This is topic I am on the Coast Starlight right now, it is fully in service in forum Amtrak at RAILforum.


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Posted by CorporateMonkey (Member # 8365) on :
 
I am currently sitting in the parlor car right now enjoying the wine tasting. Don't you just love technology.

As a CS newbie I asked if we were missing anything that would apprear on the relaunch. I have been informed it is all here.

The movie room is here, parlour car is in full operation. I just had lunch from the new menu. Wine tasting are here.
I guess I got lucky.

Since I am here is there anything specific anyone wants to know about the new service. I have the parlour attendant sitting right next to me, he can answer any questions.
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
Thanks for the live report! I will be on #14 on relaunch day on Tuesday the 10th.

I do have one question:

Amtrak has said that there is an "alternate menu" available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for sleeping car passengers in the Parlour Car. Can you explain this a bit more? What is on the menu? How do you order your food? Is it delivered to your table in the Parlour Car? How does the food get there? Is it cooked in the Parlour Car, or does someone have to run to the dining car every time someone orders food? Amtrak has said that the "steam tables" (located adjacent to the stairs and the swivel seats) will offer some sort of buffet---any more info on this?

Thanks for any info on this question!
 

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Posted by CorporateMonkey (Member # 8365) on :
 
I will snatch a menu when I can. They have completely different menus to the regular dining car. In reality it is a totally separate dining facility including its own kitchen.

You can order food in your room, or anywhere in the dining car.

When the attendant comes around they show you the 2 menus then take a reservation for your choice (dining, or parlour).
 

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Posted by CorporateMonkey (Member # 8365) on :
 
I have a large (5mp) photo of the new menu.

The parlour car attendant mentioned there are different menus (bar/wine/parlour) for everyday, and each direction.

I can't post up a 5mp photo to this thread, nor can I use a photo hosting site as the file need to stay large to view it.

Do you have email I can send it to?
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
Sure---send it to asmith195@comcast.net. Thanks!

Is there any information about a buffet using the steam tables? And are the steam tables being used at all for any meal?

Andy
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
Also, if you are on #14 that departed Los Angeles today, you will be going through Vandenberg Air Force Base shortly, and you will lose your internet connection for about 45 minutes.
 

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Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
 
Smitty, share the info on the menus please. You know it is one of my primary interests!
 

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Posted by CorporateMonkey (Member # 8365) on :
 
Menu is on its way. Please post of some of the info I put in the email.

FYI I am south bound.
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
Got your email and the picture of the menu--thank you!

I've been away from the computer for a few hours, so I apologize for the delay. I wish I could post a picture onto this website, but as some of you may know, I have unsuccessfully requested instructions on how to do so (especially with a Mac, although it seems equally confusing with a PC).

Here is a copy/paste on some info from CorporateMonkey's email:
_________
(Regarding the steam table)

"They used them during lunch to
keep the pasta dish warm. The attendant would arrange the plate (roll,
sides, etc...) then mosey over to the table to get the entrée.

It seems to be a well thought out plan.

Also something of interest, regular train dining rules do not apply, sit
where you want, take up as much room as you want."
________________

When I take the trip on the 10th, I guess I'll have to see some things for myself in order to figure out how certain things are being accomplished. I'm not sure how food can be prepared/cooked in the Parlour Car as they do not have any cooking facilities. I believe they might have a microwave (but I'm not even sure that they have that), so I'll have to do some digging to find out.

And thanks to the menu that I was sent, I can finally see how Amtrak is putting to use the $8,000 coffee machine. On the Parlour Car menu, the following items are for sale:

Espresso
Cafe Latte
Cappuccino
Mocha
Hot Chocolate
Americano

They are all priced at $3.75, except for a double-shot Espresso which is $5.00.

The lunch menu shows two entree choices:

Chicken/cranberry/walnut chicken salad
Wine Country gemelli pasta
Carrot cake, apple tart, or ice cream for dessert

For dinner, it shows:

Beef short rib
Pacific Bay scallops

There are no prices listed next to lunch and dinner, so I'm guessing this is included in the cost of a sleeper ticket?

There is also an information brochure on the wines that will be tasted, and it lists the wines as "Day 1", so I think this means they will have something similar for Day 2?

Looks good so far! But I really want to see how they manage to pull off the food service. I have several questions in the back of my mind that I've been pondering for months ever since I found out what they would be doing, so I'm interested in seeing this first-hand so I can understand it better.

CorporateMonkey: If you can find out, can you please let us know which Parlour Car number you have? It should be listed above the sliding exit door at both ends of the car. It will be a 5 digit number, and the first 4 numbers will be "3997". The last digit will be one of these: 0, 2, 3, 4, 5. Thanks for all the info!
 

