City of New Orleans (train) discussion

[zephyr17]

City of New Orleans - Will they serve dinner?

The CONO departure time for leaving Chicago on the 18 September has changed. It was 8:05pm but is now brought forward to 7:05pm.

As it is earlier, will they serve dinner immediately it leaves Union station or not at all?

Thanks for any insight.

Edit: Are flex meals served in the diner/cafe car or only in the passenger's room?

It has been posted here that the CONO typically runs with a Sightseer Lounge and without a Diner or Diner/Lounge. Since those don't have convection ovens, the "Flex" menu on the CONO is the same as the cafe menu. You can see that for yourself:
https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/...-of-New-Orleans-Flexible-Dining-Menu-0823.pdf

I don't know how the service is handled, but I would think the SCA just gets your cafe food for you.

 

[Traveller]

It has been posted here that the CONO typically runs with a Sightseer Lounge and without a Diner or Diner/Lounge. Since those don't have convection ovens, the "Flex" menu on the CONO is the same as the cafe menu. You can see that for yourself:
https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/...-of-New-Orleans-Flexible-Dining-Menu-0823.pdf

I don't know how the service is handled, but I would think the SCA just gets your cafe food for you.

Thanks zephyr17

 

[chadamfleetrailfan]

I've been noticing that it has changed as well and now watch the railcam it passes earlier for it now as well.

Any reason for the hour earlier departure? I'm assuming trackwork down the line?

 

[Cal]

Any reason for the hour earlier departure? I'm assuming trackwork down the line?

I just assumed it was the schedule change after re-negotiations with the host railroad to improve OTP.

 

[Traveller]

CONO into Jackson MS 2 hours late due to various reasons including leaving late from CHI

 

[Steve4031]

I just booked a round trip on the City of New Orleans for next week. Departing on Thursday and returning on Saturday.

There is an alert in the app where my ticket is displayed advising of the earlier departure from Chicago. 7:05 vs 8:05. Train 58 departs New Orleans at 12:45 versus 1:45. Not sure where the track work occurs.

I will review the food service when I do my trip report. Hopefully, it will not be as bad as the report upthread.

 

[01piglet_patinas]

I just booked a round trip on the City of New Orleans for next week. Departing on Thursday and returning on Saturday.

There is an alert in the app where my ticket is displayed advising of the earlier departure from Chicago. 7:05 vs 8:05. Train 58 departs New Orleans at 12:45 versus 1:45. Not sure where the track work occurs.

I will review the food service when I do my trip report. Hopefully, it will not be as bad as the report upthread.

I arrived on Oct 6 from CHI & the SCA will bring food to your room or you can eat in the observation car-either way the cafe food is nuked & not good - grilled cheese was awful - angus burger was over nuked & bread roll was hard. I must say the staff was friendly, although sometimes it was hard to find our room attendant.

 

[smilo]

I arrived on Oct 6 from CHI & the SCA will bring food to your room or you can eat in the observation car-either way the cafe food is nuked & not good - grilled cheese was awful - angus burger was over nuked & bread roll was hard. I must say the staff was friendly, although sometimes it was hard to find our room attendant.

Just returned from round trip CHI-NOL on CONO and was surprised to see cafe menu was replaced with FLEX again and diner car was back. SCA said switch occurred 11/22/24. Hard to believe but food actually wasn’t bad, breakfast omelet was surprisingly good. I make this trip 1-2 times a year and the crew, which can be hit or miss, were exceptional. Now if Amtrak could just fix the tracks on this route, it can be a really, really rough ride at times.

 

[zephyr17]

Now if Amtrak could just fix the tracks on this route, it can be a really, really rough ride at times.

Amtrak has nothing whatsoever to do with track maintenance on the CONO route. It is owned, dispatched, and maintained by CN.

 

[michaelsinn]

It has been posted here that the CONO typically runs with a Sightseer Lounge and without a Diner or Diner/Lounge. Since those don't have convection ovens, the "Flex" menu on the CONO is the same as the cafe menu. You can see that for yourself:
https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/...-of-New-Orleans-Flexible-Dining-Menu-0823.pdf

I don't know how the service is handled, but I would think the SCA just gets your cafe food for you.

Here is the flex menu from my Chicago to New Orleans trip. Dec 17 2024

 

[michaelsinn]

Here is the flex menu from my Chicago to New Orleans trip. Dec 17 2024

Lisa was Dining Car attendant and gave excellent service. She really made my trip!

 

[zephyr17]

Here is the flex menu from my Chicago to New Orleans trip. Dec 17 2024

Thanks.

They're back to the standard menu offered on all the rest of the trains on Flex.

The salmon is a sodium bomb whose "glaze" tastes overwhelmingly of salt, BTW, at least on the LSL. It was lousy but nicely plated.

 

[tgstubbs1]

They have a web site .. www.amtrakfoodfacts.com that has the nutritional information for the flex menu. The Salmon has over 1000 mg of sodium. The vegan meatballs had 1510mg and the beef tips had 2450mg --97% of the daily recommended sodium.

The more typical junk food in the cafe is probably even higher in sodium.

People that should keep check on their sodium intake should be aware.

 

[GariYaMoshi]

They have a web site .. www.amtrakfoodfacts.com that has the nutritional information for the flex menu. The Salmon has over 1000 mg of sodium. The vegan meatballs had 1510mg and the beef tips had 2450mg --97% of the daily recommended sodium.

The more typical junk food in the cafe is probably even higher in sodium.

People that should keep check on their sodium intake should be aware.

Would have been nice to have access to this information while on the train. I can see that we definitely blew through the fat RDA - food tasted great but it didn't sit well with me later. Good thing I had my cholesterol checked before the trip and not after !

 

[Cal]

All Amtrak meals run on the unhealthier side, unfortunately.