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I traveled back from Boston earlier this month on the Regional--Capitol Limited and Empire Builder. I had never taken the Regional before so I used it this time to take advantage of a more affordable sleeper on the Capitol Limited. I left Boston on the 95 at 6:15AM, with maybe a dozen others and by the time we reached New Haven the train was full and stayed full until I got off in Washington. We lost 30 minutes just before New York City due to track work and it was never made up.
After a brief wait in DC I boarded the Capitol Limited. The Diner it had was one I have never seen before and the crew seemed more focused on how we were seated than service. It had an unusual table set up with some tables seating 3 and others 4. The food wasn't bad , however service was very slow for both dinner and breakfast. After dinner I retired early and slept like a log over what I remember as bad track from past trips. I suppose the early start from Boston made for a comfortable night.
I had coffee and a roll for breakfast saving myself for a meal at Lou Mitchell's, my standard Chicago lay over procedure. Also I find the great hall a delight and enjoy passing time there between trains. The Empire Builder left on time and being Veterans Day there were very few of us traveling that evening. There couldn't have been more than 20 of us in the Portland Section. 5 of us in 4 sleepers to begin with. I was blessed with an excellent car attendant and two very good nights of sleep. It is unusual for me to sleep so well on or off the train. The food and service in the diner were exceptional. The pork ribs on the first night were some the best I have ever tasted. It was a total surprise to have such a good meal. The Empire Builder always has good food but this trip it was even better.
The entire trip was fun and enjoyable with no snags and trains running mostly on time. If only they were all like this.
Posts: 139 | From: myrtle creek oregon | Registered: Jul 2006
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Wayne, the Capitol Limited Diner you note is a 370XX conversion. The seventeen cars 37000-37016 were rebuilt from standard configuration Superliner Diners pursuant to a mandate from Congress that Food Service costs be reduced. On the Capitol Limited, the same Systemwide "Simplified Dining" menu is offered, however, on the City of New Orleans and Texas Eagle, to which these cars are also assigned, there is a "Cross Country Cafe" menu. On the City, this car is also the Lounge with the Banquette tables you noted used for such.
After the Mandate (a provision within an Appropriations bill) during the Bush administration, the intent was to convert all Diners and Sightseer Lounges so that any of the cars could be used as a "Food Service". One car would be assigned to low volume trains depending upon route and season; two to those with higher.
Only the Auto Train was to have offered traditional Dining service, although the Empire Builder was given a "reprieve" following its "launch" as an "upgraded" train.
However Congress moved on and with the Bush administration "fresh out" of political capital, wiser heads prevailed. Amtrak learned what food items could be prepared off train and still be an attractive meal and what items need continue to be prepared to order. They also learned how to reduce kitchen staff to 2 or 3 and wait staff to four during slack travel periods. For these changes to be effective, it was determined that reconfigured cars were unnecessary.
Therefore, the initiative to convert all Diners and Lounges to "Food Service' has been killed. While these cars will continue on the City and Eagle, they will be withdrawn from the Capitol Limited when additional 380XX Diners are rebuilt using ARRA '08 funds. The 370XX cars released will be assigned as a CHI-PDX Diner Lounge line so that regular Dining service will be offered to Portland in place of the Snack Bar fare and "Boxed meals" for Sleeper passengers.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Thanks for the trip report...trains 7 and 8 (or 27/28) are always enjoyable. I do like the fact that this is only one of two trains in the Amtrak system that still uses real plates (not disposable) and, for the most part, real food. The Auto Train is the other one.
Those Diner-Lite things never made any sense. They were mandated by Congress to reduce costs, so Amtrak says, "Okay...then let's spend 2 million bucks PER CAR to ruin and destroy what's already there, and create a total mess and disaster in its' place". That's the bottom line (in my opinion)---that project was a joke from the start, and I'm "on record" stating such ever since it was first announced.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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It's hard not to be a cynic. Those of us who ride the LD trains regularly would have been happy to share our concerns with this new diner configuration ahead of time had we been asked....
But then there were probably some folks at Beech Grove that would have been out of work sooner had it not been for the diner conversion project.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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The thing I hated most about these weird dining facilities (other than the fact that City of New Orleans had no sightseer lounge too) was the 3-seater tables, facing INWARD. Who takes a train and wants to face inward? It's plumb dumb
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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Sojourner, I completely agree about inward facing seating. But, remember one of the best trains that ever ran, the 20th Century Limited, had inward facing seating in the diner.
Of course then it was primarily for businessmen and the famous or near famous. Then, as now, it was all about 'see and be seen' for the celebrity world.
But as we all know, the LSL is no 20th Century Ltd.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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