The Way We Were (PDF 826KB) - Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

A look back at
the glory days of
dining car cuisine
By James D. Porterfield
Next time you pause on a rail-trail to sip
from your water bottle or snack on a
granola bar, picture in your mind’s eye
what train travelers might have enjoyed
on the very same route. Hearty cream of
lima bean soup? Filet mignon, sharing the
plate with a stuffed, twice-baked potato?
A hot strawberry sundae?
All these delectables were on the menu
in dining cars of old. Fine dining was a
big attraction in the heyday of rail travel,
reaching elaborate proportions as railroads
lured travelers eager for tempting
scents as well as scenery, taste treats as
well as transportation.
For almost a century, American
railroads emphasized gourmet dining.
They did it mainly to get an edge in the
fierce competition for riders. A number
of railroads ran first-class trains between
New York and Chicago, for example, but
only aboard the New York Central could
travelers get lobster bisque on toasted
cornbread points. Four railroads operated
lines between Chicago and Minneapolis-
St. Paul, but the Great Big Baked Potato
was available exclusively on the Northern
Pacific.
Rivalry for freight and produce
shippers was equally intense. The Great
Northern Railway demonstrated its
commitment to the apple growers of
Washington by offering the Great Big
Baked Apple at all three meals. The Texas
SSPL/GETTY IMAGES
16
railstotrails ◆ spring/summer.13

and Pacific Railway showed allegiance
to melon growers in Arkansas by offering
cantaloupe pie. Some railroads went
so far as to establish test kitchens to
develop recipes using ingredients their
lines carried, from Idaho’s potatoes on the
Union Pacific to California’s rice on the
Southern Pacific.
UNIVERSALIMAGESGROUP/GETTY IMAGES
First Course
It all started in 1867.
Just three years after
George Pullman introduced
the modern
American sleeping car,
he modified one of the
cars, adding a small
kitchen and an apparatus
between facing
seats to allow a table
to be anchored to the
car’s wall. He called
the design a “hotel
car” and christened
this first model “President.” A year later,
he introduced the first full dining car,
naming it “Delmonico,” in honor of the
famous New York restaurant.
Pullman’s dining cars evolved over
the years to comprise a 7-by-18-foot
kitchen where four cooks prepared and
plated food; a 7-by-8-foot pantry where
six waiters prepared salads, beverages and
desserts; and an 11-by-40-foot dining
room that seated 36 passengers. Seating
capacity later increased to 42. A steward
oversaw the car, which served three meals
a day to as many as 300 passengers.
Popular as the Pullman dining cars
were, with an 11-member crew they rarely
were profitable. (There was
one exception: The New York,
New Haven and Hartford
Railroad, running first-class
trains between Boston and
New York, derived 72 percent
of its dining car revenue from
alcohol, a highly profitable
menu item.) Thus, while the
Pullman Company routinely
leased sleeping cars to the railroads,
at one time becoming
America’s largest hotel chain,
it got out of the dining car business within
a few years.
What followed was a remarkable
burst of creativity, as competing railroads
sought to distinguish their own dining
cars and menus. Between the 1920s and
1950s, railroad dining cars were among
the best restaurants in the country. The
MPI/GETTY IMAGES
railroads often entered
their most skilled chefs
in culinary competitions
to vie against
chefs from major
hotels, resorts and
country clubs. It was
not uncommon for
the railroads to win
some, if not all, of
the ribbons. The railroads
publicized these
culinary kudos widely
along their routes.
First Class
The Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail and
Heritage Rail Trail County Park between
Cockeysville, Md., and York, Pa., occupies
the bucolic 41-mile route of one of
America’s oldest railroads, the Northern
Central Railway. Chartered in 1828 to
connect Baltimore with Lake Ontario,
the Northern Central came under the
control of the Pennsylvania Railroad
and saw heavy passenger traffic featuring
important first-class trains—including
the Liberty Limited and the Red Arrow—
between Washington, D.C., or Baltimore
and Harrisburg, Pa. In the first half of
the 20th century, as many as 23 first-class
passenger trains raced along the route
each day.
