I have a lot of empathy for the people who work in the Amtrak dining cars. Consider the dining car crew on the California Zephyr, for instance. They leave Chicago at 2:00 in the afternoon and they get to Emeryville at 4:15 in the afternoon two days later. That’s if they are on time, of…
I usually suggest that people thinking about a long-distance train ride at least consider traveling in a sleeping car. There are several reasons: privacy, comfort, a bed to sleep in, and the fact that dining car meals are included in the sleeping car fare. But that meals-included benefit results in negative fallout for the people…
I received an email yesterday from someone about to take an overnight trip on Amtrak. She wanted to know who and how much to tip. Good question! About the only reference I’ve ever seen in any of the material Amtrak puts out is pretty vague … just saying that tipping is optional, but appreciated. Well,…