Coming to America -Advice needed .

Well Mr. Benton, I guess your "masochistic marathon" is over and that you will find a comfortable hotel in LA at which you can "sleep it off" before "Big Bird's" sadism begins. KLAX-NZAA is a "long way".

I hope it is respected that I withheld my usual "don't even think of overnight travel in Coach", as from having followed your material through now three incarnations of RRNET (platforms and site ownership), I knew you to be a "rugged" fellow who would consider such a "low level assault course" as a personal challenge (I have a good friend around these parts; wealthy, but has a need for real "ironman" stuff).

While I have had the privilege to meet at least a dozen of the registered members here face to face, I'm sorry such a meet up between us was not in the cards. I knew the surgery I noted to you was coming up and otherwise would have proposed a meet up as soon as your itinerary was sketched out at this topic. While my favorite "Loop" (that's core downtown in Chicagoese) restaurant (Miller's Pub) is of the steaks, ribs, burgers, fries, salads doused in creamy dressings varietal, I would have suggested another (Rhapsody) that can accommodate vegetarian - and even vegan - requirements.

At this time, allow me to say, "well done, mate".

It would have been an honor to meet you,mr norman.millers pub would have been my cup of tea,indeed i have been drowning amtraks vegan burgers in ketchup and dressing,in an attempt to instill some taste and vitamins.
i dont know about rugged,this 47 year old body is feeling it abit more than i did 25 years ago.i did not spend more than one nite straight on the train. a days break (well 5 hours)in chicago made all the difference to the charleston - denver marathon. i met severl older woman who were travelling longer distances in coach.more on this later,i think amtrak could do more to make it more for this demographic,maybe seperate bathrooms.they almost all commented on the state of the bathrooms.

David Benton wrote:

ThirdRail7 wrote:I'd like an honest critique of the dining car food, please.

Forty minutes early into laupt.
i will go into detail when i get home,the starlight crew kept serving up to an hour or so out.food is good,im a vegetarian so choice is limited for me.i wpuld have liked to have had the lunchchoice at dinnertime for e.g.my main criticisim is the lack of info.you dont know what is avaliable or what it cost till you sit down.twenty years ago they had menus in the seat pockets,as well as route guides and timetables.

Mr. Benton, if your trip is coming to an end, I hope you enjoyed it, and here is some dinning information for your next trip:

Amtrak has all of its dining car menus available on its website (amtrak.com), you can find them on each individual route page (home page->routes (at the top)->click which train). For example, here is the Coast Starlight menu. While accessing these menus online might not be an option traveling onboard a train, one can save/print them ahead of time. You could also probably just go to the cafe or dining car, I'm sure they'd have a couple spare menu's lying around for you to peruse. (you can get the route guides and timetables on each individual route page online as well--oh, how we live in a digital age now!)

lirr42 wrote:

David Benton wrote:

ThirdRail7 wrote:I'd like an honest critique of the dining car food, please.

Forty minutes early into laupt.
i will go into detail when i get home,the starlight crew kept serving up to an hour or so out.food is good,im a vegetarian so choice is limited for me.i wpuld have liked to have had the lunchchoice at dinnertime for e.g.my main criticisim is the lack of info.you dont know what is avaliable or what it cost till you sit down.twenty years ago they had menus in the seat pockets,as well as route guides and timetables.

Mr. Benton, if your trip is coming to an end, I hope you enjoyed it, and here is some dinning information for your next trip:

Amtrak has all of its dining car menus available on its website (amtrak.com), you can find them on each individual route page (home page->routes (at the top)->click which train). For example, here is the Coast Starlight menu. While accessing these menus online might not be an option traveling onboard a train, one can save/print them ahead of time. You could also probably just go to the cafe or dining car, I'm sure they'd have a couple spare menu's lying around for you to peruse. (you can get the route guides and timetables on each individual route page online as well--oh, how we live in a digital age now!)

Screw the digital age. This stuff should be available on the train.

