Train #27 Breakfast

[Blackwolf]

With our first trip on the Empire Builder route coming up at the end of the month, I cannot shake the curiosity about breakfast on the last day. We're traveling from Chicago to Portland, which naturally puts us in the Portland sleeper and on the diner-less #27 section after Spokane. I've read here on AU that on the eastbound #28 a restaurant in Portland puts together box dinners for sleeper passengers. Does something similar get offered to #27 passengers, or is it fend-for-yourself from the SSL cafe counter for breakfast?

Granted, we are connecting with the southbound #11 Starlight the afternoon of our arrival, and if everything is running close to on-time we'll be nabbing lunch in PDX with a friend. But a nice breakfast would certainly be great!

I've done LD trains for several years on the Amtrak network, but this will be my wife's first overnight Amtrak experience... Diving in head-first!

 

[J-1 3235]

Yes, a box breakfast is provided. IIRC, there was a ham & cheese croissant, cereal & milk, yogurt, fruit, and possibly a muffin, too. I wasn't hungry when I was finished eating

Not as good as a hot breakfast in the diner, but it's adequate.

Enjoy your trip!

Mike

 

[Ryan]

I think the breakfasts come from the same restaurant. I was quite satisfied by it.

 

[JayPea]

Many people complain about the boxed breakfast, but I rather enjoyed it.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Wife and I thought it was a very good breakfast. Only bad part was having to stand in line downstairs in the lounge car to pick up the boxes. Not sure if one still has to pick them up or whether they are brought to the tables upstairs.

 

[AlanB]

I wasn't happy with what I saw in the breakfast box two years ago when I did the PDX section, so I brought the Breakfast Sandwich from the attendant. My mom however had the box, but didn't think too much of most of what was in there. And you had to pick up the box yourself, just show your ticket stub to the attendant to get it.

 

[Blackwolf]

Thanks a bunch! I'm feeling better about the prospects now, and it is nice to know what to expect. This should be a great trip!

 

[fairviewroad]

I think the breakfasts come from the same restaurant. I was quite satisfied by it.

So how does that work? Are they are loaded onto the previous evening's #28, then off-loaded in Pasco, then loaded back onto the #27? I guess they'd

still be relatively fresh at that point (less than 24 hours old), at any rate fresher than most of the food offered in the SSL.

 

[AlanB]

I think the breakfasts come from the same restaurant. I was quite satisfied by it.

So how does that work? Are they are loaded onto the previous evening's #28, then off-loaded in Pasco, then loaded back onto the #27? I guess they'd

still be relatively fresh at that point (less than 24 hours old), at any rate fresher than most of the food offered in the SSL.

No, the breakfast box is prepped by a different place than the dinner box, and the breakfast box is picked going westbound. The eastbound dinner box is loaded onto the train in Portland; not sure what stop going west.

 

[fairviewroad]

I think the breakfasts come from the same restaurant. I was quite satisfied by it.

So how does that work? Are they are loaded onto the previous evening's #28, then off-loaded in Pasco, then loaded back onto the #27? I guess they'd

still be relatively fresh at that point (less than 24 hours old), at any rate fresher than most of the food offered in the SSL.

No, the breakfast box is prepped by a different place than the dinner box, and the breakfast box is picked going westbound. The eastbound dinner box is loaded onto the train in Portland; not sure what stop going west.

I'd guess Spokane. If they waited until Pasco, then some days the breakfast box wouldn't show up until after breakfast!

 

[JayPea]

I thought I read somewhere that the Spokane stop is where the breakfast boxes are loaded. But I could be imagining things, too. :lol: