Who had the best bar cars? Without a doubt, the New York Central! As a long-time commuter on the New York Central and New Haven, I make that judgement. The NYC had a full-length bar car(rivalling the longest bar in the world at the “Osprey”, in Mannasquan, NJ), a converted heavy-weight commuter coach, that ran between Brewster and GCT. In the morning, they served coffee. A little “hair-of-the-tail-of-the-dog-that-bit-you” might be available, to known regulars! Munificent TIPs were guaranteed to the server! Damn! A shot-and-a-beer at 7 AM, with a coffee, departing North White Plains! Saved the day, sometimes! The New Haven’s service was mostly in-seat ‘drinkey-poos’. A couple of the old round-end observation cars (“Watch Hill” comes to mind) were converted for mid-train use. Their little semi-circular bar couldn’t keep up with the demand. My usual 5:29, “Jet” hauled, first stop Rye, was only seat-ensconced vendor service.
I was surprised, a few years ago, during an Amtrak layover. People were buying drinks at a bar in Union Station. Turns out that they had taken drink service off of the trains. Muy estupido, methinks! Get the revenue when you can! Of course, PC “non-smoking” in bar cars can’t help.
I did three trips on Amtrak’s “Empire Builder” this summer. Beer goes for $4.50 to $5.50. Wow! I won’t buy “foreign” beer, but their offerings were from A-B InBev (Belgian) [e.g. “Budweiser”, “Lowenbrau”] and SABMiller (South African) [e.g. “Leinenkugel”, “Miller Lite”]. I finally got a Samuel Adams (Boston Beer Co. – American-owned) on my last trip. I am awaiting a reply (two weeks, now) from Amtrak on my complaint of serving foreign beer on our American trains. Guess it got to “Department Duh?”.