DEALING CARD GAMES WITH THE OLD MEN IN THE CLUB CAR.

That's one of the things a coach passenger ought to be able to do on a train, but to do so requires a proper club car.  That's missing from Amtrak's trains.  Rail professionals are noticing.

In the Amworld of President and CEO Stephen Gardner, passengers – especially coach passengers on long distance/inter-regional trains – are pretty much on their own when it comes to a meal providing real nutrition. Essentially, there is no respect from Stephen Gardener’s [c.q.] corporate planners at Amtrak for coach passengers. Coach passengers are thought of as not much more than bus passengers.

Only since Stephen Gardner became the unfortunate driving force for Amtrak policy have coach passengers been held with such disdain that it is presumed they may actually want to survive on a menu which makes a land-based, nutrition-free fast food restaurant seem desirable.

That contempt for the coach passenger has long been a hidden feature of Amtrak, and the meals included for sleeping car passengers, when there were real dining cars, and the Acela as a rolling gated community with no coach class (the cheapest seat is "business") suggests the absence of a proper lunch lounge car is deliberate.

Amtrak dining cars on western inter-regional trains have recently returned to serving appetizing and fulfilling meals, but only for sleeping car passengers. Keep in mind the Superliner dining cars on these trains were designed and built to serve upwards of 400 passengers during a meal period. But, in Stephen Gardner’s Amworld all of that capacity is ignored and while well-fed sleeping car passengers pass their time satisfyingly full, coach passengers must stand in long lines in Sightseer lounge cars for meals not only unfit for a king, but unfit for a pauper as well.

When the train crew brings takeout along ... "Onboard services employees and train and engine crew employees on these trains often know better to board a train without their own supplies; it’s not unusual to see a bucket of the Colonel’s finest chicken providing crew nourishment, with envious passengers looking on in utter despair." That's got to go down real well when the crew commandeers two tables in the lounge as their office, doesn't it?

The Pre-Amtrak streamliner lounge car, once the haven of passengers seeking a refreshing beverage and civil conversation with fellow passengers has evolved – most would really say devolved to a lesser mandate as a cafe/lounge car – into a rolling fast food restaurant serving high-priced food wrapped and served in plastic, and with slow service in the 21st Century.

As the American dining car’s lesser sibling, the modern lounge/café car is a combination of uncomfortable booth seating, at many times a single overworked lead service attendant facing long lines of customers, not enough stock to last a roundtrip if there is no turn-terminal commissary, and menu choices not necessarily aimed at the majority of travelers. In reality, there is not much “lounge” left in the lounge/cafe cars because all casual seating has been removed in favor or rigid table booths. Any hint of a convivial atmosphere has long been erased.

That's just plain wrong. I wonder, too, what the current maladministration at Amtrak would make of Hiawathas or Twin Zephyrs running with two or three parlor cars, as well as an extra lunch lounge car when the transportation department anticipated heavy coach boardings.

While a full diner may not be necessary unless it is a long distance overnight train, the original concept of the coffee shop or lunch counter or grill car is appropriate. Meal menus do not need to be extensive, but some sort of full meal – other than a warmed-up hotdog or heated pre-prepared cheeseburger or cold salad – is called for. Items like stews or casserole single-dish meals fit the category. The bottom line is, people want hot food in many instances, not food that comes in a plastic wrapper. With the major innovations in food service and the use of conveniences such as air fryers/convection ovens, many desirable food choices are available for easy preparation.

For any train with a length of more than three coaches, two non-revenue cars are appropriate: a coffee shop/grill car, and a full lounge car. Some will complain about the car day/car mile maintenance costs, but, as dining cars of some sort are a necessity, properly marketed lounge cars can more than carry their weight financially.

There's a lot more in the article, dear reader, but I suspect you get the message.

The article also recommends such a configuration, to which I would add at least some business class seating, on any train covering more than 250 miles.  That might have been a provision of the intial legislation creating Amtrak, and, yes, some exotic parlor cars turned up on the St. Louis - Chicago - Twin Cities service early on.  I want to add one more nugget, which is that a substantial share of the O'Hare traffic is planes jumping at most 250 miles.  That's going to be material for further study.  I submit, though, that regional rail service with proper food and first class service given free rein to 110 or 125 has the potential to pick up some of that traffic.  Airports that have easy access to trackside will be better suited for such, as a convenience to passengers connecting off long flights.