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Posted by CorporateMonkey (Member # 8365) on :
 
We are stuck in portland for some reason. We have been here for sometime. They keep coming on the intercom and blaming "Omaha"

As for the menu, I only took a photo of one side. The other side had tomorrows selections.
The short ribs are listed as a 2nd day entree

The first day is as follows.
Lunch
Chef salad
Farfalle pasta w/ salad
deserts: Butter toasted pecan tart, granny smith apple tart, ice cream

Dinner
garden salad
Beef braised in a port and goji berry sause
Farm style zinfandel braised chicken
deserts: a daily selection , cheesecake, chocolates, and "more"

There are other menus for other days/directions. I don't have those in my room.

As for kitchen facilities. In the parlour car their is a kitchen behind the bar. It is maybe 10x8. I saw our attendant dish out chow from there.

FYI the wine tasting is $5, and if you do not partake, they ask you to leave the parlour car. That seemed to piss off a lot of regulars.

All regular parlour food is included. They REALLY attempt at an alcohol upsale.
 

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Posted by CorporateMonkey (Member # 8365) on :
 
They now have stated the northbound CS is also delayed.

Does anyone know why we are stuck here?
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
The wine tasting is $5?????? Okay, that was unexpected. Wow.

As for Amtrak blaming Omaha, well.....sometimes a Conductor will say that to take the heat off of Amtrak's shoulders, although sometimes it truly is Omaha (Union Pacific).

Also, from Portland to Seattle is all BNSF---not UP.
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
In checking the train status of today's #11 and #14 at Portland, Oregon.....as of 5:35 PM (West Coast time), it shows #11 arrived into Portland 13 minutes early, with a scheduled departure time of 2:25PM. It still does not show the train as having departed yet.

For train #14, it shows an ETA into Portland of 3:45PM, which is 5 minutes late. But as of right now, it does now show it as having arrived yet.

I know the station-master at PDX, and he would not allow the status of both trains to go un-checked for so many hours. He would over-ride Amtrak's computer and enter them in manually so that the ETA's are correct.....so something is up.
 

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Posted by Charles802 (Member # 2162) on :
 
I'm really sorry to hear they are charging $5 for the wine tasting. The wine tasting is free advertising for the wineries in question, and the attendant tries to get passengers to purchase the wines afterwards. Charging for the tasting is just stupid, and frankly, the wines aren't usually that great anyway.
 

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Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
 
$5 seems a small price to pay for all the amenities the CS now has. I'll be happy to pay it. But I agree they would do better to bury the charge in the accomodation fare.

Or maybe do like the airlines an have it as an optional add on charge when booking. Couldn't believe it, but I just booked some plane reservations and had to pay an extra $6 if I wanted to select an assigned seat.
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
Now that I've had some time to think about it overnight, I think the $5 charge for wine tasting is okay. I remembered how much of a struggle it was to get the CEO of Amtrak to keep the Parlour Cars, and not get rid of them all together like his predecessor had already put into motion. A lot of effort went into keeping them, and Mr. Kummant (the CEO of Amtrak) came up with a plan to keep them. He didn't have to do this----he could have simply not rocked the boat and kept the plan that had already been implemented. He did mention that keeping these cars would mean a few changes. Number one, they would all have to be refurbished, especially the air conditioning units (2 per car/5 cars total). And number two, certain items that were once free would now come at a small cost. Way before the cars got refurbished, Amtrak told the public (in meetings that I attended) that they would no longer offer free soft drinks to all sleeping car passengers, and that if they wanted to keep the cars AND bring back an attendant in the Parlour Car, then they would have to begin charging for soft drinks. Amtrak also said there may be additional charges for other things as well. The way I look at it, if this is the small price (literally) that we have to pay, then I'm all for it. $5 is not a big deal. If you can afford a sleeper, you can afford 5 bucks. The one thing that I don't like, however, is that they kick you out of the Parlour Car if you are not going to partake in the wine tasting. I don't think this practice will last very long----it's probably just a growing pain with this new service.
 

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Posted by CorporateMonkey (Member # 8365) on :
 
I just got into Sacramento, I am now waiting for the Zephyr to Reno.

We got in about 3.5 hours late.

FYI we had unlimited juice coffee, and Champagne in the sleeper cars. They were practically forcing these little booze bottles on us.
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
Thanks for the update. Your #6 should be there in just a few minutes. And I'm missing you by one day, as I will be on #6 tomorrow from EMY to RNO.
 

