Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited

[lyke99]

Mrs. lyke99 and I will be traveling to Boston on the Lake Shore Limited in a few months and I was wondering what the meals for sleeping car passengers are like east of Albany.

Thanks in advance!

 

[B&Ofan]

East of Albany the train only has a snack car and not a diner. When I rode last time snacks were still free for sleeper passengers.

 

[MrFSS]

My wife and I rode CHI - BOS and back last year. We were taken, en masse, from the sleeper to the snack car which had been reserved for us (no coach passengers allowed) and the SCA had a nice dinner set up for us with a couple of choices. On the trip with lunch we got what we wanted in the snack car and signed the ticket with name, car and room number. It was a diner, but it was sufficient.

 

[dan72]

When I rode CHI-BOS last year in July, our attendant brought a cold meal to everybody in the sleeping car. I had the beef tips which I found to be quite good. Unfortunately, choices of meals were quite limited, but I was fine with what I had.

Dan

 

[alanh]

Aren't they using a diner-lite on this segment now (with the full diner going to NYP?)

It's true that it used to be a choice of a couple of reheated dinners in the snack car.

 

[AlanB]

Aren't they using a diner-lite on this segment now (with the full diner going to NYP?)

Well all of the Amfleet II cafe cars have now been converted into diner-lite cars, so there is no choice but to use such a car. However, I've not heard that the car is indeed functioning in its diner-lite capacity and therefore able to provide hot cooked meals to the sleeping car passengers.

As far as I know it only functions as a cafe car throughout its entire journey.

That said, Amtrak's original plan did indeed call for the car to run in its diner-lite mode between Boston and Albany to provide hot cooked meals to sleeping car pax. What the status of implimenting that plan is, I haven't heard.

 

[J-1 3235]

During my last three trips on 448, twice I was invited to the lounge and served a cold meal. There were two choices. On the last trip, by the time my order was to be taken, one choice was gone, and the other had spoiled, according to the cafe attendant. I was offered any item from the cafe menu.

The other trip everyone was served a hot meal in their room. Our SCA said he had heated the meals in the cafe microwave. Though not as good as a meal in the diner, it was better than when served cold.

Mike

 

[alanh]

When I was on it, the BOS section had a Horizon Dinette and the reheated plates for the sleeper dinner. Anyone ridden it in the past couple of months?

 

[Donctor]

It is now supposed to run with an Amfleet II Lounge/Diner-Lite. A Horizon or Amfleet I is used when the AmII is bad-ordered.

 

[PaulDow]

I took the LSL from Chicago to Springfield, MA just over a week ago. (If possible, I recommend scheduling for a weekend. On time performance seems to be much better on Sat. and Sun. lately.)

Was in a roomette, so meals were included. It is a long walk back from the Boston bound sleeper car. 2 coaches, Diner Lite, 4 more coaches, then the dining car. Had the wine, cheese & crackers plus grapes reception upon departure. Next morning I had their morning special, but I forgot what it was. For lunch I also had their market special which was pork with gravy over rice. (It was better than my description. I should have taken pictures.) I wasn't expecting dinner since the train was very close to being on time, and my stop in Springfield was 5:48. However our attendant offered to have us served at 5:00 in the Lite car. I was expecting only a sandwich or a wrap. The choices were chicken salad or beef fillet. The people at our table who ordered the chicken were expecting chicken salad. It was actually chicken {comma} salad. A chicken breast fillet over salad. I got the beef, and it was two tenderloin fillets with red potatoes and green beans. Really an excellent meal, and a very nice surprise. There was dessert offered too, but I couldn't eat any more, so I don't know what it was.

I think the dining car may have been short one waiter on this trip. The Heritage dining car seems designed to have the kitchen take up quite a bit of the car. There was quite a wait for a table, and they didn't take reservations on this trip. The kitchen staff had the meals prepared quickly, so there was little wait after ordering.

Overall, I was very pleased with the service. If they could only get the dispatching reliable so the padding could be eliminated, it could be a real competitor to the airlines since you sleep for 8 hours anyway. Allocating an hour and a half to go the 20 miles from Framingham to Boston Back Bay sure must help the on time performance. It's only 28 minutes westbound.

I almost forgot...The pillows need to be fluffier. Don't forget earplugs if you're in the Boston sleeper. Only the one baggage car is between you and the engines, and the engineer has to be on that horn almost continuously through Ohio.

 

[lyke99]

I took the LSL from Chicago to Springfield, MA just over a week ago. (If possible, I recommend scheduling for a weekend. On time performance seems to be much better on Sat. and Sun. lately.)

Was in a roomette, so meals were included. It is a long walk back from the Boston bound sleeper car. 2 coaches, Diner Lite, 4 more coaches, then the dining car. Had the wine, cheese & crackers plus grapes reception upon departure. Next morning I had their morning special, but I forgot what it was. For lunch I also had their market special which was pork with gravy over rice. (It was better than my description. I should have taken pictures.) I wasn't expecting dinner since the train was very close to being on time, and my stop in Springfield was 5:48. However our attendant offered to have us served at 5:00 in the Lite car. I was expecting only a sandwich or a wrap. The choices were chicken salad or beef fillet. The people at our table who ordered the chicken were expecting chicken salad. It was actually chicken {comma} salad. A chicken breast fillet over salad. I got the beef, and it was two tenderloin fillets with red potatoes and green beans. Really an excellent meal, and a very nice surprise. There was dessert offered too, but I couldn't eat any more, so I don't know what it was.

I think the dining car may have been short one waiter on this trip. The Heritage dining car seems designed to have the kitchen take up quite a bit of the car. There was quite a wait for a table, and they didn't take reservations on this trip. The kitchen staff had the meals prepared quickly, so there was little wait after ordering.

Overall, I was very pleased with the service. If they could only get the dispatching reliable so the padding could be eliminated, it could be a real competitor to the airlines since you sleep for 8 hours anyway. Allocating an hour and a half to go the 20 miles from Framingham to Boston Back Bay sure must help the on time performance. It's only 28 minutes westbound.

I almost forgot...The pillows need to be fluffier. Don't forget earplugs if you're in the Boston sleeper. Only the one baggage car is between you and the engines, and the engineer has to be on that horn almost continuously through Ohio.

Thanks for all the details. Nice to know the meals on the Albany-Boston segment are more than a snack. We are heading east from Chicago on Saturday (arriving Sunday) and depart westbound on the following Friday. I will add the earplugs to my "train kit" of duct tape, string, and a few binder clips for the curtains. On our recent trip on the Empire Builder we were in the 830 car, just ahead of the dining car and heard the horn quite well at night with a baggage car and two other Superliners between our car and the engines.

 

[PaulDow]

Wow. I seem to be right about the on time days.

For Eastbound, today (Monday)they lost about 6 hours between Elyria, OH and Erie, PA.

Into Springfield Sunday 8/8 was only 7 minutes late,

Saturday 8/7 20 minutes late,

Friday 8/6 1:26,

Thursday 8/5 19 minutes

Wednesday 8/4 1:19

Tuesday 8/3 2:51

Monday 8/2 (got to Boston about 6 hours late)

Sunday 8/1 10 minutes (I was on this one. Glad I wasn't one day later!)

Saturday 7/31 (Got to Worcester 14 minutes late)

The train can never be early at stations, only at a terminal.

 

[AlanB]

For Eastbound, today (Monday)they lost about 6 hours between Elyria, OH and Erie, PA.

As noted here today's delay would be thanks to CSX.