On Amtrak I usually tip $5 a night for what I call "basic service" i.e. the attendant puts down my bed at night and makes it up in the morning, and that he puts my baggage in my bedroom, and takes it off at my destination. If the service is really good (quite rare in my experience) I will double the tip. I think only once did I not tip, and that was when the attendant had always disappeared when it was time to make up the bed and disappeared when it was time to take my bags off the train. I have had very poor service in the dining car, and perhaps on one occasion I have left nothing. My usual tipping habits in the dining car are $1or $2 for breakfast, $2 or $3 for lunch and $3 or $4 for dinner.

Regarding boarding at Denver: The last time I was there I did notice lengthy line-ups for coach and sleeping car check in. As a first-class passenger I don't line up, so I simply by-passed the line and boarded the train. There was no one checking tickets at the gate, so I don't understand why first-class passengers wish to be inconvenienced in this manner. In Seattle and Los Angeles I also noticed this strange tendency to form lines. It is a simple matter to ignore these lines, and just board the train. Railway stations are not airports, rarely have I seen any evidence of "security"; even in New York I have gone down to the tracks without showing a ticket.