according to this: MSN
Now last time I was in the dining car was about 20 years ago and I ordered the cheapest thing for dinner… and well it was a lukewarm and dried out goulash pasta thing and almost 10 bucks … but I did meet some interesting people … but tis sad to see them switching to what sounds like airplane food …another tradition bites the dust…
What’s the deal with airplane food? Could this stuff taste any worse? It’s like, “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m still stuffed from that huge bag of smoked almonds!” And now they’re serving it on passenger trains! What’s up with that? They might as well just start taxiing the planes down the tracks.
Thanks a lot, folks. I’ll be here all week.
Well, that sucks. I’m glad that I had a chance to experience a few classic overnight train journeys before it happened. I wouldn’t say the dining car food was great, but it was much, much better than the cafe car food, and besides, there’s just something incredibly cool about the experience.
(Also, the “we’re doing this to attract millennials” thing is just silly; eating in the dining car was never obligatory, although getting your meals included is a nice perk of having a sleeper, and it’s always been the case that if you’re young and poor you sleep in your seat in coach class and bring a sandwich.)
That sound you just heard is Fred Harvey rolling over in his grave.
It’s sad. I did it once and loved the experience. Part of it was being seated with people I didn’t know, but the food was decent. Considering how much they charge for food, I can’t see them having problems with money.
I also noted the Lake Shore Limited is not on the list to end the service so i may be able to try it again.
According to Amtrak, Flexible Dining is already a “feature” on the Lake Shore Limited, so it seems you’re out of luck.
Not to defend the decision — I think it sucks — but Amtrak is mandated to show a return on food service, and since the dining car is used mostly by first class passengers (who get their meals free) they’re in something of a bind. The next logical (sic) step would be to eliminate the freebies, in which case you may as well eliminate the dining car itself.
Interesting that the first alcoholic beverage is now free. “A spoonful of sugar” and all that …
I rarely ride trains so I don’t even know if this would work, but could Amtrak just rent out a car to a company like Starbucks and McDonald’s (or something better)?
The carrier says the change, starting this fall on the one-night routes east of the Mississippi River, is driven by the desire to save money and lure a younger generation of new riders — chiefly, millennials known to be always on the run, glued to their phones and not particularly keen on breaking bread with strangers at a communal table.
Some people really like (the dining car) and view it as sort of a nostalgic train experience,” Wilander said. “Some people, especially our new millennial customers, don’t like it so much. They want more privacy, they don’t want to feel uncomfortable sitting next to people” they don’t know.
Those darn millennials kill another industry 
“This is the way we rationalize, rationalize, rationalize …”
I suspect that this is a step on the (rail)road to dinerless trains. “Something from the trolley, dears?”
I was just on the Empire Builder (La Crosse, WI to Everett, WA and back) – I had a roomette (about the same size as the tent I used for camping, but much taller 
)
I thought the food was quite good. I thought I would hate being forced to eat with strangers, but it was OK – some folks were more pleasant than others, and some were quiet, but none were unpleasant.
The service was OK, but keep in mind I was in no hurry, and eating was one way to kill time…
It looks like meal service will survive on the EB a while longer.
Brian
Got any choc ices? :dubious:
YOU SUCK, COCHRANE! :mad:
Fucking millennials give misanthropy a bad name. :mad:
Harvey girls, mmmmmmmmmmmm! :o
Damn.
One reason I recently retired was to do some train travel. Always loved the dining car, met some wonderful people over some wonderful meals.
Avoid anyone who orders fish and red wine. 
I’ve been traveling on Amtrak since 1981, and it’s been up and down with regard to the dining facilities. I remember a nasty frozen dinner on the City of New Orleans in 1992, and a great steak on the California Zephyr 15 years later. I’ve even had some great cold, prepackaged meals on the Empire Builder out of Portland, Oregon. Lately, though, it seems to me that Amtrak really doesn’t want to be in the long-distance rail business.
Maybe that makes sense, but what is especially sad about this decision is that Amtrak has just taken delivery of about two dozen brand-new single-level dining cars, designed for the routes that now will get the new-style dining that doesn’t require actual kitchens. Seems a shame.
Those were ordered in 2012 when Amtrak was still wedded to the traditional dining model, three years before 2015’s FAST act mandated that Amtrak eliminate food service deficits by the end of next year. Not to mention that it was three CEO’s ago. They were all also supposed to have been delivered four years ago, but the entire procurement process turned into a total fiasco.
Well at least if someones smart they can get 2 dozen new diners cheap if ya have the locations and start a new chain …
Good riddance. And I say that as a millennial who has taken a couple overnight train rides and splurged on a room and had to sit quietly across from and next to a bunch of early-model boomers on their honeymoon (or whatever).
But it would be the epitome of foolishness for Amtrak to try and court my ridership again. I am so pissed off at how they handled what ended up being a 15+ hour delay (I stopped checking for updates when I caught on to their *game) that I will never ride them again. The prices aren’t competitive, and the schedules are crap.
Anyway, with this delay I canceled my ticket, got the fare refunded (though only after getting hung up on by a very rude customer service agent, after my second time waiting for over half an hour on hold—they were probably a Gen Xer), and then used the money to rent a car and drive from Fort Worth to Norfolk. Did it almost nonstop, 8AM to 6AM, and still beat what would have been my connecting train from Chicago (which DID leave on time the same day I left Forth Worth).
So, uh, what was this thread about again? Oh yeah, the dining car. Totally not worth it, with or without the porter house steak.
You hear that Amtrak!? I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!
*The thing that really irritated me about that delay was that it became very clear to me that they probably could have predicted it was going to be 15+ hours early on, but instead of just coming out and saying that they just kept adding a set increment of time to the arrival/departure times, assuming that the train would get moving right that moment and have no further delays. Except there was flash flooding and storms along the route and there was no way in hell the train was going to get moving anytime soon, especially with freight backed up along the route.