seat38a
Engineer
The State Is Me by Louis 12 I believe?
Water Rationing & Ice Monitoring On Long Distance Sleeping Cars???
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D.P. Roberts
Conductor
For those of you who need more than a cup of ice - does Amtrak provide ice buckets, or do you bring your own, or what?
Rail Freak
Engineer
It's a crap shoot!!! I've had SCAs furnish Buckets & I've had SCAs act like I was Crazy for asking such a ridiculous request!!!!
I have had the misfortune of having Peggy as an SCA also. The term "control freak" and others not suited for family viewing come to mind when describing her. She's the only SCA I've had that ordered me to stop taking photos of the trains. This while on a smoke stop at Del Rio, TX. She made it very clear it was "illegal to photograph people without their permission". I was taking photos of the train at the time. No one was near where I was taking the photos. I complied only because I had better things to do than be booted off at Del Rio. And she had an I'm queen, you do as I say attitude. Very rude and condescending.
Peggy is without a doubt the one OBS that makes Miss Polly win the Ms Congealiality Award! She's the Control Freaks Control Freak!
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ronkstevens
Service Attendant
Ice is regulated as a food, and needs to be handled as such.
The only ice "rationing" I've encountered was Vincent on the SWC. He cited health concerns as mentioned above. It was more no help yourself than rationing although, if he was done for the night, so was the ice!
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The Davy Crockett
Engineer
Now this needs to stop.
For here is a perfect opportunity for Amtrak to
EDIT: And learn from the 'pros.' Don't let folks bring their own ice in the name of "security."
hboy:
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seat38a
Engineer
Here is where the spare water and ice buckets were kept. This is on top of the water bottles that were constantly replenished in our bedroom.
P1000040 by seat38a, on Flickr
Its away at the end but you can see the ice cooler with the self server ice. The free juice were right next to the chest along with cups.
P1000038 by seat38a, on Flickr
P1000040 by seat38a, on FlickrIts away at the end but you can see the ice cooler with the self server ice. The free juice were right next to the chest along with cups.
P1000038 by seat38a, on Flickr
I worked in Public Health while in the Air Force. We had to periodically test ice from various machines around base for fecal coliform and other bacteria. Many people think that ice contains no bacteria because it is frozen. Not so! Often the ice machines had high amounts of bacteria. When this was determined, the ice machines had to be emptied and sterilized. The reason for the bacteria was mostly due to dirty hands of workers who didn't wash properly after using the toilet. Contaminated ice can cause gastrointestinal issues....many people assume the cause of their problems is food related, but it can also be ice related. That is why Amtrak should not have ice available for passengers to "help themselves".
seat38a
Engineer
Is there any guarantee that the hand of the SCA are any cleaner? Seriously, the SCA are always cleaning the rooms and the roomettes and also cleaning and stocking the restrooms (The Good Ones Are). I'm pretty sure they are not getting ice for the passengers wearing gloves.
tricia
Conductor
I travel with a wonderful cooler that looks like a piece of luggage and straps nicely to top of a wheeled carry-on:
http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Bear-Coolers-Cooler-Black/dp/B00259FY1Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1402005682&sr=8-2&keywords=polar+coolers
Very lightweight, very efficient. A couple of cups of ice per day keeps beer, milk, snacks cool for 24 hours.
Here is where the spare water and ice buckets were kept. This is on top of the water bottles that were constantly replenished in our bedroom.
Its away at the end but you can see the ice cooler with the self server ice. The free juice were right next to the chest along with cups.
WOW! What train and sleeper car IS that? It is immaculate - MUCH cleaner than most cars I've ever been assigned to in the past. And I can see the ice chest in the distance, exactly where it has always been, EACH and EVERY time I've ridden Amtrak long distance trains in the past, UNTIL this last time on the Southwest Chief out of Chicago. I will also add that I am a (medically retired) Registered Nurse with NICU experience - where handwashing is critical; I understand the concept of infection control. I wholeheartedly agree with 'Seat38a' - there is certainly no indication SCA are using gloves when handling ice, NOR did I every ONCE see ANY indication they were using hand sanitizer. Interesting, eh?!!!
Thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU for your post!!! You summed up, in very few words, my sentiments, EXACTLY! She is NOT mentally stable, IMHO, and this is coming from an RN with many years dealing with the mentally ill (the last 15 years of my nursing career were spent as a Corrections RN). She absolutely RUINED my ENTIRE experience, from start to finish. I felt like I was a prisoner to her whims. She should NOT be allowed to deal with passengers. Period. She advised me she had 'reported me to her supervisor' as she had be 'pegged as a troublemaker' - when all I did was express concern over limited access to water and ice when we pulled out of Chicago; this, in reaction to her TELLING me I would have limited access to water & ice for the journey. What can we DO about psycho SCA like Peggy? She is DANGEROUS, and potentially hazardous to our well-being, comfort and safety. To the gentleman travelling in the room across from me, I heard her refer to the 'call button' as the 'EMERGENCY LIGHT'. Now THERE'S one way to insure no one every tries to request assistance! ANd she was FOREVER telling us over the intercom that we were to clean the restrooms up after ourselves. Excuse me ... but what was SHE there for? Again, thanks for validating my already low opinion of Peggy. She needs to find another job ...
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seat38a
Engineer
This was on the Sunset Limited. Our SCA Darlean was always cleaning and stocking. This was on top of her personally checking in on the handicap bedroom to see if they needed anything and bringing meals to the rooms. (I personally saw her do both.)Here is where the spare water and ice buckets were kept. This is on top of the water bottles that were constantly replenished in our bedroom.
Its away at the end but you can see the ice cooler with the self server ice. The free juice were right next to the chest along with cups.
WOW! What train and sleeper car IS that? It is immaculate - MUCH cleaner than most cars I've ever been assigned to in the past. And I can see the ice chest in the distance, exactly where it has always been, EACH and EVERY time I've ridden Amtrak long distance trains in the past, UNTIL this last time on the Southwest Chief out of Chicago. I will also add that I am a (medically retired) Registered Nurse with NICU experience - where handwashing is critical; I understand the concept of infection control. I wholeheartedly agree with 'Seat38a' - there is certainly no indication SCA are using gloves when handling ice, NOR did I every ONCE see ANY indication they were using hand sanitizer. Interesting, eh?!!!
crescent2
Conductor
Call Amtrak and ask for Customer Relations.
I'm not familiar with the acronym OBS ... could you enlighten me please? Thanks!
neroden
Engineer
"on board service" (employee)
dart330
OBS Chief
Those Amazon reviews are hilarious and I am going to get one of these for our next trip. That combined with a thermos full of Manhattans (another great idea I read on here) should keep us from needing so much of the precious shared bacteria ridden ice.
LOL!!! My experience with Peggy was part of a TE/SL trip. Guess who was working in the diner on that trip??? You guessed it! Miss Congeniality herself!!!! Talk about a double whammy with two of the nastiest employees Amtrak has!
You have my deepest sympathies, my friend.......
Ispolkom
Engineer
Two weeks ago I traveled from Miami to Minot on the Silver Meteor, the Capitol Limited, and the Empire Builder. On the Silver Meteor the SCA (a young lady from Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, of all places) had ice available at the coffee station at the end of the car. On the Empire Builder there was the styrofoam cooler in roomette #1. On the Capitol Limited, the SCA didn't have any ice, and had to go to the dining car to get it. That seemed odd, but he claimed it was "new rules." I've been traveling on Amtrak long enough to take statements like that with a grain of salt.
I would especially have been unhappy on the 6-hour-late Empire Builder into Minot without ice. If I'm going to be stuck on a siding, a stiff Negroni and some Bach makes the waiting much easier.
I would especially have been unhappy on the 6-hour-late Empire Builder into Minot without ice. If I'm going to be stuck on a siding, a stiff Negroni and some Bach makes the waiting much easier.
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