Texas Eagle discussion H2 2024

[F900ElCapitan]

I’ve noticed the extra coach that’s added between CHI and STL is almost always a snack coach. With the recently added revenue cars, are they staffing the snack bar? Seems it would make sense with potentially three sleepers and 5 coaches for that section and otherwise only the Cross Country Cafe to serve food.

 

[CHImdw1522]

I’ve noticed the extra coach that’s added between CHI and STL is almost always a snack coach. With the recently added revenue cars, are they staffing the snack bar? Seems it would make sense with potentially three sleepers and 5 coaches for that section and otherwise only the Cross Country Cafe to serve food.

On Saturday, December 7, 2024, the extra section was a coach cafe car. There was a "stored" curtain mid-car which was sometimes used to designate the front half as "business class" on other routes. On this train all seats were coach, and all passengers were destined to Bloomington-Normal, IL. The cafe was NOT in use. The cafe space seems to have been used as an employee lounge.

 

[F900ElCapitan]

On Saturday, December 7, 2024, the extra section was a coach cafe car. There was a "stored" curtain mid-car which was sometimes used to designate the front half as "business class" on other routes. On this train all seats were coach, and all passengers were destined to Bloomington-Normal, IL. The cafe was NOT in use. The cafe space seems to have been used as an employee lounge.

Thank you for the info. Seems odd that they wouldn’t add the service, but it is Amtrak.

 

[thefirewarde]

Thank you for the info. Seems odd that they wouldn’t add the service, but it is Amtrak.

If they can't consistently get a snack coach and provision it and staff it, or if the existing onboard F&B offering doesn't see elevated business volume during that period, I absolutely think they're correct not to operate the second snack bar.

I also think that more routes could benefit from a vendomat like the Piedmonts already have, as a supplemental food option.

 

[drdumont]

Flex meal crap version, whatever. It would help if they just had two simple sandwiches.

Midrats on the old Diesel Subs was better. The stewards left bread, bologna, peanut butter and jelly out on the mess table. And any pie, cake or anything left. Only caveat, you didn't clean up after yourself at your own peril. But the worst Mess Crank was better than some of the Mess Cranks on Amtrak nowadays.

 

[CHImdw1522]

If they can't consistently get a snack coach and provision it and staff it, or if the existing onboard F&B offering doesn't see elevated business volume during that period, I absolutely think they're correct not to operate the second snack bar.

I also think that more routes could benefit from a vendomat like the Piedmonts already have, as a supplemental food option.

I did not mean to give the impression that the train did not have a cafe. The Texas Eagle that day did have a cafe/snack bar car between the last sleeper and the first coach toward the front of the train.

The last coach was the coach cafe with a cafe that was not being used. The car was simple being used as a coach - which was dropped (I think) in St. Louis for use on the return trip to Chicago.

 

[F900ElCapitan]

If they can't consistently get a snack coach and provision it and staff it, or if the existing onboard F&B offering doesn't see elevated business volume during that period, I absolutely think they're correct not to operate the second snack bar.

I also think that more routes could benefit from a vendomat like the Piedmonts already have, as a supplemental food option.

Currently Amtrak has 9 snack coaches on the roster, with 1 that seems to be out of service. As far as required services I believe they only need the 1 on the Heartland Flyer. So I would think keeping two cars dedicated to this service, as they seem to be doing now, wouldn’t be a big deal.

As for demand, with the newly expanded consist, the CCC potentially has to serve meals to over double (on 421/422 days) the sleeping car customers, in addition to cafe service to two additional coaches (now 5 on 421/422 days and 4 on the others). Even before ridership and the consist had picked back up, I have witnessed very long lines for the cafe window, even outside of the very busy STL-CHI corridor. So I don’t see how the demand wouldn’t be there.

Plus the time window these cars operate in does cover meal times.