To feed the many people on board,
chefs in the dining cars had to work
quickly. The key to success was to use
everyday ingredients and a minimum
of preparation steps. Passengers might
railstotrails ◆ spring/summer.13 17

Dinner Is
Served
These simple yet striking recipes
are your ticket to fine dining,
railroad style.
Pennsylvania Railroad
Deviled Roast Beef
With Mustard Sauce
Makes a single serving
Roast Beef
1/4-inch slice cooked roast beef
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tbsp. butter
1/2 tbsp. English mustard
(Colman’s is the most common brand)
soft white bread crumbs to cover
Season one side of roast beef with salt and
pepper. Sprinkle lightly with melted butter,
then spread with English mustard. Sprinkle
lightly with bread crumbs. Broil 5 inches
from heat source until warmed through and
lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Serve in a
pool of mustard sauce on a dinner plate, and
garnish with a sprig of fresh parsley.
sit down to enjoy a
chilled melon mint
cocktail: five ingredients
prepared in
quantity in 15 minutes.
Menus show the
next course could be
a thick, rich chicken
soup Roquefort:
seven ingredients,
45 minutes. Like all
railroad soups, it is
a cream, not clear,
soup, so it is less
likely to slosh out of the bowl.
Like many other lines, the
Pennsylvania Railroad developed and
served its own signature salad dressing.
The dinner entrée might be deviled roast
beef with mustard sauce (see sidebar for
recipe), served with a seasoned baked
potato Pennsylvania and corn and green
pepper sauté. To complete the meal—
Pennepicure Pie, a rich raisin custard pie
topped with meringue.
his dining car menu
offerings and traveled
extensively to oversee
the company’s cooks.
It
was, incidentally, a
Milwaukee Road dining
car superintendent
who invented the ring
around the inner rim of
his railroad’s coffee cups
to
keep hot beverages
from spilling over.
Ot her r ailroads
hired elite chefs as well.
Notable among them were Paul Reiss of
the Southern Pacific and Fred Harvey of
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe.
“House” Specialties
As well as being the country’s longest
rail-trail under a single administration,
Missouri’s 238-mile Katy Trail is also a
standout in the world of railroad dining.
Katy Kornettes, special cornbread nuggets,
could be had only on such Missouri-
ERNEST YEAGLEY
Mustard Sauce
1 small onion, chopped
1/8 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1/3 cup brown gravy
1 tbsp. English mustard
1/4 tsp. seasoning salt
1/2 tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. parsley, chopped
Place onion, black pepper and vinegar in
saucepan. Cook over medium heat until
vinegar evaporates, about 5 minutes. Add
gravy, mustard and seasoning salt. Simmer
15 minutes. Strain and add butter and
chopped parsley. Return to saucepan and
heat until butter is melted. The key to this
sauce is that it be very well seasoned.
NOTE: This recipe can be prepared using
slices of premium-quality roast beef from
the deli. In fact, as with many railroad
recipes, all the ingredients can be purchased
at your local grocery.
Chef’s Cuisine
Idaho’s scenic 15-mile Route of the
Hiawatha rail-trail follows a 15-mile
section of the Chicago, Milwaukee,
St. Paul and Pacific Railroad corridor,
another popular dining car route. Known
as The Milwaukee Road, it was the last of
the major Chicago to Seattle transcontinental
railroads.
In 1928, to set its menus apart from
those of its better-known rivals, the Great
Northern and the Northern Pacific, The
Milwaukee Road hired chef and restaurateur
George Rector to provide “the
finishing touch to fine service.” Rector
was world famous, touring internationally
to demonstrate his cooking prowess,
penning numerous cookbooks and writing
a weekly column for The Saturday
Evening Post. For The Milwaukee Road,
he became “the master hand to direct
cuisine,” creating such mouthwatering
menu items as Crabmeat Olympia
Hiawatha, Scalloped Brussels Sprouts and
Scrambled Codfish Rector. He instructed
others in the correct preparation of
On the Menu: Railroads paid close attention
to menu planning for children, the next
generation of passengers. Children’s menus
were entertaining and informative; young
diners also received coloring books and
crayons, playing cards, or perhaps milk and a
cookie. This illustration comes from a Great
Northern Railway booklet about train rides.
