Ispolkom
Engineer
Back when we'd ride in coach from St. Paul to Minot (when the Empire Builder wasn't as crowded, or subject to such delays), I'd always buy a couple of 20-oz. bottles of Squirt, and add gin and Angostura bitters to them. Several times we heard a stern warning from a conductor that anyone caught drinking personal alcohol would be dumped at the next grade crossing. We drank up, knowing that no one ever pays attention to quiet, boring, middle-aged couples... Now, of course, we're in a sleeper compartment and our cocktails are more elaborate (a 20th Century, perhaps, since it was named after the train) and actually legit. Win-win.I've also asked some Amtrak conductors if they really enforce the personal alcohol policy, and have been told by some that they don't care as long as someone isn't overdoing it. One beer probably wouldn't attract their attention.
I remember a couple of Sundays on the Lake Shore Limited when the club car attendant announced, "It's noon, drinky time." Better than the dark days when the Empire Builder would cross from Montana into North Dakota on a Sunday and the drinks would stop.