not solve the problem.

 

[the_traveler]

In my case, it was more like 2 1/2 days! The SCA on the EB came "to introduce himself" as we left CHI. The next time I saw him was at the door in PDX - waiting for a tip! (I even had to set the bed each night and morning!)

 

[FormerOBS]

DA:

You come by your name honestly.

I don't know what items this hypothetical passenger is ordering. I only know that it must be assembled into one or more meals in the dining car kitchen, and transported as quickly and safely as possible to the consumer. The chef will be busy. The wait staff will be busy. I don't know whether the passenger is capable or not. If the passenger drops it midway (hopefully not on himself or another passenger), then the whole job has to be done over and the mess cleaned up. As an Amtrak employee, I was always too lazy to want to do a job twice when it was quicker and easier to do it once; I was also too safety conscious to want to invite trouble.

Since I wasn't a lounge car LSA, I'll choose not to address the flaming-hot pizza problem.

Your scenarios all refer to whether the passenger or the employee should do the job. I have said it's the employee's job. If the employee is "MIA", that means he's either busy with some other aspect of his job, or he's a poor employee. If that happens, some other employee should be brought into the situation to do what is needed. I'm not on this hypothetical trip with this hypothetical passenger who has a hypothetical SCA who is hypothetically MIA. If I were, I might be able to make more specific recommendations.

Many of the services provided on the train will be provided in a specific way because that is what is most appropriate in the specific circumstances. Under slightly different circumstances, a very different approach might be more appropriate. I can't give you any ironclad, immutable rules that will cover every contingency. In my career, I made thousands of round trips and my duties and challenges probably weren't exactly the same on any two of them. We have brains so that we can use our judgment to figure out what is likely to be the safest, fastest, and most efficient way to provide the service that is needed. I have presented some guidelines that have been useful over the years. If you don't like them, you can relax because I don't work there any more.

I think I'll just leave it right there until the discussion starts going in a more profitable direction.

Tom

 

[FormerOBS]

In my case, it was more like 2 1/2 days! The SCA on the EB came "to introduce himself" as we left CHI. The next time I saw him was at the door in PDX - waiting for a tip! (I even had to set the bed each night and morning!)

There is no excuse for this, and it should be reported.

 

[the_traveler]

It was - via a letter directly to Big Joe - and a member of his staff called me directly!

 

[FormerOBS]

Good.

 

[Pam]

For those of you who have traveled in Sleeper cars before, do you generally take some snacks with you?

 

[printman2000]

For those of you who have traveled in Sleeper cars before, do you generally take some snacks with you?

My wife usually takes something for kids, but I never eat anything. The dining car keeps me quite full!

 

[the_traveler]

Same here.

With the included meals, I (myself) am quite satisfied. In fact, I sometimes skip lunch.

 

[printman2000]

Same here.

With the included meals, I (myself) am quite satisfied. In fact, I sometimes skip lunch.

Hey now, lets not get crazy now. I have never skipped a meal!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Same here.

With the included meals, I (myself) am quite satisfied. In fact, I sometimes skip lunch.

Hey now, lets not get crazy now. I have never skipped a meal!

I skipped lunch when the night before I didn't have room for the dessert at dinner time. I wanted to make sure I had room for that dessert the next night.