FOOD ON YOUR FAVORITE TRAIN

[trainboyH16-44]

The only train I've been on where they served food was a Great North Eastern Intercity 125 where they gave us tiny shortcakes, stale sandwiches, and tea. Maybe I should get out more?
Trainboy

[daveklepper]

Doug Riddell once wrote this story up for Rail News and I'll repeat it for you. I had visited my sister and brother-in-law at Camp Lajuine Marine Base using Wilson, NC as the railroad station. Going down the trip was pretty tiresome, with changes in Washington and Richmond, instead of a through car. I was traveling by myself at age 12-1/2-13 (winter 1944-45). Coming home, my brother-in-law gave me a 20 dollar bill and told me to tell the conductor that I wanted to upgrade to a lower or upper in the sleeper. But when the northbound Havana Special came into the station, and my brother in law already had to return to the base, the conductor told me I simply could not board the train, that all coach seats and all sleeper beds were already sold, and he even had people occupying the lounge car and rest-room seats. He said there was a second section, all coach, and I might be able to board that. In it came, and I don't remember whether the power was one of the beautiful ACL 4-8-4's or a Pacific, but the consist was four, five,or six standard faded Tuscan Red PRR P-70 low-back high density seating coaches and one gleaming Purple ACL 6-wheel truck diner at the rear. The conductor saw me standing by myself on the platform and immediately asked: "Where is the Marine Detachment I'm supposed to pick up here?" I replied that I just didn't know, all I wanted was to be able to use my train ticket to New York. He said something like: "Well, if I don't have a Marine Detachment, at least I have you." I essentially had a private train to myself all the way to Washington. But in the dining car, I sat with the brakeman, conductor, and stewerd, John Masters, at one table. John insisted that I have second and third helpings of Southern Fried Chicken, and it was a most memorial meal. I think it included sweet potatoes, squash, a lentil soup, apple pie. Of course, I enjoyed listening to the railroad talk as well. On my later frequent trips in the army at Fort Bragg and then as an acoustical consultant with many clients in the southeast I would often ride one of the Champions where John continued as an ACL Steward and continue to have a very high opinion of the food served in ACL diners. The Seabord wasn't any slouch in serving good food, nor the Souothern or the C&O either, but riding with John always made my trips extra special. Oh yes, I did sleep comfortably in the coach by putting by suitcase between two facing seats and using the whole area as a bed.

Tom Long and his successor Leonard Bernstein made trips on the D&RGW's Rio Grande Zephyr exctra special also. Also terrific food. The Rocky Mountain trout in particular. With apple pie alla mode ending the meal.

[Anonymous]

....Recently Amtrak's beef pot pie was quite good....But, hard little pieces of green tomato in the salad was sub par....

[BudKarr]

Prime rib dinner aboard VIA Rail's Canadian en route Vancouver a couple of years ago.

Meal was included in fare for Silver & Blue class travel (bedroom). Excellent service - great train and wonderful meal.

BK

[TomDiehl]

Like Silverchampion, I remember well the vendors on the commuter trains. I rode the Reading from Phoenixville to Philly many times and remember the man selling cokes on board, especially on the way home.

For best food, the only experience I've had on long distance trains is the Empire Builder last month. I won't have to say the food was good, but I gained four pounds. Judging by this, I can say the food quality DEFINATELY has not suffered. My favorite was a ham steak in a raisin sauce. [C=:-)] Served with Mexican corn and rice.

I also rode the Pennsylvanian to Pittsburgh as part of the same trip. Even though the food was prepared ahead of time and seemed a bit pricy ($5.25 for a cheesburger) the thing was freaking HUGE, about a half pound. And it was good, too. Well worth the price.

[John Krug]

A steak dinner on the Amtrak Empire Builder a few year ago!

[cnw4001]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SP9033

QUOTE: Originally posted by cnw4001

Probably the best roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes I ever ate was on L & N"s Hummingbird between Paris, Kentucky and Cincinnati. It was so good I had a second one.

A side note, the train was late (I can't remember how much but it was significant) leaving Paris and on time at Cincinnati Uniion Terminal.

Dale

I agree, the best hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes I ever had was on a train. The train was SP's Lark and I was about 7 years old. Some 50 years later, I've never had a better hot roast beef sandwich since.

