Will dining cars resume 12/15/20?/Flexible dining extended to May 2021?

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They’re quite ingenious really, and a nice way to travel. An Amtrak roomette is really just an enclosed section.

Yup.....an Amtrak Roomette (Superliner type) is really not much more than a VIA Section with a door instead of a curtain. The toilet and shower are down the hall!

A Viewliner Roomette (older type) does have a toilet (in the room) and sink. I haven't been in one of the new Viewliner Roomettes. I believe they have a sink but you use the public toilet down the hall.
 
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They’re quite ingenious really, and a nice way to travel. An Amtrak roomette is really just an enclosed section.
The Pullman Company did have some lightweight section sleepers, where they experimented with sliding aluminum door panels, instead of the traditional heavy fabric curtains....
 
You could view sections as simply airline business class with lay-flat seats and no privacy. Having sat in one several times while having regular rooms made up, they actually seem roomier than roomettes. With all the recent discussion of Amtrak needing some sort of lay-flat business option (Delta One seats, etc.) for overnight trains, the solution was devised 70 years ago and is still in use today.
 
VIA continues selling berths because passengers keep buying them. They're a lower-cost, lie-flat option.
Bingo.

They’re quite ingenious really, and a nice way to travel. An Amtrak roomette is really just an enclosed section.
Pretty much; the major difference is both berths can be sold independently (the upper is cheaper).
 
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The Renaissance Sleepers on the Ocean are shorter than North American cars so they only have 10 Bedrooms. Berth capacity with an upper and lower in each room is 20 persons so a low revenue per car. Each has an enclosed toilet and 6 units also have a private shower with the enclosed toilet. (Everything gets wet....but I never found that a big problem!)

Single occupancy of a Ren Sleeper only requires a small supplement. You are never paired up with a stranger which seems to be quite acceptable in Europe.








 
I know VIA has issues with the Renaissance cars, but I can't believe they don't have a future somewhere. I have yet to sleep in one, but our designated shower space was in one on our last two trips, they ride well (the complexity of the suspension is obvious) and I really like the diner/lounges.
 
I know VIA has issues with the Renaissance cars, but I can't believe they don't have a future somewhere. ........

VIA has said the Rens will be used on the 'Hybrid' Ocean when it returns (it will also include Budd equipment). Ren Sleepers will probably be around for awhile yet as they have been modified to provide Barrier-Free Handicapped facilities which the Budd Sleepers do not have. I much prefer a smooth riding Ren to a Budd.....especially in Budd Bedrooms with the folding partition that tends to rattle!
 
I know VIA has issues with the Renaissance cars, but I can't believe they don't have a future somewhere. I have yet to sleep in one, but our designated shower space was in one on our last two trips, they ride well (the complexity of the suspension is obvious) and I really like the diner/lounges.
Well, something that was designed to run at upto 200kph better ride well at the pokey speeds at which they operate in North America! :)

Incidentally, I do agree about the superior ride quality when compared to the Budd cars. It is quite noticeable. Fortunately unlike Amtrak who seem to have endless problem trying to figure out the right flange profile to use since the profile used in the NEC is different from the ones used by freight railroads, VIA seems to have settled on a single one, since they do not yet have to worry about operating speeds of 200+kph. One of the reasons that Viewliners ride poorly on the NEC is this subtle difference in flange profiles.
 
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Well, something that was designed to run at upto 200kph better ride well at the pokey speeds at which they operate in North America! :)

Incidentally, I do agree about the superior ride quality when compared to the Budd cars. It is quite noticeable. Fortunately unlike Amtrak who seem to have endless problem trying to figure out the right flange profile to use since the [profile used in the NEC is different from the ones used by freight railroads, VIA seems to have settled on a single one, since they do not yet have to worry about operating speeds of 200+kph. One of the reasons that Viewliners ride poorly on the NEC is this subtle difference in flange profiles.
Interesting! Thanks.
 
