Are The Steaks Really Worth It?

After marketing my new novel with a railroad fan's slant - The Steam Locomotive Murders - I have to get back to blogging about real Passenger Rail issues.

This article discusses gourmet food on Amtrak:
http://arbutus.patch.com/articles/steaks-on-a-train-amtrak-ups-its-culinary-game-78e29ea9

I've been thinking about it awhile, so it is now time for me to put in my 2 cents.  This may be both figuratively and literally, because that's about all I'd give you for so-called gourmet food on Amtrak.  At least not until Amtrak learns to get other things right.

First of all, it's not real gourmet food.  It's trendy food served as gourmet.  These days, any kind of food that has an unusual name and is gluten free is touted as gourmet food.  Second, it's going to increase food service costs, or the quality is going to be soooo bad that it'll ruin ridership.  Third, it's only a matter of time before Congress decides to cut food service altogether.  (The last time was a disaster!)  So why bother upping the cost of what we're going to cut?

As I see it, the majority of us want two things when it comes to food on a train.  First, we want a dining car, not a snack wagon or a corner of the basement in the lounge car.  Second, we want good American cuisine at reasonable prices:  Steaks and chops, salads with fresh vegetables, good coffee (without the hoity or the toity), and a desert selection that would make Dr. Oz cringe.  I don't see why it would be so hard for Amtrak management to visit successful mom & pop restaurants in each train's geographic area and emulate the menus.  Don't hire chefs!  Hire people who can cook.  And absolutely don't let the pop media govern what you serve!  (Did I say management should do something?  Horrors.  They're too busy pleasing Congress.)

So there's my brief rant about food on Amtrak.  It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few months.

© 2013 - C. A. Turek - mistertrains@gmail.com

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The Steam Locomotive Murders

Just Released 9/18/13

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The Steam Locomotive Murders Now Available

The Steam Locomotive Murders launched yesterday.

You can get a free download in return for your honest review--and enter to win a $10 Amazon gift card--by clicking the Story Cartel logo.  (Please be patient, Story Cartel is sometimes very busy and may be unavailable.)

Clicking the book cover will take you to my home page.

© 2013 - C. A. Turek - mistertrains@gmail.com

Steam Locomotive Book This Week

Those of you who read this blog (ir)regularly know that I am also an author of fiction novels.

My latest, The Steam Locomotive Murders, officially launches this week, 9/18/13.  This is the second in the Charlie Komensky detective crime fiction series.  In addition to being a fictional detective, Charlie is also a railroad fan.  This book features settings that include the narrow gauge of northern New Mexico, the Milwaukee Road and Santa Fe northern type steam locomotives, and "in and around" Chicago Union Station., as well as having the detective spend hours on Amtrak.

The first book of the series, The Flat Tire Murders, included visits to the CRANDIC and Mason City in Iowa, as well as other railroad settings and references.

Both are available through Amazon and CreateSpace.