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Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
 
My friends boarded the #11 today so I will report back as soon as I have any info. They don't have internet access but perhaps they will phone me as I am picking them up at LA Union Station tomorrow night.

Monkey - what happened that delayed both the #11 and #14 yesterday? Things had been going very well for the past week.
 

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Posted by CorporateMonkey (Member # 8365) on :
 
I am on the Zephyr now.

We are roaring by at 85mph right now.


I can finally elaborate on last nights dinner. I had a terrible headache last night, so I didn't post anymore.

Simple answer: Chow sucked...

I tried the "Highly regarded" braised beef spare rib. Honestly Amtrak has redefined the term "mystery meat"

It was a mush like compote of some sort of animal, smoothed in a chili type sauce. It came with an over steamed vegetable medley. And the final touch was a scoop of radioactive yellow rice. Seriously it was the most yellow food item (maybe any item) I have ever seen.
Believe it or not they had a yellow tulip at the table that was pale in comparison. I asked the parlour attendant what it was, even he was astounded.

Last thing to mention. Almost everyone on the train was new. We had two sleeping car attendants (both professional, and attentive). One said he was a 12 year employee, the other it was her first trip period. The dining car attendant was hired only a week ago, and the parlour guy has been on the job for 3 months.

I asked it they were having turn over issues, and the standard answer was "we are having a lot of people retire"
 

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Posted by CorporateMonkey (Member # 8365) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by HopefulRailUser:
]Monkey - what happened that delayed both the #11 and #14 yesterday? Things had been going very well for the past week.

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I still don't know. Some said it was an "Omaha issue" other said it was a draw bridge issue.

We never got an official answer. But we did arrive very late.
 

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Posted by CorporateMonkey (Member # 8365) on :
 
Here is a photo I uploaded of dinner.


 

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Posted by Hoop (Member # 4607) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by palmland:
Or maybe do like the airlines an have it as an optional add on charge when booking. Couldn't believe it, but I just booked some plane reservations and had to pay an extra $6 if I wanted to select an assigned seat.

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What in the hell airline was this?
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
If possible, can you please give a simple/basic explanation of how you uploaded a photo? If it's complicated, don't worry because I won't go through the hassle for something that should be easy. Thanks.
 

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Posted by CorporateMonkey (Member # 8365) on :
 
Easiest way it to have an online photo account.

I use www.photobucket.com

There are many others, most are free for a basic account.
It is very easy to sign up. Once you do it creates an online photo album.
Using the web page you upload pictures to it (instructions are very easy to follow)
WHen the picture is in your album it will produce a simple link
That link should start with \img. Take that link and post it on almost any forum.
 

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Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
 
Yellow rice. That is what I experienced a few weeks ago. They had the audacity to call it "risotto" at one of the meals. Sorry to hear about the food, that was my one hope for improvement.
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
CorporateMonkey:

Hey, you didn't tell us that you have the Beech Grove and Corridor Clipper attached to the rear of your train! I just found out that you have those two cars on your train. In case you don't know, the Beech Grove is the CEO's car (if not being used by Amtrak's CEO, then there are top managers in it), and the Corridor Clipper is an inspection car that Amtrak uses. I can assure you that your train will run on-time today.
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
Thank you for the photo instructions!
 

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Posted by CorporateMonkey (Member # 8365) on :
 
We had two special looking antique yellow cars on the coast startlight. They added them in portland.
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
Those were the Stanford and Sunset. Those are Union Pacific executive/manager cars. With your Conductor blaming "Omaha" (Union Pacific), I doubt that was the case with two of UP's executive cars there. I've been on (and seen) many Amtrak trains with UP's personal fleet, and they ALWAYS get those cars over the road on-time or early.

I've been inside both of those cars, and they are quite cushy.
 

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Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
 
First report from my friends on the #11(2). Lunch in the Parlour Car was fine - salad for her, no entree appealed to him so he bought the appetizer chicken wings which he loved. There was a full house for the wine and cheese at $5 a head. It was announced early that those who were not partaking would have to leave the PPC for about an hour, seemed to go over OK. Customer Service rep Carolyn on board, described this as the "prelaunch". Arcade and special coffee machine not functioning yet.
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
Thanks for the info on today's trip. The "prelaunch"---pretty good. Well, I give Amtrak credit for trying everything out first.
 

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Posted by Jarrod (Member # 4318) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by CorporateMonkey:
I have a large (5mp) photo of the new menu.

The parlour car attendant mentioned there are different menus (bar/wine/parlour) for everyday, and each direction.

I can't post up a 5mp photo to this thread, nor can I use a photo hosting site as the file need to stay large to view it.

Do you have email I can send it to?

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