The Dining Car - Glorious Past, and Promising Future? [S3: E10]
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- Опубліковано 28 чер 2024
- Delve into the fascinating history of dining cars on American railroads. From the early days when passengers had to fend for themselves at station stops to the opulent golden age of rail travel, dining cars became the showpiece of any overnight journey. Discover how railroads competed for passengers by offering lavish meals in beautifully decorated interiors, turning a simple meal into a memorable experience. We'll explore the evolution of dining cars, from their humble beginnings to the luxurious rolling restaurants of the past, and discuss how modern services still try to capture that magic today.
I also reflect on personal experiences of dining on long-distance trains, the unique charm of enjoying a gourmet meal while watching the scenery roll by, and the rich history behind it. From George Pullman's pioneering hotel cars to the elegant dining services of the Southern Railway's Crescent, we cover significant milestones and innovations in rail dining. We'll also look at the future of dining cars, drawing inspiration from modern services like Scotland's Caledonian Sleeper, and ponder how American railroads might reinvent this iconic aspect of train travel. Sit back, relax, and let's embark on this nostalgic journey through the history and future of dining cars.
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In the late 60’s, I was an 18-year old riding the Santa Fe back home from Chicago to KC. The “Lo-Cal” plate looked good, so I wrote it on the guest check. The waiter looked at it, and smiled. After finishing, he brought me a slice of apple pie & and said “Lo-cal, this is on me”! Nothing was finer than dinner in the diner!!!
What a wonderful memory! Now I want pie! Haha
Thank you for always providing such well researched and filmed content. I just completed a trip on the Empire Builder, originating in Seattle, stopping for a few days at Glacier National Park, and continuing on to Chicago. I've taken most other long-distance trains along the Amtrak network over the past few years, and while the dining car offerings are acceptable, I found the service on this particular train abysmal. A good dining experience is a combination of the food and the service, and it seemed that this particular crew could benefit from some additional training. Food was delivered without utensils. Bread was served, but there were no plates. Utensils were handed to guests with the staff holding the eating ends of forks and knives. Glasswsre was delivered with the staff holding their fingers inside the glass. Soda and beer was served in a can with no glass. And, because the arrival in Chicago was delayed from 445pm to 1105pm, no dinner was provided (just a slice of microwave pizza and a soda to those of us in sleepers).
I enjoy, support, and frequently ride Amtrak, and hope they will choose to do better moving forward.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it! Sorry you had such a bad experience. It’s like that often on Amtrak. But every once in a while, you get a crew that really does an amazing job. I once even rode the Southwest Chief with a chef who took it upon himself to create new dishes and offer them as specials based on what ingredients were available to him. He even added a Parmesan crust to the salmon! It really makes a huge difference when people just care.
@@RailWeekly if you'd ever like or need some train/railroad photography, let me know.
Good video. For those interested in this subject, the famous Santa Fe Cochiti is on display at the California Railroad Museum. The interior houses a wonderful display of tableware from all over. It's a must see for any railroad fan planning to be near Sacramento.
Thanks for the info! I haven’t been to that museum in over a decade. I can’t wait to go back.
Rode the Amtrak City of New Orleans (Illinois Central, Monday morning rail) in 2009. Had a nice sleeper, and with the extra accommodation, all-you-can-eat on the dining car as well as unlimited soft drinks. While certainly not cooked on board, the prepared food I found pretty good. What was also amazing was the niceness of the people, staff and passengers, not rushed, very different from the sort of personalities I might find running for their flight through Midway Airport.
Yes! Sometimes you really luck out with the staff. I have had some very pleasant experiences dining with Amtrak as well.
Let's not forget the dining car on Via Rail's Canadian. That looks pretty unique when I saw the food and service.
For sure! That train is very high on my bucket list. The Caledonian was my first non-US sleeper train. There is so much more to explore out there.
I just did the (Canadian) from Toronto to Vancouver back in May. The food is fantastic.
@@NickP16 I have done The Canadian 51x since 1964. Yes the food is better than Amtrak.
I took Via Rail’s CANADIAN from Vancouver to Toronto about 20 years ago. Meals in the diner were very nice but not memorable.
Nicely done. Let's hope that this civilized means of travel continues to improve. Flying has become an exercise in passenger abuse.
It really has. I’d rather a slower more comfortable journey than a fast painful one.
I remember them from childhood and the Pullman cars abd the dining cars were wonderful
It made you love rail trains
I am the proud owner of four complete railroad dining car service sets. NYC 20th Century; Rock Island Golden State; SP Daylight and Great Northern Empire builder. Working on completing a D&RGW set too.
