Bring a cooler and stock it with plenty of food that you actually enjoy eating.
Although a succulent steak from the dining car is a treat, only passengers in private rooms have access to that part of the train.
The café car is an option for coach passengers, but if you aren’t a fan of the food — or worse, you forget to bring cash and the credit-card machine goes down, which happened to me before — pack a cooler with tasty food options.
I tend to bring delicious foods on my train rides that I don’t always eat at home. Some of my favorites are specialty cheeses, fresh fruits, nuts, prosciutto, olives, marinated artichokes, crackers, boiled eggs, and expensive chocolates as a treat. These items make a cold meal feel like an event.
I also pack a can of premade coffee to hold me over until I’m awake enough to wander to the café car in the morning.
I use a compact purse cooler from Costco that slides over my luggage handle. It has a lined cooler section and a separate compartment for utensils, plates, napkins, and condiment packets.
I freeze a water bottle to keep my food cold. I also bring plastic bags to dispose of leftovers and refill them with ice in the café car once my bottle defrosts.
