Originally Posted by
musicalbox
I don't know how it's supposed to work but I can tell you from multiple trips that what you experienced is definitely how it works in practice. The track is announced a mere seconds before it is to the general population, thus ensuring there will be a long queue winding around the hall before you arrive. People on the main floor are adept at seeing the clues and knowing where the train will board (I'm guessing the "usher" is the Amtrak personnel at the top of the stairs and that's the signal to pretty much everyone that boarding is about to happen). I don't especially care because of assigned seating but there's no such thing as priority boarding and in fact, as you have seen, folks coming from the Met lounge are effectively the last to board. I only go there when I am on the Acela or in Regional BC for this reason. When I'm on the Regional in coach, I board downstairs at Penn and can snag a quiet car seat before anyone except the redcap passengers have arrived.
It's kind of funny but I used to use the lounge as a means to board first and now I use it only when I know my seat number in advance and have a few minutes to grab a free snack before boarding. Things change!
The timing of the track announcement in the lounge (and if there even is an announcement at all) is very much dependent on the attendant at the front desk — when I was there last month they announced all the tracks at least 2-3 min before the tracks appeared on the displays in the main hall / were announced to everyone else (which is how it should be), so I had plenty of time to head down and beat all the crowds. But there have been reports where the attendant doesn't even bother to announce tracks in the lounge as well, so YMMV each time.