In that length of time--three and a half decades-- the number of instances when either Amtrak or Caltrans showed marketing nimbleness on ANY matter can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Yes, there are times that Amtrak doesn't respond with nimbleness, but there are also times that it does manage to do so. Which is why I for one at least question if they even knew about this. But Amtrak adds stops for state fairs in some states. They run extra cars on the Missouri River Runner for special events. In fact, the members of this forum who attended the Gathering in St. Louis got to see this first hand. Between our group booking close to 40 seats on the train to Kansas City and back, plus a major event in a local town along the way, they added a car to this train to handle the load.
They also made sure to load extra food onto the train, and even sent down a supervisor from Chicago to St. Louis to help out in the cafe car that day.
So while I'm not going to promise that they always manage to respond to special things, if they have enough warning and if they can free up equipment, they do try. I've seen it first hand.
And I know enough about this line, and about Caltrans in general, to accept the argument that Amtrak is just putty in the hands of Caltrans. Nonsense. They work together all the time, they argue with each other a lot of the time, but the service at the end of the day is a shared responsibility.
They may work together, but when it comes to increasing costs by adding cars & personnel, that's all on Caltrans.
Of course there are assistant conductors on the extraboard who could be placed on certain trains, and enough who want and need the extra cash.
Yes, there are always extras on the extra board. But it's not quite that simple. First, they have to be fully rested under FRA rules in order to be called to work. Second, you can't just grab everyone off the extra board for something like this, because if you do that and then someone goes out sick, you now have an entire train that cannot run.
Are the odds good that they could have found someone on the extra board? Absolutely! But I just want you to be aware that it's not as simple as just picking a name on the list and calling them in. There are other considerations that must be dealt with!
Of course the cafe car could be stocked with extra provisions (the stories abound from cafe car attendants about the many, many times that the cars go out not provisioned with a third or more of the listed menu items, just because someone forgot or was lazy or whatever).
Save the failure of a vendor to deliver some item(s) to the commissary, this is unacceptable!
That said, at least in the distant past here on the NEC, there were LSA's in the cafe who claimed that they didn't have something because they didn't want to be bothered preparing that item. Not sure if that's part of what you're seeing out there or not. Hopefully not; but I sure won't hold my breath either.
Of course a service manager in LA could be stationed at in the tunnel where the ramps run up to the trains, explaining (and perhaps even apologizing in advance) for what will be a standing-room-only train.
While a nice touch, I suspect that one manager would have been totally overwhelmed by the crowds you describe and would have been lucky to speak to even 20% of the people riding.
None of this is brain surgery. It requires a little planning, some imagination, creative marketing and a willingness to think outside the government box that too many Amtrak (and for that matter, Caltrans administrators) feel comfortable remaining in.
I can't speak at all for Caltrans. But of late, Amtrak has been trying to change that culture and to do a better job of thinking outside the box. Could they be improving faster? Sure! Thinking further outside the box? Sure! Heck, even getting a bigger box to think outside of would be good. But it's also not easy to change things and you can't just fire everyone and start over without creating another disaster.
But again, they are trying! Even if things are coming slower than many of us would prefer.
Again, where I probably erred grievously, and have been doing so for 36 years now, is assuming that government agencies or quasi-government agencies are able to think creatively like private business, because they're going to get paid anyways.
It's a tough thing to overcome!