What a cool collection. I bet it’s fun hunting for all the pieces as well.
In 1952 as a 5 year old, I traveled from Miami, Florida ro Florence SC on Atlantic Coastline RR and the dining car servers asked me (to induce me to eat) if I wanted to join The Clean Plate Club. Never forgot it.
What a wonderful memory :-)
I remember the Clean Plate Club but our local TV Santa promoted it.
I've been thoroughly pleased with Amtrak's "traditional dining" on their western Superliner-equipped trains (Coast Starlight, Southwest Chief) over the past nine years since I took my first long distance rail journey. The "lfexible dining" on their eastern lines seems like a disappointing step down, though surely better than the old automat cars of the 1960s-70s or the basic menu items of the cafe car.
I'm glad the "traditional dining" isn't more upscale than it is--it's good food, done well, with a decent variety on the menu without being stuff real people don't eat. I also appreciate that the menu doesn't change often. VIA Rail in Canada serves entirely different menus each day, which is great for variety but if there's two things one night which you'd like to try, you're SOL because you won't get the chance to try the 2nd one during that trip.
I didn’t know that about VIA changing their menus. That’s really impressive that they do that! And yes, I really do enjoy the offerings on Amtrak’s traditional dining as well. I have almost never had a bad meal. I just wish they would bring it back to all of the East Coast trains.
That saw-tooth dining car seating was introduced by the New York Central in the Twentieth Century twin unit dining cars -- in 1938!
Everything old is new again. I would love to see Amtrak take advantage of that.
I was fortunate to ride the Crescent in 2019 with full service dining. Breakfast and lunch were great, unfortunately we arrived in NYC before dinner. My grandfather worked on B&O freight trains. I have collected some B&O memorabilia including a plate just like 6:24. It looks to be a 1927 100th anniversary special.
Very cool! My family has quite a collection of B&O China as well. Although I believe most of it is reproduction. Some is original though. We also have some rocks glasses from the Southern Crescent.
@@RailWeeklyI need to do more research. I believe mine is an original Shenango plate. Not sure the year produced. I saw only 1 online matching it exactly. Another site said out of stock. Guessing the value is $40ish but I wouldn’t sell.
I actually rode the Crescent back in 2015. It was amazing! I was about to get the French Toast and then fell in love was train travel.
Been living in Europe for the last 35 years and have been watching dining car service eroding. Rode the last of Trans-Europ Express trains, great food, long gone. TGV and others have a bar car, snacks and drinks and a place to stand. Swiss and German trains have acceptable dining cars, food is good enough and it's a helluva view. Best food, maybe a bit long ago, was in the Hungarian dining car from Vienna to Budapest. Generally travel wherever possible with a rail pass, in Germany, reservations not required, 2nd class, go sit in the dining car.
If you get a chance, CD (Ceske Drahy) serves up some excellent food on EuroCity routes. I've heard good things about ZSSK (Slovak) and PKP (Polish) dining services as well.
@@mikeschumacher Remember CSD (as opposed to CD) dining service fondly. Great food, Pilsner Urquell, not as expensive. More recently tried CD from Berlin to Dresden, also good. Had PKP food years ago, great.
Well done with good history and great footage! I know that footage is expensive so I kicked in for it.
I appreciate you!
I recall taking Amtrak Auto Train several times from DC to FL and marveled at the dining service. It was not only good, but gave us an opportunity to dine with interesting folks. When covid came along we had to eat out of Styrofoam but it was understandable. The last two times I used them the price had risen and there was no longer the dining service. I looked into taking the service the last couple of years and the cost and lack of amenities made me decide to struggle along on I95. Shame.
That really is a shame. I also rode the Auto Train in the early 90s when it was still single level equipment and they served dinner in the full-length domes. The food service was even better then!
I used to travel the Philadelphia-Boston route (PRR & NYNH&H) and enjoy frankfurters, Boston baked beans and brown bread, or corned beef hash for lunch. The best was the open steak sandwich. All prepared onboard and served on white table cloths with branded cutlery, china and glassware.
That sounds delicious! That’s a great example of a diner offering cuisine from the region through which it travels.
Random thoughts: Railroads often boasted of their dining car losses as a testament to their fine service. Others, like Southern Pacific began running coin-operated 'Automat Cars' which often ran out of food and were very unpopular.