It’s not a bad idea with the way the diners were operated because it created more certainty in how much food to stock. I would be in favor of a new dining car concept that provided service from say 6:00 am to 10:00 pm and offered a variety of options from full meals to snacks. In that scenario, the diner would serve all passengers and could charge all passengers, though including meals for first class is not a bad idea.

What you described is basically the original cross country cafe concept. An all day menu available, and then additional items available during meal times for either take out or sit down.
 
Yup.....an Amtrak Roomette (Superliner type) is really not much more than a VIA Section with a door instead of a curtain.
[...] they actually seem roomier than roomettes.

The seats seem significantly wider than those in Amtrak roomettes (so that two people could actually sit together on one), and the bed appears much wider, probably because it goes to the curtain. Amtrak leaves a space between the bed and the wall.

I've never slept in a Via section, but I've heard it is much more comfortable than an Amtrak roomette. Jim, would you like to weigh in?
 
I've never slept in a Via section, but I've heard it is much more comfortable than an Amtrak roomette. Jim, would you like to weigh in?
Honestly I have been seated in one probably six times in total on VIA, but it was always while our regular room (or my roomette if travelling alone) was being made up for bed or returned to day mode. The attendant would ask passengers to wait in a vacant one during the service. (Amtrak often use a vacant roomette the same way - at least in my Superliner experiences.) The great pic in Post 298 is the more recent upholstery update in the Budd Manor and Chateau sleepers; previously they were "less modern", and the blue VIA ex-CN sleepers could be be described as "more plush" - more from being old than intentionally. My wife never wanted to try a section since one's "stuff" was out in the open when in the lounge or diner and on few solo trips I was more comfortable in an "unshared" accommodation, plus for a considerable time VIA did not include meals with section tickets.
 
I've never slept in a Via section, but I've heard it is much more comfortable than an Amtrak roomette. Jim, would you like to weigh in?

VIA bedding is much better quality than Amtrak, the bedding alone would make it more comfortable. VIA Roomette Beds are much more comfortable than Amtrak Roomette Beds even though I prefer the setup in Amtrak better during daytime use. (I like the shelf / closet space, and it feels less like sitting in a box.).
 
I prefer the setup in Amtrak better during daytime use. (I like the shelf / closet space, and it feels less like sitting in a box.).
"Sitting in a box" is a very apt description of a VIA roomette. Very similar to Amtrak's old slumbercoach rooms IMHO. Superliner roomettes are great by day and if sleeping alone. Travelling couples who don't like upper bunks should try for two across the hall from each other... gets you two lower bunks and a view out both sides for less than a bedroom.
 
Pre-Amtrak sleeping cars' rooms all had toilets and with the exception of some older style bedrooms, all were in separate enclosures with a door if the room slept more than one person. And nobody complained about a toilet in a roomette, duplex roomette, or the large duplex rooms whose toilets had a metal door concealing them and, when opened, the toilet folded down out of the otherwise completely enclosed space. What a change from up to 24 berth passengers using one men's room and one women's room toilet at each end of the car! Some berth cars that lacked the 3-person drawing room had 16 or 14 sections, i.e. upper & lower berths. We rode in a 14-section one from Seatlle to Missoula, MT in 1959 in The Milwaukee Road lower-fare Touralux sleeping car. Behind it were a 10 roomette/6 bed-room sleeper and the all glass-enclosed Skytop Lounge observation car which had I think 8 bedrooms.
 
MODERATOR NOTE: please stay on the topic of Amtrak dining cars and avoid political comments. Political and/or off topic comments may be removed. Thank you for your cooperation.
 
It might stink up the car for a little while, but an efficient HVAC system with suitable outside air intake should clear it out pretty quickly. The poor soul who left the window open would just have to deal with it in their own compartment a while longer.

Do the many sleepers with opening windows in other countries not travel though tunnels?

BTW, does the crew on Superliners switch the HVAC to full recirculate when they pass through Moffat currently?
The fumes from the electric engines in Europe are atrocious - much worse than diesel. ;)
 
Recall reading a similar disaster was narrowly averted for a great Northern Railway passenger train about a century ago in the original Cascade tunnel at Stevens Pass, Washington.
 
