advice on taking beer on long distance routes

[BCL]

Right up until the point where one of them decides to be for no good reason, then you're in a bad place.

Do plenty of people do it without issue? Absolutely.

Have I? Sure.

Should we make sure that people that show up here understand what the rules are and make an informed decision for themselves? Of course.

Totally agree - on my trip I wasn't aware of the rules, I should have been but wasn't - I travelled for 4 days/3 nights and drank my own stock both in the SSL and my seat and nothing was uttered but on the final night on the Sunset Ltd prior to arriving in LA when the conductors changed the new shift made it perfectly clear repeatedly over the tannoy that drinking in public places would not be tolerated and I had the sense to heed the friendly (and not so friendly) announcements from the off, sadly a couple of my fellow passengers where not so sensible and never made it to LA that night/morning.

You're using a specific word (tannoy) that I'm guessing most Americans wouldn't understand. I do understand that it means some sort of public address system, as the British company Tannoy is a big maker of public address systems. I only know about it because I was shopping for audio speakers years ago, and Tannoy was one of the brands I was looking at. Their sales literature mentioned the ubiquity of their public address systems in the UK, to the point where it has become a generic name for any public address system.

 

[s10mk]

The menu for the California Zephyr lists a regional craft brew, does anyone remember what it is? The last time I was on the Capital limited, the regional craft was a type of sierra nevada. I guess if I wanted to be sneaky and drink my own stock in the SSL, I could carry on a six pack of whatever beer is on stock in the cafe car. Buy one from the cafe car, then after that enjoy my own stock for a while. I imagine that would put me underneath the crews radar.

 

[blueman271]

The menu for the California Zephyr lists a regional craft brew, does anyone remember what it is? The last time I was on the Capital limited, the regional craft was a type of sierra nevada. I guess if I wanted to be sneaky and drink my own stock in the SSL, I could carry on a six pack of whatever beer is on stock in the cafe car. Buy one from the cafe car, then after that enjoy my own stock for a while. I imagine that would put me underneath the crews radar.

When I rode the Zephyr in December 2014 the regional craft brew was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. However, that was two years ago so YMMV.

 

[Sauve850]

I have a Coleman cooler. Looks to be about 6 inches depth, 12 inches length and about 8 inches width. Never has leaked and I put a six pack in it but it would hold more. I always start with ice in cooler. Has a shoulder strap so I carry it on. My starting trains are on west coast to Chicago so I need ice on day two. Never have had a problem with sca bringing ice to me.

 

[ehbowen]

On long distance trains west of Chicago I have seen OBS, including Conductors, observe coach passengers at their seat consuming obviously not-available-on-the-train alcoholic beverages in plain sight. The OBS didn't react at all and just kept doing what they were doing.

Won't say when, except that Obama's re-election was in doubt, but on one trip from Houston to New Orleans in coach a quartet of college-age girls, all first-time Amtrak travelers, boarded along with us carrying a large cooler and intending to make a party of the trip. The conductor basically just told them to move downstairs to the lower level and keep it quiet. No further issues that trip, to my knowledge.

 

[Meat Puppet]

Bring a heavy duty plastic garbage bag and your room waste basket makes a fine cooler as long as you have an accomadating sca with ice.

 

[bpb1970]

My family rode the westbound CZ out of Chicago two summers ago. I brought a foldable cooler with ice and around 15 microbrews. The attendant did give me a couple of small buckets of ice over the course of the trip but by the last day the remaining contents were warm. The train was running a few hours late and we had the SSL to ourselves so I did end up buying a couple of beers. I think they were $6 each and the only worthwhile option IMHO was Sierra Nevada. I also brought plastic cups and used those when drinking in the SSL. We had a family bedroom but it was pretty tight with the four of us so my wife and I would head to the SSL with a few beers in a small foldable 6 pack cooler and drink out of the plastic cups while the kids (10 & 13) played on their iPads in the room. It made for an enjoyable and relaxing trip. As far as I could tell we were the only ones drinking and the SSL was very quiet except for people loudly complaining about saving seats and not saving seats. I only saw the conductor a couple of times the whole trip. I would think that if anyone was against BYO it would be the person sellng the Amtrak beer becuase he/she is missing out on a sale and possible tip but that person on our trip walked by us a few times and did not seem to care at all.

EDIT: I did not know this when I bought it but the foldable cooler ended up being totally waterproof. It did not leak a drop the whole trip and I still use it today and will find that even after the ice has melted and turned to water there is no leakage. That is something I would definitely look for in a foldable cooler. I bought mine at a local grocery store so it is nothing fancy.

 

[TiBike]

If you get a standard plastic cup from the cafe, no one knows or cares what's in it, unless you cause a problem, and then no one will care where it came from.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

If you get a standard plastic cup from the cafe, no one knows or cares what's in it, unless you cause a problem, and then no one will care where it came from.

This is probably the best reply of the whole thread.