The 'advent of refrigeration' began with ice blocks, not modern A/C equipment. Steam for the stove was piped from the locomotives.
Around 1900, low-cost trains operated 'tourist sleepers' some fitted with stoves on which passengers would cook their own food.
In pre-Amtrak days, passengers had to write their own order tickets to avoid errors (a custom going back to when cars were very noisy).
It still is a custom to fill every table (with strangers) to save space.
Ah yes! The automat cars! I was wishing I had access to any pictures or videos of those (that I could get the rights to) for use in this episode. Had to leave it out though. And that’s fascinating about passengers cooking their own food. Could you imagine that today??
this reminds me about the bistro on the swedish high speed trains.
the swedish state railways has a journy limit on food service on board.
a typical journy time under 9 hrs sj do not couple a dining car on the consist.
but on the high speed service the consist has a bistro car in the consit by default.
intresting video.
🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪👍👍👍👍👍
The Canadian train across Canada still offers fine dining, with linen tablecloths, fine china, and gourmet meals.
I have been wanting to try an overnight Canadian train for as long as I can remember. I have only ridden corridor services there thus far.
@@RailWeekly Try to do it sooner, rather than later - since these cars will be coming to the end of their service. They've been at it for 70 years! My first time was in 1959, and the last time was in 2017.
In 2022, we had had horrible on the Auto Train. No dining room was available, food brought to us in bedroom was barely edible and service was atrocious. I hope it’s improved. Recommend adding section about Auto train dining if you ever edit this video. Feel free to contact. Spouse wrote Virginia Railway Depots.
I haven’t been on the auto train in a very long time (that 8mm footage at the beginning was me on the Auto Train as a teenager!). I rode it in 1992 as well though, and the service was amazing. Sad to hear it is not what it used to be.
Living in Tampa and wife having family in Philly she has taken the Silvers up and down about 6 times since and this last trip July 4th she took Silver 97 south. She often mentioned how good the dining car meals where. This last trip she said they were the worst she had on her trips some not even able to finish
I'd like to make a case for . . .
French Fries. With air fryers being the perfectly safe way to cook them. The smell is a universal draw, like popcorn or chocolate. The ingredients are cheap, readily available domestically, and (obv.) vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, and easily "plussed up" with add'l options (like bacon or cheese) for add'l $$$. It's quick, customizable, and crowd pleasing across all demographics, ages, and socio-economic gaps. I really feel like this is something Amtrak could be KNOWN for, ya know? "So, how was your trip?" "The views were amazing and the staff was friendly. But MAN were their fries on point!".
Hahaha! This is so relatable! I asked my parents why there were no fries when I was a kid. And they had to explain the dangers of a sloshing vat of hot oil to me. Air fryer to the rescue!
Thanks!
Thank you for your generosity! Glad you enjoyed!
There's nothing quite like dinner on a western Amtrak service. One of the better ones was on the Sunset Limited, just as the sun was setting in the Arizona desert. A quite picturesque moment. I also had the pleasure of breakfast in the Pacific Parlour Car on the Coast Starlight when they were in operation, but never made it to a lunch or dinner.
If you get a chance in Europe, I'd recommend CD (Czech) for their dining cars, especially on a EuroCity route. SBB (Swiss) is quite good on their EuroCity runs, with a lovely looking loco-hauled car, but it is pricey. ÖBB (Austrian) does a good job, as does MAV (Hungarian). I've heard decent things about ZSSK (Slovak), PKP (Polish), and the Slovenian EuroCity trains, but haven't been on them yet. DB ICE went to a lot more "fast food" options but it's still worth getting a currywurst. Probably the same can be said for TGV....
I too was lucky enough to get to experience the Pacific Parlour cars while Amtrak was still running them (old Santa Fe equipment). What a wonderful experience! And thank you for the tips on the European trains! I’m just starting to learn Europe routes and services. Can’t wait to try more!
Trackside restaurants like Harvey House and dining cars existed concurrently for many decades. Dining cars typically lost money, especially if you considered the cost of pulling them. They tended to be offered only on all-Pullman or extra-fare trains. Also, dining car meals were expensive. The trains that stopped at trackside restaurants tended to be all- or mostly-coach trains whose passengers were more price-conscious and willing to put up with a slower journey.
That’s true. And I also recently learned that Fred Harvey had a chain of roadside establishments on the highways in the Midwest. I saw one that still exists near Chicago.
My father worked for the B&O Railroad. As a little girl we would ride the train to Chicago and the dining car was like a 5 star restaurant. Today's Amtraks' dining service is garbage compared to the B&O service.