Yes......they are still popular here! There's only 3 Sections in each Chateau or Manor car with 3 lower berths and 3 uppers for a total occupancy of 6 people. The space occupied by the fourth section was converted to a public shower. You can see that here on the right (where the ladders to the uppers are stored)........



In defense of sections: I actually prefer a lower berth to a roomette. The upper has no window, so it's not for me. I haven't checked the specs, but the section beds seem wider -- and certainly much wider than an Amtrak roomette bed. Super comfortable bed, a huge window, plus the bed doesn't need to be folded up to access the toilet, as the VIA roomettes require. Seats are plenty wide for day use, wide enough for two people to sit side by side if desired, plus on the Canadian we spend most of our waking hours in the domes, lounges or diner anyway.

We booked sections on the Canadian on our last four cross-country trips and loved it. My wife and I took lowers 1 & 2, which are across from each other, and our son took one of the uppers. He is still of an age where he thinks even a windowless bed is great fun. The other upper was sometimes occupied by someone else and sometimes vacant.
 
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plus the bed doesn't need to be folded up to access the toilet, as the VIA roomettes require.

Roomettes don’t require it, you can still use the restroom down the hall just like when you are in a section.

I’ve always wanted to ride in a section just for the fun of it. For 4 days I want a private room though. Maybe one day if I get off in Jasper I’ll finish the journey in a section.

I bought a section when I rode the Pullman Rail Journeys on the city of New Orleans... but one of the managers knew me so he upgraded me to a bedroom in the tail car. I’m not complaining :) ha.
 
MODERATOR NOTE: please stay on the topic of Amtrak dining cars and avoid political comments. Political and/or off topic comments may be removed. Thank you for your cooperation.
Again, please stay on topic of Amtrak dining cars (as opposed to toilets in roomettes, fumes in tunnels, etc.). It should be noted that posts that quote removed posts (because they were political and/or off topic or because they quote a removed post) will also be removed.
 
Roomettes don’t require it, you can still use the restroom down the hall just like when you are in a section.

I’ve always wanted to ride in a section just for the fun of it. For 4 days I want a private room though. Maybe one day if I get off in Jasper I’ll finish the journey in a section.

I bought a section when I rode the Pullman Rail Journeys on the city of New Orleans... but one of the managers knew me so he upgraded me to a bedroom in the tail car. I’m not complaining :) ha.

Well, for sure I would prefer a VIA drawing room to the sections, but it's a lot more expensive and often the Canadian only has one per departure. The other option for a party of three on VIA would be a bedroom suite, which is also expensive. My point was just that the sections are really very comfortable and, for many trips, private enough.

As for the restroom, it's only a couple of steps from sections 1 & 2, whereas from the roomettes one has to walk the length of the car. Or go to the next car, but in the winter that requires braving the cold and snow of the vestibule.
 
Again, please stay on topic of Amtrak dining cars (as opposed to toilets in roomettes, fumes in tunnels, etc.). It should be noted that posts that quote removed posts (because they were political and/or off topic or because they quote a removed post) will also be removed.

And to bring it back to dining, hands down I would rather spend four nights in a VIA section eating real meals in a dining car than spend three nights in an Amtrak deluxe bedroom with the same limited menu of flex non-food for the entire trip.
 
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How would it be if all new rolling stock was built in the viewliner style (single level) so it could be used on all trackage instead of usable in certain areas.
That would likely be a detriment to Western territory built or maintained for Superliner service. We'd probably need longer platforms, risking a visit from the ADA sledgehammer, or suffer a reduction in capacity. It might make more sense to consider dogeared dual levels that can pass through the NEC and using those nationwide.

What they have in other countries is irrelevant.
Contemporary human knowledge is built on the foundation of numerous cultures and civilizations sharing problems and selling solutions to each other. The idea that we should ignore information located outside some arbitrary boundary just because "they" came up with it is beyond my ability to comprehend. I personally think Amtrak could benefit from a larger pool of established solutions that are less provincial and more results oriented.
 
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