On a side note, I've noticed that I've never been carded in the diner or lounge to drink booze. I am 20, look 21 enough-- but I've always wondered if Amtrak can't do anything as long as I am well behaved because we cross various jurisdictions? I mean, isn't Amtrak its own jurisdiction?
Or do the staff just-- not care.
Legal drinking age is 21 everywhere in the United States (with some small exceptions), so I imagine that the staff doesn't care to card intensively, as long as you look old enough and are not obnoxious. They don't need to card you to refuse you service. Remember, bars and liquor stores that carefully check patrons' ages do so 1) to keep good order in their establishments, and 2) to avoid the heavy fines and temporary closures that can result from a police sting. #2 probably won't happen on an Amtrak train (
though it used to).
Me, I'm old enough to remember when Amtrak followed state blue laws.
I have seen the staff ask for ID from people, but I'm not sure that all the staff always do.
And Amtrak gave up on following all the State's various laws, they basically just operate on the are you 21 premise.
Alan: unless things have changed since October 2007 (and perhaps they have), Amtrak may still follow some unconventional state laws regarding alcohol--"blue laws" at least. On the eastbound Cardinal for Sunday lunch (we were in West Virginia at the time), the dining hall staff told us we had to wait until 1pm to order wine or beer and that no liquor could be served until the Virginia state line, per
West Virginia law.
And yet when I rode the Cardinal several years back I was sipping champagne in the lounge car as we went through New River Gorge, and again even a bit later at lunch.
I almost wonder if someone didn't want to be bothered selling you the wine.
The crew actually went to a lot of extra bother. Upon seating every every table the exchange went something like this: "Here's the lunch menu, the sandwich today is thus-and-such, and I'm sorry, but we can't serve alcohol until 1pm and no liquor until we reach the state line", "You what? I don't understand...", "It's the state law here; I know, it's a bit unusual, but we have to follow the laws for whatever state we're in".
And then, right at 1pm, they went to every table and said "It's 1pm, you may order wine or beer now if you'd like", took orders, and served promptly.
Were you heading east on a Sunday? It's just the one day of the week that the law affects.
I don't know what Amtrak's official policy on state laws is, but this experience certainly gave me the impression that Amtrak follows alcohol laws closely. But it could just be that I had an unusually zealous law-abiding crew, or that someone had tipped the crew off that some political muckity-muck was on board.