I was a bit older when I got mine, in high school but in retrospect, wonder if
time's passage has made that food taste better. I hope not, it was really good.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by passengerfan

For regularly scheduled trains hard to beat the Via Rail Canadian but it is my understanding the food service has taken a hit this year will have to find out more.

Well, it seems that your understanding is wrong. I just rode the Canadian from Edmonton to Winnipeg on Sunday and the food service was fantastic! I had one of the best sandwiches I've eaten for lunch and some delicious fish for supper. There was a good selection to choose from on the menu. There were always plenty of staff in attendance and they had a choice of a couple desserts.

For those of you who, like me, were born too late to experience the grand age of passenger train travel, take the Canadian. It's the last true streamliner left in North America, operating in much the same way that it did 50 years ago.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cnw4001

Probably the best roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes I ever ate was on L & N"s Hummingbird between Paris, Kentucky and Cincinnati. It was so good I had a second one.

A side note, the train was late (I can't remember how much but it was significant) leaving Paris and on time at Cincinnati Uniion Terminal.

Dale

Dale,

I agree, the best hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes I ever had was on a train. The train was SP's Lark and I was about 7 years old. Some 50 years later, I've never had a better hot roast beef sandwich since.

[Anonymous]

I remember riding the Santa Fe Super Chief between Chicago and Phoenix circa 1970. I don't remember the food, per se, but I remember the stewards in their crisp white jackets running back and forth to take orders, and how neat the dining car was to a kid my age. I also remember riding the train (probably Amtrak) in the early 80's. The food they served was airline-style food in plastic trays, microwaved, and what a let-down it was.

[selector]

Recently, meal service in the VIA train between Ottawa and Toronto was very good. Have forgotten what we had to eat, but we had a choice of two meals, and comments were very favorable.

My most memorable, though, was when I was traveling by train to La Oroya from Cerro de Pasco, Peru, in 1962. The meal was a breakfast cooked over a wood stove. It was a bed of steamed rice, topped with two sunny-side eggs, and a rib-eye steak on the side. Black Chanchamayo coffee with six tablespoons of demarerra sugar. All that at 14000 feet, and a roaring 2-8-0 to whisk us along.

[Anonymous]

One of the earliest childhood memories I have is of a trip from Upstate to NYC via the Lehigh Valley. Enjoyed a soft boiled egg in the diner. LVRR passenger service was finished by the time I was five...

[Hugh Jampton]

The best food I ever had on a train was a British Rail cheese sandwich I bought in 93,, It's still around here somewhere,, I'm not sure what preservatives they used but it refuses to go moldy even aftrer all these years.

[cnw4001]

Probably the best roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes I ever ate was on L & N"s Hummingbird between Paris, Kentucky and Cincinnati. It was so good I had a second one.

A side note, the train was late (I can't remember how much but it was significant) leaving Paris and on time at Cincinnati Uniion Terminal.

Dale

[agentatascadero]

A small thing which impresed me greatly, in a heavyweight diner on the steam powered Gold Coast, while enjoying my favorite kid breakfast(pancakes), was the UP logo imprinted on the butter pads, I never saw that on any other road. The early streamlined MP diners, with portholes caused wonder about nautical influence in the heartland. I think, until downgrading started in the early 60's, all diners I sampled served good food, and each road, and even train, had their specialty.

[Anonymous]

Oh by the way the food on ACL Champion was great

[espeefoamer]

When I rode the San Joaquin Daylight in 1961,the train still had a diner.This was probably a coffee shop car.It wasn't a hamburger grill car,as we had table service.The car had heavy paper tablecloths.I have never seen any mention of these in any book on SP passenger trains.

[passengerfan]

Today it would be hard to beat the Napa Valley Wine Train for a dinner train.
For regularly scheduled trains hard to beat the Via Rail Canadian but it is my understanding the food service has taken a hit this year will have to find out more.
In the old days pre-Amtrak and Via the CN put out one of the finest prime rib dinners I have ever eaten.
The Great Northern food was always superb and the apple pie still brings back fond memories served with sharp cheddar cheese.
Here I am overweight and I think about desserts.

[joseph2]

I enjoyed the chicken pot pie in the Algoma Central diner.

[Anonymous]

I can remembeer riding on the train from Philadelphia to NYC. There was no dining car and most of the time there was no Lounge on the train. In on of the coaches there was a man with a box and a cooler. He had a white jacket on and ready to serve you. The food was fresh and the beer was always cold.