# Starting up an Amtrak commissary



## Palmetto (Jun 9, 2016)

This relates to a comment Hal made in another thread, and he stated that trains probably would not turn back at Philadelphia in the event of the closure of both Hudson River tunnels. He said that would be the case because Amtrak would have to establish a commissary there.

I'm curious. What is needed to have an Amtrak commissary in a particular city? Let's take San Antonio, as an example, since trains turn there.

I guess delivery trucks would be a start.


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## JoeBas (Jun 9, 2016)

Palmetto said:


> This relates to a comment Hal made in another thread, and he stated that trains probably would not turn back at Philadelphia in the event of the closure of both Hudson River tunnels. He said that would be the case because Amtrak would have to establish a commissary there.
> 
> I'm curious. What is needed to have an Amtrak commissary in a particular city? Let's take San Antonio, as an example, since trains turn there.
> 
> I guess delivery trucks would be a start.


Two words. "Hello, Sysco?"...


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## Devil's Advocate (Jun 9, 2016)

JoeBas said:


> Palmetto said:
> 
> 
> > This relates to a comment Hal made in another thread, and he stated that trains probably would not turn back at Philadelphia in the event of the closure of both Hudson River tunnels. He said that would be the case because Amtrak would have to establish a commissary there.
> ...


Sysco, Ben E. Keith, and Labatt come to mind. But my guess is that Amtrak would simply call Aramark instead.


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## jis (Jun 9, 2016)

I thought the supplier of the new vacuum sealed stuff was some other outfit. Is that material supplied through Aramark too?


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## JoeBas (Jun 9, 2016)

Do they even HAVE Aramark in Philadephia?... :blink: ^_^


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## Hal (Jun 9, 2016)

Palmetto said:


> This relates to a comment Hal made in another thread, and he stated that trains probably would not turn back at Philadelphia in the event of the closure of both Hudson River tunnels. He said that would be the case because Amtrak would have to establish a commissary there.
> 
> I'm curious. What is needed to have an Amtrak commissary in a particular city? Let's take San Antonio, as an example, since trains turn there.
> 
> I guess delivery trucks would be a start.


What I said was they probably would not turn the long distance trains at Philadelphia. That is a bit different than saying they would not turn trains back. Turning a long distance train means provisioning (commissary), cleaning and maintenance of trains that come from New Orleans and Miami with diners, cafe and sleepers. Also crew. I doubt they would do that in Philadelphia when they have everything in Washington to do that. I was not saying anything about turning short run NEC trains. 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Acela150 (Jun 9, 2016)

JoeBas said:


> Do they even HAVE Aramark in Philadephia?... :blink: ^_^





It should be noted that Aramark is the major food supplier for all the major sporting stadiums and arenas in Philadelphia.


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## PRR 60 (Jun 9, 2016)

Aramark's corporate headquarters is in Philadelphia.


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## Devil's Advocate (Jun 9, 2016)

Acela150 said:


> JoeBas said:
> 
> 
> > Do they even HAVE Aramark in Philadephia?... :blink: ^_^
> ...


&


PRR 60 said:


> Aramark's corporate headquarters is in Philadelphia.


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## JoeBas (Jun 10, 2016)

Thank you, DA... apparently this boy who grew in Philly needs his joke deployer looked at.


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## Mystic River Dragon (Jun 10, 2016)

Aramark has a gorgeous lobby--on weekdays during business hours you can walk through it to get to the SEPTA station (Jefferson, formerly Market East). It looks like marble, with a fountain on one wall, and they decorate it nicely with holly at the holidays.

Whenever I walk through it, I am always struck by how nice their lobby looks and how I wish they would have the same quality in the food they provide to Amtrak.


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## PVD (Jun 15, 2016)

Like most other major food service providers, they will provide whatever quality food the client is willing to pay for. I have eaten at corporate dining facilities run by some of these operations, they can run the gamut from mediocre to really good, sometimes they had more than one level of dining room depending on employee level in the same building.


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## Palmetto (Jun 15, 2016)

I guess I don't understand too well how commissaries work...


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## grahamru (Jun 30, 2016)

1. Is there a need to have a commissary?

2. If necessary, what will be the intended menu?

3. Complexity and level of support will drive equipment and layout.

3.5 access to water and wastewater.

4. New or existing construction.

5. Regulatory approvals.


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## railiner (Jul 14, 2016)

Palmetto said:


> This relates to a comment Hal made in another thread, and he stated that trains probably would not turn back at Philadelphia in the event of the closure of both Hudson River tunnels. He said that would be the case because Amtrak would have to establish a commissary there.
> 
> I'm curious. What is needed to have an Amtrak commissary in a particular city? Let's take San Antonio, as an example, since trains turn there.
> 
> I guess delivery trucks would be a start.


When Amtrak management perceives the need to establish a new commissary, they must first provide an approved facility, train employees in proper handling techniques, and contract with approved local vendor's for supplies.

Many years ago, when I worked in Denver, we were often called upon to obtain 'emergency' re-supplies for thru trains. At some point, Company management deemed it wise to establish a "mini-commissary" there.

First, we had to designate a facility in the station, and have it equipped with approved refridgerator, and storage racks, as well as an ice machine. Employees had to be trained in proper techniques for handling food, bagging ice, etc....Inventory and record keeping....lots of stuff to do. We had to have approved vendors to deliver us supplies. We still had to sometimes make trips to local supermarkets for some items. We also stored dry goods like napkins, table cloth's, plastic cups, cutlery, etc.

We certainly could not supply a diner from scratch...only a full commissary could do that....


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## Triley (Jul 15, 2016)

railiner said:


> Palmetto said:
> 
> 
> > This relates to a comment Hal made in another thread, and he stated that trains probably would not turn back at Philadelphia in the event of the closure of both Hudson River tunnels. He said that would be the case because Amtrak would have to establish a commissary there.
> ...


The way you word it makes it sound like it was an Amtrak staffed commissary? It's been a looong time since it's been like that.


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## railiner (Jul 15, 2016)

Yes it has...I left there in 1989.


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