CRAIG AND MARTY NEROS
18
railstotrails ◆ spring/summer.13

Ticket to
Dining Car History
Graham Gems: Many Class I railroads used
customized dining car china, often unique
to specific trains, such as the Union Pacific’s
Winged Streamliner pattern, introduced in
1936. Railroads frequently offered specialty
items available only in their dining cars. These
Graham Gems, sweet milk muffins, were
served exclusively on the New York, New
Haven and Hartford Railroad. Then there were
the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Ginger Muffins,
The Milwaukee Road’s Richmond Corn Cakes,
and the Great Northern Railway’s Potato Rolls.
Kansas-Texas Railroad trains as the Katy
Flier and the Bluebonnet. Travelers on
these trains could look forward to the
basket of warm Kornettes on their table
in the dining car (see sidebar page 20).
The Illinois Central Railroad, which
connected Chicago with New Orleans,
specialized in Cajun cuisine. Passengers
often boarded the northbound Panama
Limited or City of New Orleans in
Champaign-Urbana, Ill., just to enjoy
a Cajun meal going into Chicago, then
took a local train back home.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
delighted travelers with saltwater seafood
served on trains traveling west to Chicago
or St. Louis, and freshwater seafood on
trains traveling east to Baltimore and
Washington. The New York, New Haven
and Hartford Railroad perfected salads as
an entrée, at one time listing nearly 70 in
its food service manual.
In addition, railroads—especially
Western lines such as The Milwaukee
Road—routinely bought up prizewinning
livestock at state agricultural
fairs. Those champions were employed for
breeding purposes on the railroads’ own
cattle farms, which supplied the dining
cars.
Hungry for more information about
dining cars and railroad cuisine?
You’ll enjoy these books:
C&O Dining Car Recipes, a reprint of the
1947 Chesapeake & Ohio food service
manual from the C&O Historical Society,
chessieshop.com or 800.453.2647.
Dining by Rail: The History and Recipes of
America’s Golden Age of Railroad Cuisine,
by James D. Porterfield, a history of eating
on the train featuring 330 recipes from 48
railroads of the “Golden Age” of American
passenger railroading. St. Martin’s Press.
Dining Car to the Pacific: The “Famously
Good” Food of The Northern Pacific
Railway, by William A. McKenzie, an
account of the evolution of one railroad’s
dining car operations, including recipes
for 150 of its most appealing dishes.
University of Minnesota Press.
Dining Cars and Depots: Train Food in
America, compiled and published by
Patricia B. Mitchell, offering historical and
personal anecdotes as well as 21 recipes.
Available from Foxfire Museum gift shop:
foxfire.org/diningcarsanddepots.aspx.
Dining on the B & O: Recipes and
Sidelights From a Bygone Age, by Thomas
J. Greco and Karl D. Spence, containing
original B&O recipes and modern interpretations,
with photographs, commentary
on the technical aspects of cooking
on a moving train, “service notes” used
by chefs, stewards and waiters, and a
glossary of cooking terms. Johns Hopkins
University Press.
Dining on the Shore Line Route: The
History and Recipes of the New Haven
Railroad Dining Car Department,
by Marc Frattasio, a well-illustrated
history of the New York, New Haven and
Hartford Railroad’s dining operations,
with recipes for many popular menu
items. TLC Publishing.
Dining on the UP: A Reproduction of
the Union Pacific Railroad’s Dining
Car Manual of Recipes and Service
Instructions. Published by the Cheyenne
Depot Museum Foundation,
tinyurl.com/9sfncr7 or 307.638.6338.
Dinner Is Served: Fine Dining Aboard the
Southern Pacific, by Jim A. Loveland,
a history of the Southern Pacific’s dining
car operation with recipes. Golden West
Books.
Rufus Estes’ Good Things to Eat, thought
to be the first cookbook published by
an African-American chef who went to
work for the Pullman Company in private
car service in 1883; contains 591 recipes.
Dover Publications.
The Harvey House Cookbook: Memories
of Dining Along the Santa Fe Railroad,
2nd Edition, by George H. Foster and Peter
C. Weiglin, tells the Harvey story and
provides recipes from the famous Harvey
dining rooms that marked the route of
the Santa Fe Railroad. Longstreet Press.
