Date meals became included with Amtrak sleeping car fares?

[lstone19]

Definitely sometime in early 1986. I had booked a trip for Aug 1986 close to a year in advance when they weren’t included and by the date of travel, they were and I received them even though I hadn’t paid the higher “meals included“ fare. Even better, when I was downgraded from Sleeper to Coach from Portland to Spokane (they Portland sleeper was rerouted to Seattle for the summer due to Expo 86 in Vancouver), I received a box dinner on that segment.

 

[Bonser]

In a perfect world - for the LD trains you'd have regular coach class, then the some sort of service between coach and sleeper. Three classes of service on the LD trains. Slumbercoach would fit that bill well now. Perhaps it faded out of favor by the 1990s (or faded out as the slumbercoach passenger cars were aged out and retired!), but I think it would be a BIG hit now days. Europe has the re-surgence of sleeper trains once again and offer various service levels. Amtrak does not. The Amtrak sleeper cars right now are priced WAY too high - again largely due to the supply/demand imbalance going on right now as a result of parking and not maintaining various passenger cars during COVID. The Slumbercoach was always a cheaper option - providing a compact yet still some sort of bed option. Even the airlines have made strides to create the first class "slumber" seat (flat) arrangement - sleeper pods! If they can do it on airplanes, it could done on passenger trains. Amtrak management is just not there right now. Amtrak is still trying to hire back a labor force and add back capacity too. This means servicing and having folks work on restoring Amtrak passenger cars back to service on corridor and LD trains. But I think a "slumbercoach option for the 21st century" is over due!

In reality there are three classes of service now - coach, roomette, and bedroom.

 

[niemi24s]

Methinks the best way pin down the exact date when meals were first included in the sleeper fares is to browse the archive of System Timetables. My tattered paper copy of the Winter-Spring 2016 issue on page 124 under the Sleeping Cars heading states, "Meals in the dining car are included . . ."

There's some possibility the Effective Date of the issue when this statement first appears might be the exact date you seek.

Or maybe not?

 

[joelkfla]

Methinks the best way pin down the exact date when meals were first included in the sleeper fares is to browse the archive of System Timetables. My tattered paper copy of the Winter-Spring 2016 issue on page 124 under the Sleeping Cars heading states, "Meals in the dining car are included . . ."

There's some possibility the Effective Date of the issue when this statement first appears might be the exact date you seek.

Or maybe not?

Somebody did that up thread.

I started to do it, too, but The Museum of Railway Timetables (timetables.org), while a useful and appreciated resource, is not very user-friendly, and searching through a series of timetables is arduous and time-consuming.

 

[Amtrak709]

Somebody did that up thread.

I started to do it, too, but The Museum of Railway Timetables (timetables.org), while a useful and appreciated resource, is not very user-friendly, and searching through a series of timetables is arduous and time-consuming.

Thanks, ALL , for the many responses to my original post. I realize that there are serious concerns and issues taking place with Amtrak operations these days. I think it is good, on occasion, to approach a rather frivolous but maybe historical issue that may remind us all of better times gone by and better times yet to come (one can hope).

 

[Steve4031]

These threads are what make this forum enjoyable. Gives us a chance to remember our travels. I had a funny handwriting experience on the Cresent in 1986. I went to the lounge car for my snack and a Pepsi. The only place to sit was across from this lady. She was drunk and acting silly IMHO. She informed me she could tell things about me if I gave her a handwriting sample. So I wrote my name(Still not great penmanship). The effort was enhanced by an up/down motion and side sway as we went over a grade crossing. She used the sample of hand writing to run a line of romantic phony baloney about me being a strong man because of my great handwriting. I remarked that her sample was not accurate due to the rough track. She was not pleased. I've been told by many women that I am too literal.

 

[Donald]

I rode the CZ SF to Chicago in June 1987, paying the non meal fare and was informed upon boarding that meals were now included.

 

[BlackDiamond]

I rode the Broadway Limited in July 1985 from Chicago to Paoli PA in a roomette and I recall paying for my meals, which were pretty decent - vegetable lasagna for dinner and sausage and eggs for breakfast.