Water Rationing & Ice Monitoring On Long Distance Sleeping Cars???

[Big Iron]

So the consensus seems to be...

You may or may not get an ice bucket.

You may or may not be able to get your own ice (or quantities of it).

You may or may not get any ice at all.

You may or may not be able to get coffee or juice by the late morning.

And bottled water may be limited or rationed, and (according to some posts) may be on the way out altogether.

Ride Amtrak! "We're making trains worth riding again!"

That does seem to be the consensus, and that's a shame. *sigh*

Sleeper accommodations are not cheap. It is reasonable to expect a consistent level of service.

Twas ever thus. I've never noticed a consistent level of service from Amtrak.

With regard to amenities being cut, it seems to be a cyclical thing. Look at the latest issue of Trains. There is a short sidebar article that chronicles how amenities have come and gone over the years. Anyone else remember the First Class stationery?

I remember the stationary. Also remember the rather large wine and cheese basket that was in the room waiting for you. I still have some baskets. They are large enough to hold an entire bag of microwave popcorn.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I remember those too. Those were the days. Real mattresses and wool blankets.

 

[MikefromCrete]

Here's what I've learned:

There a food handling rule that prohibits passenger from pawing the ice cubes. Some SCA's obey the rule, others don't. Most posters would rather serve their own ice and aren't concerned about germs.

Water and coffee may or may not be limited under the new bean-counter crackdown designed to make Amtrak food service profitable, or at least, not a money loser.

There's somebody named Peggy who should be removed from an Amtrak train at the next grade crossing and never let near a train again.

AU has some of the best and most entertaining postings anywhere on the web.

 

[Ind Ben]

recently rode the cl from was to chi was told by the sca that ice was not allowed under federal guide lines.On the cz it was available in a cooler.

 

[neroden]

Amtrak guarantees that ice will be available for you, so your SCA on the Capitol Limited was misleading you.

http://www.amtrak.com/personal-food-beverages-medication

"We can supply ice for your cooler/container to keep medication cool."

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Amtrak guarantees that ice will be available for you, so your SCA on the Capitol Limited was misleading you.

http://www.amtrak.com/personal-food-beverages-medication

"We can supply ice for your cooler/container to keep medication cool."

Do you suppose a fine Scotch or carefully crafted Gin would count as medication in Amtrak's parlance?

 

[neroden]

Probably not.

 

[Phil S]

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".

As a PhD still doing microbial ecology research, I think this post was completely correct until the last sentence. And, FWIW, there are previous threads that have have beaten this horse way past death. Still, it's fun reading.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Amtrak guarantees that ice will be available for you, so your SCA on the Capitol Limited was misleading you.

http://www.amtrak.com/personal-food-beverages-medication

"We can supply ice for your cooler/container to keep medication cool."

Do you suppose a fine Scotch or carefully crafted Gin would count as medication in Amtrak's parlance?

It is medication. It is a drug, it treats certain conditions (especially acute alcoholism), and it is medically needed for some people.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Rode the Sunset Limited 05/28 from Chicago to LA. Sleeping car attendant Peggy advised us she was under orders to sequester the ice (we were told we would have to ring for her and request a cup of ice every time we needed some) and limit access to bottled water.

I've ridden Amtrak long distance trains (as recently as Nov. 2013) over 13,000 miles now (over the past 3 years) and I have never EVER had this occur. Was it just a case of having a 'control freak tip seeker' as a room attendant or has anyone else encountered such a thing recently?

This wasn't the only problem I had with this dreadful woman. I'll give you details if you wish, but meanwhile I'd like to hear your thoughts, please & thanks!

My wife and I were on this same train and I must say your evaluation of Peggy is quite odd. We found her very friendly and accommodating. There was always water available including that which she dropped off in our room. She sat and talked with us on several occasions. We did not require ice so I cannot speak to that situation. I did find several of the passengers in our car to be rather demanding and rude. I guess it just depends on how you approach a person.

Our car attendant on the eastbound SWC was also a nice guy and did have ice in a large styrofoam cooler on the shelf. I have problems with a public ice source since we had a couple of yahoos in our car who were coughing and drinking heavily while getting their cache of ice each day. Would rather see the ice sequestered. He did keep extra bottles of water in his room but they were available to grab if you needed more or requested additional bottles.

Yes , there seems to be an inconsistency among attendants.

If you read an earlier post I made, I corrected myself - I was riding the Southwest Chief and left Chicago heading to Los Angeles, on May 28th - not the Sunset Limited as erroneously stated in my original post, sorry for the confusion. Perhaps there is another 'Peggy' on the Sunset Limited / Texas Eagle, but I am referring to Peggy Fleming on the LA - based Southwest Chief. Just wanted to clear that up, again ...

I did read your corrected post. We left Chicago on Tuesday May 27 on the Southwest Chief. Peggy was our car attendant in CAR 0330 and we did not experience the negative attitude that you have discussed in the post. I did experience one person who did nothing but push the call button every 15-20 minutes because her "needs" were not met. I also experienced this same passenger's generally PITA attitude when she left the train.