My father grew up riding the B&O and he always talked about how great it was. To this day he collects the B&O railroad china. He has quite the collection.
@@RailWeekly Wow! That's great! 😃
The railroad freight customers were tired , in their minds, of subsidizing passenger rail and the dining cars losing money
I don't consider the Caledonian Sleeper to have a dining-car. It's just a cafe. There used to be full service restaurant cars on British trains. Now only the Great Western offers serious dining (£44 for three courses)
Perhaps you’re right. It definitely doesn’t live up to the dining cars of the past. Maybe it could be a good example for the future of food service here in the US.
@@RailWeekly How is it better than Amtrak full service dining-cars?
Whenever I ride in a Swiss dining car, it's usually quite empty. What might help a bit here is if they went to more of a Starbucks business model, sit down and work on your laptop (as you did in the video), have a place to plug it in (rarely available), serve good (but slightly expensive) coffee and light meals. Encourage you to stick around and consume.
That would be pretty great. Amtrak cafe cars love to chase you out as soon as you’re done eating in my experience.
Ah, back in the day when companies made their money offering excellent service that met customer expectations. These days many companies seem to be more concerned about shareholders than customers (like Boeing).
Better dining car food would increase ridership. I have heard that Super Chief French Toast was the best.
I agree with you. And yes, the French toast was the best (At least Amtrak’s version).
SHEESH ! Isn't anyone going to say it ??? Okay...
Dinner in the diner, nothing could be finer, than to have your ham and eggs in Carolina.
Hahaha! I actually tried to get rights to that song for this episode!! It was WAAAY too expensive though. Lol
@RailWeekly That's pathetic.
That song just went from a favorite piece of Americana to an offensive piece of trash.
I hope the owners are happy.
You can delete my previous comment. I won't be offended.
I took a trip on the Capitol Limited recently and the "Flexible Dining" food is terrible. Nobody looked like they were enjoying it. I barely endured mine.
Watch the movie North by Northwest
The same in England. Downgrade to rock-bottom. Our once beautiful restaurant cars have gone and our beautiful coaches have got worse and worse until they have begun to look like a child's fun ride inside.
Yes, they are clean, smooth and quiet, but beauty has gone out of the window!
Amtrak's traditional, sit-down meals in the dining cars on the Southwest Chief and California Zephyr years before COVID were excellent.
Please don't use the pandemic to crap on Amtrak in your intro.
The Northern Pacific Railroad served a rwo pound baked potato
I would definitely order that! Haha
The high sodium "flexible" Amtrak meals are disgusting. I didn't find Acela First Class food much better.
I recently took Acela first class, Newark, NJ to Washington. Comfortable, fast, good service, but the included lunch was pretty bad.
@@robertewalt7789 Considering the huge fare difference, it should be a lot better.
@@randall8379 My son travels NYC to DC on business often, so he earned points, which he used to upgrade me. I took the regular coach back to NJ.
Waaaaa!
Gourmet meals certainly haVE nothing to do with AMTRAK.
The government should not be running Amtrak
Amtrak's "dining" is an embarassment
Good video but your information on some subjects is not correct or only partially correct. To begin with virtually all railroads expected to lose money on their dining cars. It simple too small an operation on the trains and lacked the local traffic that a brick and mortar restaurant has. However, a good number of railroads managed to make a profit on their dining cars e.g. the Union Pacific Challenger trains. Also, the big railroads had a very complete commissary operation and this included butcher shops, bakeries and even farms and ranches. The Illinois Central claimed they had full dining cars as early as 1862. Railroad "eating houses" as they were called, from the mid to late 19th century had very bad reputations for terrible food quality, poor service and very high prices. Fred Harvey and the Harvey Houses were unique to the AT&SF although they did operate large restaurants and other services in large terminals not served by the Santa Fe included Chicago Union Station and Cleveland Union Terminal.
This is great! Thank you so much! There is definitely a lot more I could have covered if I had the rights to the footage or imagery. I would have loved to have talk about automat cars. And I think the Harvey Houses might be worth their own video at some point! Thank you for watching.
Amtrak's dining service was once pretty good. I rode the Broadway Limited from Lima, OH to New York City. They announced two or three seatings for dinner. The meal was on plates that may have been disposable, but the food was not heated on it. Your glass of wine was poured and not prepackaged. The dining car experience must never be abandoned and it seems Amtrak could manage its costs to preserve it. 🚄🚉