Stations where one can order food to the train

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Joined
Aug 27, 2002
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Location
Chicago
I’m thinking this is another one that can be pinned at the top.

Suggestion: People can post there experiences ordering food to be delivered to station as train arrives.

Examples might be Albuquerque, Denver, Albany Rensselae etc. places that have DoorDash.
 
Ever since Union Station reopened I’ve always gone inside for a coffee and snacks from Pig Train Coffee.
The sandwich shop is pretty good, also. A few years ago I was waiting for an Eastbound heading home, and I knew it was running too late for a dining car dinner which would have been included with the roomette. The ticket agent made a few calls and they got authorization to give us (sleeper passengers)money to buy food at the sandwich place before it closed for the night.
 
The sandwich shop is pretty good, also. A few years ago I was waiting for an Eastbound heading home, and I knew it was running too late for a dining car dinner which would have been included with the roomette. The ticket agent made a few calls and they got authorization to give us (sleeper passengers)money to buy food at the sandwich place before it closed for the night.
Chicago used to do this for Sleeping Car Passengers often due to Late Departing Trains and when Connections were missed.
 
I’m thinking this is another one that can be pinned at the top. Suggestion: People can post there experiences ordering food to be delivered to station as train arrives. Examples might be Albuquerque, Denver, Albany Rensselae etc. places that have DoorDash.
Door Dash is a viable option for delivering food from a handful of overnight restaurants to the San Antonio station. That being said be aware Door Dash employs distracted drivers who get lost easily. Rather than follow the map they yap on video chat. Many of the delivery vehicles look like they spend their downtime in someone’s front yard when they’re not hauling refuse to the local dump. If you have a vehicle so trashed and broken that even a drunk Uber customer would refuse to enter you can still use it with Door Dash. So far as I can tell there is no vetting or quality control whatsoever. If a conveyance can move it's good enough for your food. Most of us probably wouldn’t set foot in these vehicles but we’ll apparently pay double the usual cost to eat meals that were tossed on their seats and floors. I’ve also seen indications that my food was “sampled” or otherwise tampered with and that’s a huge turnoff for me.
 
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West/Eastbounds
Lake Shore Limited
-Albany, NY (ALB) can easily be arranged (45 MIN WB, 1:15 EB)
-Toledo, OH (TOL) can easily be arranged. (20 MIN WB, 20 MIN EB)

Capitol Limited
-Cumberland, MD (CUM) usually a fresh air stop next to a public street. Should be doable if the train is on time.
-Toledo, OH (TOL). It is normally a ten minute stop in both directions so you should be good.

Cardinal
-Charlottesville, VA (CVS) usually a short fresh air stop but with Wild Wing in the station if they could send a server to the platform it is doable.
-Huntington, WV (HUN) usually a short fresh air stop but if timed right the delivery man can walk right up to the platform.
-Indianapolis, IN (IND) (Westbound only) 45 minutes in the station and usually more like an hour if you leave CIN ontime.

Southwest Chief
-Kansas City, MO (KCY) it is a long 40 minute plus stop both ways, they close the boarding gates ten minutes prior to departure I believe. But still plenty of time to get something.
-La Junta, CO (LAJ) fifteen minutes going west, ten going east. Platform access is easy for delivery.
-Albuquerque, NM (ABQ) 50 Minutes headed west, 20 headed east. Platform access is open for delivery.

California Zephyr
-Denver, CO (DEN) it is a long service stop. 50 minutes westbound and 30 minutes eastbound. Open platform access.
-Grand Junction, CO (GRJ): I want to say a gas station style stop in the station with platform access.
-Salt Lake City, UT (SLC): A long 20 minute stop in both directions.


Empire Builder
-Minot, ND: A long servicing stop of 20 plus minutes near downtown Minot, with platform access for delivery.
-Havre, MT: A long fresh air stop of 20 minutes eastbound and 30 minutes westbound with platform access for delivery.
-Whitefish, MT (WFH): 20 Minute stop in both directions.

Sunset Limited
-Houston, TX (HOU): A long service stop of 40 minutes westbound, and fairly long going eastbound.
-San Antonio, TX (SAS): A long service stop where the Texas Eagle thru cars get cut in.
-El Paso, TX (ELP): 20 minutes in both directions.
-Tuscon, AZ (TUS): A long stop in both directions with a nice hotel bar across the street.


North/Southbounds
Silver Star
-Orlando, FL (ORL) always a fresh air stop and a busy station by passenger numbers. 14 minutes south and 16 minutes north.
-Lakeland, FL: If they would allow you to get off while the train goes to Tampa and back there could be some serious potential here.

Silver Meteor
-Orlando, FL (ORL) Roughly 15 minutes in both directions.

Crescent
-Charlottesville, VA (CVS) it is a short five minute fresh air stop but there is a restaurant in the station. If they could send a server out to the platform it would be doable.
-Birmingham, AL (BHM) 9 minutes long south, and almost 15 going north. This one might have some potential.

City of New Orleans
-I don't believe there are any.

Texas Eagle
-St. Louis, MO (STL): A thirty minute service stop in both directions. Delivery should be possible to the headhouse.
-Marshall, TX (MHL): Ten minutes going south, but thirty minutes going north.
-Dallas, TX (DAL): Twenty minutes both ways with open platform access.
-Fort Worth, TX (FTW): A stop of at least twenty minutes in both directions with open platform access.
-Austin, TX (AUS): Eight minute stop both ways next to a public road.

Coast Starlight
-Portland, OR (PDX): A long service stop in the Rose City. If the delivery can come to the gate it is doable.
-Klamath Falls, OR (KFS): A Ten minute stop both ways. Open platform access.
-Sacramento, CA (SAC): Southbound only sits for thirty minutes with open platform access.
-Oakland, CA (OKJ): A long fifteen minute stop with open platform access.
-San Jose, CA (SJC): 12 Minute stop with open platform access.
-San Luis Obispo, CA (SLO): 13 Minute stop in both directions with open platform access.
 
Door Dash is a viable option for delivering food from a handful of overnight restaurants to the San Antonio station. That being said be aware Door Dash employs distracted drivers who get lost easily. Rather than follow the map they yap on video chat. Many of the delivery vehicles look like they spend their downtime in someone’s front yard when they’re not hauling refuse to the local dump. If you have a vehicle so trashed and broken that even a drunk Uber customer would refuse to enter you can still use it with Door Dash. So far as I can tell there is no vetting or quality control whatsoever. If a conveyance can move it's good enough for your food. Most of us probably wouldn’t set foot in these vehicles but we’ll apparently pay double the usual cost to eat meals that were tossed on their seats and floors. I’ve also seen indications that my food was “sampled” or otherwise tampered with and that’s a huge turnoff for me.

I have no interest whatsoever in using a delivery service to bring me a meal unless that service is directly employed by the restaurant, i.e. Pizza Hut or a similar restaurant.
 
I was on the Adirondack once, and we were stopped at a malfunction signal at the junction of 2 mainlines. We were within 1 mile of the station, but it was the middle of winter and the morning of a 25 inch snow storm. It was over an hour until CP Rail could dispatch a crew to fix and repair the signal, before we could pull into the station less than 1 mile away!

Do you think a delivery driver would wait around for an hour?

Oh yeah - before that signal problem, we were ahead of time!
 
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