Texas Eagle Discussion 2025

[Steve's Wanderlust]

Fantastic! My oldest daughter & I will be in a roomette on 3/31.

 

[sporksradiant]

Wonder if that also means traditional dining will return?

I could see both as a temporary for the final 4 in San Antonio the end of March.

 

[sporksradiant]

Just found more on the friends of TE Facebook. Trackwork starting March 20 intermittent days with no service between fort Worth and st Louis


That's gonna put a wrench in my plans going from SA to Chicago

 

[Bob Dylan]

Good News Gang. According to Jim Mathew's, the Sightseer Lounge is returning to the Texas Eagle March 3

Next: Traditional Dining and hopefully some affordable Rooms in the usually Sold Out/ High Bucket Sleeper.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Just found more on the friends of TE Facebook. Trackwork starting March 20 intermittent days with no service between fort Worth and st Louis


That's gonna put a wrench in my plans going from SA to Chicago

UP does trackwork in the Spring on this route, but usually there are Detour Routes and / or bustitutions during the Trackwork!

 

[Cal]

Wonder if that also means traditional dining will return?

There's no reason to think it would come back just because of the addition of the SSL; they aren't a pair. SSL is coming back, I believe, because they finally got enough SSL's back into operation. Pretty sure traditional dining requires some extra funding, and probably hiring more OBS.

 

[Widfara]

Someone who rides our poor humiliated trainlet please report back. It has been a sad excuse for a train for years.

 

[Rasputin]

The return of the Sightseer Lounge to the Texas Eagle will certainly be welcome but I will hold off celebrating until I see confirmation that it has actually happened. I am still waiting for the promised return of traditional dining to the Lake Shore. It has been so long that I can't remember when that was promised - was it the Fall of 2023 or the Fall of 2022? Talk is cheap.

 

[F900ElCapitan]

Next: Traditional Dining and hopefully some affordable Rooms in the usually Sold Out/ High Bucket Sleeper.

I will say with the addition of the transdorm and the 421/422 sleepers on the run-through days, sleeper prices are a bit better. I’lol be heading from Dallas to Denver with the bus from SPI to GBB on the 14th and will be in a roomette on both trains for $811 total.

I’ll also report back on the dining situation if we haven’t heard.

 

[Tom C]

The return of the Sightseer Lounge to the Texas Eagle will certainly be welcome but I will hold off celebrating until I see confirmation that it has actually happened. I am still waiting for the promised return of traditional dining to the Lake Shore. It has been so long that I can't remember when that was promised - was it the Fall of 2023 or the Fall of 2022? Talk is cheap.

Traditional dining was never and has never been promised on the Lake Shore or announced by Amtrak in any way whatsoever. There were unconfirmed rumors and what ended up happening was the “flex plus” diner lite setup that they’ve done on the Lake Shore. Amtrak has followed through on dining and car restorations that they have officially announced.

 

[Cal]

The return of the Sightseer Lounge to the Texas Eagle will certainly be welcome but I will hold off celebrating until I see confirmation that it has actually happened. I am still waiting for the promised return of traditional dining to the Lake Shore. It has been so long that I can't remember when that was promised - was it the Fall of 2023 or the Fall of 2022? Talk is cheap.

Amtrak never announced Traditional Dining for the LSL. They have confirmed the SSL for the Eagle

 

[Rasputin]

Traditional dining was never and has never been promised on the Lake Shore or announced by Amtrak in any way whatsoever.

You are correct that there has not, as far as I know, ever been any written announcement by Amtrak that traditional dining was going to be restored to the Lake Shore. However it is my understanding that Amtrak management has stated in discussions with RPA as far back as 2023 that the Lake Shore would be the next single level train to have traditional dining restored. I understand that some presentations by Amtrak officials in 2023 caused some to believe that traditional dining on the Lake Shore would be restored by the Fall of 2023 or the Spring of 2024. I suspect that it caused that belief because that is what the officials said. Of course those officials are probably now long gone or soon will be.

 

[sporksradiant]

UP does trackwork in the Spring on this route, but usually there are Detour Routes and / or bustitutions during the Trackwork!

Per the Facebook post I've seen they don't seem to be offering bus substitution.

I can confirm it shows sold out for the dates on March at least between SAS and Chicago