Many menu items are "specials" or explicitly vary in detail from day to day. As someone who doesn't unnaturally restrict their diet I enjoy the surprise and variety of the food offered by Amtrak's dining service.

lirr42 wrote:

David Benton wrote:

ThirdRail7 wrote:I'd like an honest critique of the dining car food, please.

Forty minutes early into laupt.
i will go into detail when i get home,the starlight crew kept serving up to an hour or so out.food is good,im a vegetarian so choice is limited for me.i wpuld have liked to have had the lunchchoice at dinnertime for e.g.my main criticisim is the lack of info.you dont know what is avaliable or what it cost till you sit down.twenty years ago they had menus in the seat pockets,as well as route guides and timetables.

Mr. Benton, if your trip is coming to an end, I hope you enjoyed it, and here is some dinning information for your next trip:

Amtrak has all of its dining car menus available on its website (amtrak.com), you can find them on each individual route page (home page->routes (at the top)->click which train). For example, here is the Coast Starlight menu. While accessing these menus online might not be an option traveling onboard a train, one can save/print them ahead of time. You could also probably just go to the cafe or dining car, I'm sure they'd have a couple spare menu's lying around for you to peruse. (you can get the route guides and timetables on each individual route page online as well--oh, how we live in a digital age now!)

Jersey_Mike wrote:Many menu items are "specials" or explicitly vary in detail from day to day. As someone who doesn't unnaturally restrict their diet I enjoy the surprise and variety of the food offered by Amtrak's dining service.

There's generally one item listed as "Chef's Special" or similar.

Everything else, is pretty much as the menu states, unless they run out.

I'm not complaining too much about the amtrak vegetarian food . The pasta dish , and the chipotle burger were excellent . i understand the rotating menus , but that assumes you stay on the same train . Just ,i think many vegetarians would be quite happy with a large salad for dinner . i would be , perhaps with fries , or some other carb dish . overall dining car food was excellent . its the info side of it that falls down . i dont think the majority of coach passengers have quite submerged themselves in the digital age .more on this when i have recovered from a 13 hour flight with a severe head cold , and raw throat , not fun .

back in the land of "no worries " , and "she'll be right mate" . Flying into our biggest airport that looked tiny by compariosn to USA airports, and wondering why everyones walking so slow , and so relaxed . Guess it will take awhile to readjust .

Thanks for putting up with my phone typing , hopefully , it will improve now i'm back on a computer .

In re posting photos I'm going to plug flickr.com, which I have used for 6 years. A free acct holds 200 not-full-size images and up to 2 short videos/month (included in the 200). No ads, easy to organize and navigate. I'm oliva732000 on there, but I have few rail photos- I seek out parking garages, the epitome of Modernism.

"and wondering why everyones walking so slow , and so relaxed"

Sheesh, you didn't even spend any time in the Northeast!

Anyhow, glad your trip went well. Food is a weakness of Amtrak's LD network, no doubt about it. I found the choices limited enough _without_ being a vegetarian and quality consistently sub-par. At least with a bedroom it was included in the price of the ticket. As I previously noted, the food on European trains varies from better to vastly better. The only thing that approaches it is Acela First Class.

Anyhow, glad your trip went well. Food is a weakness of Amtrak's LD network, no doubt about it. I found the choices limited enough _without_ being a vegetarian and quality consistently sub-par. At least with a bedroom it was included in the price of the ticket. As I previously noted, the food on European trains varies from better to vastly better. The only thing that approaches it is Acela First Class.

What alternate reality are you living in? The microwavable airline food I was served on the Acela couldn't hold a candle to the fresh salmon dinner I ate on the Empire Builder. Barring certain high risk dishes, like non-fresh salmon found on other trains, Amtrak LD food is consistently above average.

First lot of photos , covering from Mineapolis to the new river gorge , can be seen here . I hope .
http://www.flickr.com/photos/91362799@N02/

And the best part, not a single locomotive made in China.

more photos added , to 1/2 way through the CALIFIONIA ZEPHYR TRIP .unedited sorry .