Frequently asked at my house, but never answered as well as the railroads did “in the day” it would seem. Northwestern University now has digitized a large number of diner menus.
Article: A Newly Digitized Menu Collection Shows Off America’s Lost Railroad Cuisine December 2, 2019
NU Link of the Menus: Ira Silverman Railroad Menu Collection
Oh! The memories. Broiled brook Trout in the diner on the CZ in Colorado, French toast for Breakfast on the City of New Orleans, Steak in the diner on the Broadway Limited. My son, when about six and a little nauseous after the Empire Builder had gone through the Cascade tunnel, didn’t feel like diner, but later, having what he thought was the best BLT sandwich in the Ranch Car. Eating on trains was always a high spot in the train experience. Not so much on todays Amtrak. But I can’t afford first class nor business class on airlines and most flights in the US don’t serve food anymore for coach. And the seats are not designed with enough space to eat. This is progress?
Oh! The memories. Broiled brook Trout in the diner on the CZ in Colorado, French toast for Breakfast on the City of New Orleans, Steak in the diner on the Broadway Limited. My son, when about six and a little nauseous after the Empire Builder had gone through the Cascade tunnel, didn’t feel like diner, but later, having what he thought was the best BLT sandwich in the Ranch Car. Eating on trains was always a high spot in the train experience. Not so much on todays Amtrak. But I can’t afford first class nor business class on airlines and most flights in the US don’t serve food anymore for coach. And the seats are not designed with enough space to eat. This is progress?
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(see Electroliner 1935)
+1
Don’t denigrate Amtrak too much. I discovered jambalaya on the “City of New Orleans” a few years back, and it was great. The dining car conversation was always interesting, too.
Wait - you enjoyed your visit to the dining car? Well, we’ll have to fix that! How can we kill Amtrak if people actually enjoy travelling on it? [/sarcasm]
Lady Firestorm wishes somebody, anybody, would bring these back!
Being a Santa Fe employee provided many wonderful opportunities to enjoy the dining cars managed by Fred Harvey. In addition Fred harvey operated hotels and restaurants along the Santa Fe’s several routes. The most famous would likely be the El Tovar at the Grand Canyon.
Fred Harvey food (and service) was always very good and exceptional frequently when, for example, fresh mountain trout was acquired at a stop in Raton, Trinidad or La Junta.
I also rode the B&O Capitol Limited - the IC Panama Limited and the UP Portland Rose where I found the meals to be very good.
Never mind dinner - how about some of that French Toast?
I’ll let you look up the recipe on your own - there are several variations. But all of them have one thing in common - they are rich! And delicious!
Most of them involve day old bread, frying in grease, and an oven to boot.
And reading through the recipes gives one extra respect for the fact that this dish was probably usually prepared while whisking along at 70+.
In as much as my Grandfather was the Superintendent of he B&O Dining Car and Commissary department for the last 20 years of his career, dinner in the diner was like going to his house at Round Bay on the Servern for Sunday dinner, where he was the chef.
As a kid on our vacation travel I also got to sample the offerings of the Panama Limited on the IC, The South Wind out of New Orleans on the L&N, The Silver Meteor on the SAL, the East Coast Champion on the ACL as well as several trips to/from New York on the PRR.
I always found what the dining car staff could prepare in their cramped work space on charcoal fired stoves and ovens to be amazing. True culinary wizards.
Lynn especially enjoyed the steak dinners on the other trains on our circle tours (Northern Rail Experience and Southern Rail Experience).
Quoting Balt “…, The South Wind out of New Orleans on the L&N,…”
That was quite a detour wasn’t it?[:)]
My riding on that train on the L&N was always between Montgomery/Birmingham and Louisville.[:)]
Memory plays tricks - The Gulf Wind - L&N New Orleans to Chattachoochee, FL and SAL on to Jacksonville.
I remember a trip one evening on the Cincinnati Limited from Cincinnati enroute to Columbus as a college student, I was seated with three business men and one claimed he was a structural engineer who worked for a bra manufacturer. And he proceeded to discuss all the engineering involved in their design. I realized later that he was probably telling a tale but at the time, it made for an interesting trip. Another experience I had was on one of my early day trips from, a friend and I took the NYC’s morning train to Toledo returning via the B&O’s Cincinnatian which had a dining, lounge, observation car. We had lunch in the diner and when we finished, our waiter brought two plates with small silver bowls of warm water and placed them in front of us with fresh clean cloth napkins. I had not had any experience with this but fortunatly, my friend knew what they were and educated me. Finger Bowls. B&O ran a first class operation.
And another experience was on the B&O shenendoah which had a coach dome lounge car. The bar tender had a spiel which I enjoyed. Men would ask him “What kind of beer do you have?” and he would reply, “What do you want?” Then they might say “Millers?” and he would say, “Millers it is, it just comes in a Budwiser can” as he pulled out a can. The train that day had an executive car on the rear and the cars passengers came into the lounge car frequently and purchased many libations. Rule ‘G’ was not in effect as they were not “on duty”.