 

[BCL]

EDIT: I did not know this when I bought it but the foldable cooler ended up being totally waterproof. It did not leak a drop the whole trip and I still use it today and will find that even after the ice has melted and turned to water there is no leakage. That is something I would definitely look for in a foldable cooler. I bought mine at a local grocery store so it is nothing fancy.

I don't rely on any foldable cooler staying waterproof for long. I bought one years ago that said it was waterproof. However, the vinyl liner tended to crack in the corners and leak over time. I patched the cracks with adhesive bicycle tube patches, but it was only a matter of time before it sprung another leak.

 

[William]

I always travel with a few beers in my roomette. A small, collapsible cooler is surely the best type for this. I do this mainly to save a few bucks, but also because the beer selection in the cafe car is usually pretty lame, consisting of Budweiser, Corona, Heineken, and sometimes Sierra Nevada or Sam Adams. At $5 to $7 a can, it can really add up if you plan on having several throughout your trip. It also saves you several trips down to the cafe car as well.

I usually bring several cans from home when I take a long distance train.

Also, I wouldn't count on being able to get ice in the sleeper car. Sometimes the attendant will set up a cooler with ice in it at the beverage station where the coffee maker is, or sometimes they put a cooler on the seat of an empty roomette. But on some trains, the attendants won't provide ice, and will tell you it's against "regulations".

It's different on every train it seems.

I usually get ice at the lounge in my departing station, usually NY Penn, or Chicago Union Station.

Cheers!

 

[bpb1970]

Now I really think you're on to something here bob. Not only will I grab some beer in chicago, I'll also get a bottle of wine to start my trip. Then all I have to do is find a little deli/ grocery store to buy some capicola, solami, sopressata, and cheese to go along with my wine.

There is a full service fairly upscale grocery store called Mariano's around a 1/2 mile from the Union Station in Greektown. They will have all of that and much more.

 

[Rockymtnchris]

The menu for the California Zephyr lists a regional craft brew, does anyone remember what it is? The last time I was on the Capital limited, the regional craft was a type of sierra nevada. I guess if I wanted to be sneaky and drink my own stock in the SSL, I could carry on a six pack of whatever beer is on stock in the cafe car. Buy one from the cafe car, then after that enjoy my own stock for a while. I imagine that would put me underneath the crews radar.

Hmmm. Food for thought....or should I say drink?

Here's what I'm planning to take aboard which should hold a few frozen single serve water bottles.

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/c9636e44-1d00-4f61-8853-6025789d0394_1.1799f390ccccedde650329d65c7ba9ef.jpeg?odnHeight=450&odnWidth=450&odnBg=FFFFFF

I bet I could also stash a couple of Bud light cans and then only need to buy one of their's for $6 with my credit card to get a receipt.

 

[s10mk]

Now I really think you're on to something here bob. Not only will I grab some beer in chicago, I'll also get a bottle of wine to start my trip. Then all I have to do is find a little deli/ grocery store to buy some capicola, solami, sopressata, and cheese to go along with my wine.

There is a full service fairly upscale grocery store called Mariano's around a 1/2 mile from the Union Station in Greektown. They will have all of that and much more.

Thank you! Looks like I'll be taking a walk to Greektown! Thank you everyone, this has been a very informative thread!

 

[HenryK]

A Tannoy is what the Brits also call the blower and we colonials the PA system.

 

[BCL]

A Tannoy is what the Brits also call the blower and we colonials the PA system.

I understand they get upset when anyone uses capitals to describe a generic public address system. Something about protecting their trademark.

The other place I remember seeing it used was in a Douglas Adams novel.

 

[amyontherails]

I only glanced at the topic briefly and thought you needed help bringing your bear on board.
I'd recommend getting a sleeper for him and packing spare honey.

 

[ScouseAndy]

A Tannoy is what the Brits also call the blower and we colonials the PA system.

The blower is a telephone not a tannoy or PA system, note it is always 'the' blower and never on 'a' blower

 

[BCL]

A Tannoy is what the Brits also call the blower and we colonials the PA system.

The blower is a telephone not a tannoy or PA system, note it is always 'the' blower and never on 'a' blower

However, say either to an American and most likely they have no idea what you're talking about. "Blower" wouldn't be associated with telephones. Tannoy was never much of a brand in the US (maybe their professional audio speakers might be known by recording engineers) and it wouldn't be a household name here.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

A Tannoy is what the Brits also call the blower and we colonials the PA system.

The blower is a telephone not a tannoy or PA system, note it is always 'the' blower and never on 'a' blower

However, say either to an American and most likely they have no idea what you're talking about. "Blower" wouldn't be associated with telephones. Tannoy was never much of a brand in the US (maybe their professional audio speakers might be known by recording engineers) and it wouldn't be a household name here.

Even though I was never in the Navy, I usually refer to a PA system as the 1MC. As for beer on board, depending on how much I am already carrying, if I can slip a few cans or bottles in to get started, then it's a go!