I am sure that, as Sarah pointed out, each of us has our own level of comfort on the train. Fortunately, we had an enjoyable trip to ABQ on #3 that trip.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Rode the Sunset Limited 05/28 from Chicago to LA. Sleeping car attendant Peggy advised us she was under orders to sequester the ice (we were told we would have to ring for her and request a cup of ice every time we needed some) and limit access to bottled water.

I've ridden Amtrak long distance trains (as recently as Nov. 2013) over 13,000 miles now (over the past 3 years) and I have never EVER had this occur. Was it just a case of having a 'control freak tip seeker' as a room attendant or has anyone else encountered such a thing recently?

This wasn't the only problem I had with this dreadful woman. I'll give you details if you wish, but meanwhile I'd like to hear your thoughts, please & thanks!

My wife and I were on this same train and I must say your evaluation of Peggy is quite odd. We found her very friendly and accommodating. There was always water available including that which she dropped off in our room. She sat and talked with us on several occasions. We did not require ice so I cannot speak to that situation. I did find several of the passengers in our car to be rather demanding and rude. I guess it just depends on how you approach a person. Our car attendant on the eastbound SWC was also a nice guy and did have ice in a large styrofoam cooler on the shelf. I have problems with a public ice source since we had a couple of yahoos in our car who were coughing and drinking heavily while getting their cache of ice each day. Would rather see the ice sequestered. He did keep extra bottles of water in his room but they were available to grab if you needed more or requested additional bottles.

Yes , there seems to be an inconsistency among attendants.

If you read an earlier post I made, I corrected myself - I was riding the Southwest Chief and left Chicago heading to Los Angeles, on May 28th - not the Sunset Limited as erroneously stated in my original post, sorry for the confusion. Perhaps there is another 'Peggy' on the Sunset Limited / Texas Eagle, but I am referring to Peggy Fleming on the LA - based Southwest Chief. Just wanted to clear that up, again ...

I did read your corrected post. We left Chicago on Tuesday May 27 on the Southwest Chief. Peggy was our car attendant in CAR 0330 and we did not experience the negative attitude that you have discussed in the post. I did experience one person who did nothing but push the call button every 15-20 minutes because her "needs" were not met. I also experienced this same passenger's generally PITA attitude when she left the train.I am sure that, as Sarah pointed out, each of us has our own level of comfort on the train. Fortunately, we had an enjoyable trip to ABQ on #3 that trip.

I think you were on the SWC the day before the other poster so you each had a SCA named Peggy.

 

[fillyjonk]

One or twice I've been on when there seemed to be NO bottled water in the sleeping cars (and the attendant was AWOL enough it was hard to find him/her to ask). Not recently, though - almost always when I get on there are two unopened bottles in my compartment, and more near where the coffeemaker is.

However, I'm an old Girl Scout (or perhaps paranoid), so I always carry a couple bottles of water with me just in case there is no water.

Ice, I don't know about - I prefer my drinks without ice so I never bother to check on its availability in the sleeping car.

 

[fillyjonk]

Peggy is without a doubt the one OBS that makes Miss Polly win the Ms Congealiality Award! She's the Control Freaks Control Freak!

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!

I'm starting to sense that the Texas Eagle sleeper is to be avoided at all cost? Way too high of a chance of having Peggy as our SCA?

I travel several times (like, 5) a year on it, have never had Peggy as an SCA. I have had Brad, who is friendly and good, several times, and also Tony, who is excellent.

This last trip I had my first experience with Miss Polly. My tendency for dealing with "difficult" people is to go super polite and super calm, so it didn't turn out TOO badly for me....

 

[tricia]

Here's what I've learned:

There a food handling rule that prohibits passenger from pawing the ice cubes. Some SCA's obey the rule, others don't. Most posters would rather serve their own ice and aren't concerned about germs.

Water and coffee may or may not be limited under the new bean-counter crackdown designed to make Amtrak food service profitable, or at least, not a money loser.

There's somebody named Peggy who should be removed from an Amtrak train at the next grade crossing and never let near a train again.

AU has some of the best and most entertaining postings anywhere on the web.

 

[Paulus]

It is medication. It is a drug, it treats certain conditions (especially acute alcoholism), and it is medically needed for some people.

It causes acute alcoholism, not treats it. Chronic alcoholism may require the prescribing of alcohol to manage withdrawal (since DTs can be fatal), but that's rather a different thing and does not require refrigeration to maintain efficacy.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I know a lot more about alcoholism than you do.

 

[Paulus]

I know a lot more about alcoholism than you do.

That's nice, you're still wrong. "Acute alcoholism" is also referred to as "acute alcohol intoxication" or, less precisely, "drunk as a skunk." Giving such a person alcohol would exacerbate the condition, not alleviate it.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

I know a lot more about alcoholism than you do.

That's nice, you're still wrong. "Acute alcoholism" is also referred to as "acute alcohol intoxication" or, less precisely, "drunk as a skunk." Giving such a person alcohol would exacerbate the condition, not alleviate it.

This thread:

 

[Shanghai]

You can get additional bottles of water and take to your room when they are available.

You can get a cup of coffee or tea before leaving the dining car after your meal, just

ask the waiter for one. They have always been accommodating. Just plan ahead

and you should not be inconvenienced.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Just plan ahead and you should not be inconvenienced.

Absolutely correct!