Recipes of the Erie Lackawanna—Dinner
in the Diner 1964–1970, a reprint of
bulletins issued by the railroad’s dining
car department to the dining car staff,
including recipes, plating directions
and serving instructions. From the Erie
Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation
Society, eldcps.org/store.
railstotrails ◆ spring/summer.13 19

The Steward, shown here in the 48-seat
dining room of the Union Pacific’s streamlined
St. Louis-Salt Lake City City of St. Louis, seated
guests, presented and explained the menu, and
oversaw the work of the ten-member crew.
A Legacy
Without realizing it, most of us enjoy the
benefits of creativity in dining-car food
preparation even today. Bisquick, for
example, is a Betty Crocker product that
originated with a Southern Pacific chef
Missouri-Kansas-Texas
Railroad
Katy Kornettes
Makes 48 cakes
32 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 lb. white cornmeal
4 oz. butter, softened
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
Lightly grease two large cookie sheets and set
aside. Preheat oven to 400°F. Bring milk to a
boil in a 2-quart saucepan, then pour it into
a large mixing bowl. Stirring constantly, add
cornmeal, butter, sugar and salt. Mix well. Let
stand 5 minutes. Using a pastry bag or tablespoon,
drop silver-dollar sized balls onto cookie
sheets. Allow to cool to room temperature,
approximately 15 minutes. Place in oven and
bake until cooked through, about 20 minutes.
Serve warm.
who concocted a recipe to enable him to
serve fresh hot biscuits on short notice.
If you use slices from a square loaf of
bread to make sandwiches, you probably
call it “sandwich bread.” But bakers
know it as a “Pullman loaf” because
the Pullman Company used bread pans
with lids. Three Pullman loaves fit in the
same space as two loaves with crowns, an
important consideration in a dining car
where space is at a premium.
Pressed sawdust logs, sold today under
such names as Duraflame and Pres-to-
Logs, were developed by Weyerhauser
in 1935 and tested by the Union Pacific
Railroad. They proved vital to trains that
passed through the Rocky Mountains
in winter, running the risk of becoming
snowbound. The logs burn hot and
smokeless and leave little residue, making
them invaluable to dining car chefs.
And think about the design of apartment
kitchens. A long, narrow kitchen
with lots of equipment but little counter
space was known to the architects who
first designed high-rise apartment buildings
in the 1920s as a “Pullman kitchen.”
Also, given the far-flung operation of
dining cars on Class I railroads such
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD, COURTESY OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN RAILROADS
as the Katy, the Pennsylvania and The
Milwaukee Road, dining cars innovated
practices common today in upscale chain
restaurants and fast-food outlets alike:
standards of preparation and service,
consistent food appearance and the use
of quality ingredients to reduce waste.
It’s also said that our penchant for taking
short, quick meals originated with dining
cars, where the need to feed several
hundred people at breakfast, lunch and
dinner necessitated prompt turnover at
the table.
So to those of you who place signs
along rail-trails calling attention to
notable events and features: How about
adding a menu?
The Great Northern Railway’s Seattle-
Vancouver, British Columbia, International
Limited featured decor highlighting the Pacific
Northwest, including flying Canada geese over
the light panels and carved myrtle wood
bas-reliefs in the cafe car.
20
railstotrails ◆ spring/summer.13

ERNEST YEAGLEY
Food Promotion: As a way to generate
freight customers and celebrate regional
specialties, railroads used dining car service to
promote food items they transported. Here,
the Louisville & Nashville Railroad offers a
center-cut smoked ham steak—cured ham
from a Kentucky farm that still exists—along
with honeyed sweet potatoes and spiced
Hawaiian pineapple.
James D. Porterfield is director of the Center for
Railway Tourism at Davis & Elkins College in
Elkins, W.Va. He is the author of Dining by Rail:
The History and Recipes of America’s Golden Age
of Railroad Cuisine and a contributing editor of
Railfan & Railroad magazine.
GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY RECORDS, COURTESY OF THE MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
railstotrails ◆ spring/summer.13 21