This happened to me on the Capitol Limited between CLE and PGH earlier this year. I needed to do about 30 minutes of work on my laptop, and it was still dark outside and the lights were turned off in the coach car to which I was assigned. I went down to the diner car (the sightseeer lounge that used to be a part of this train had been removed). The diner was empty as food service was about 30 minutes away from starting. An extremely nasty Amtrak conductor saw me and screeched: "You can't set up camp in here". She told me I had to buy food from the counter in order to sit in there, so I waited until the counter opened and bought a soda and a pastry. I then went to work on my computer and she didn't bother me after that.

Amtrak ought to send its employees to a Dale Carnegie class or charm school, or both.