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Dining by Rail: The History and the Recipes of America's Golden Age of Railroad Cuisine
A culinary look back at America's great passenger trains offers a history of their era, illustrations of the American railroad, and more than 250 authentic recipes for meals regularly served in the dining cars of old.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 8, 2014
Folks of my generation, those born during World War II, are just about the last to have any memories of railroad passenger travel before AmTrak took over the lines and traveling any distance by train became like traveling by Greyhound bus -- only less comfortable. My grandfather was a lifelong railroad man, the third generation of them on both sides in that family. Though he began as a mechanic, he eventually became a manager for the Pennsylvania, and that meant he possessed a railroad pass good anywhere in the country. When I was a kid, in the 1950s, and we were living Stateside (I was an Army brat), he would come and collect me, whatever post I happened to be at, and we would travel by Pullman car for a week or more, to Los Angeles, and Denver, and Santa Fe, and Chicago, and, eventually, back to his home in Toledo. I have never slept so soundly as in the upper berth, listening to the click-clacking as we passed over the rail-ends. Sometimes, if he knew the crew, we got to ride awhile in the engine cab. But we always ate in the dining car. One of my taste buds’ earliest memories, in fact, is of the French Toast served by the Union Pacific, which was nationally famous among those who traveled the rails on business. And I remember the Pennsy’s own rich, tart, and tasty special salad dressing, and their veal paprika.
When railroads first began to run coast-to-coast -- more than a two-day trip, that is -- they didn’t have their own dining facilities. The train would stop at a designated station, everyone would surge off, charge into the station restaurant, demand instant service, cram themselves with whatever was offered as quickly as possible, then fight their way back on the train. If you had thirty minutes for all of this, you were lucky. Shortly after the Civil War, the idea arose of including cooking and dining facilities on the train itself. Kitchens were designed that were models of compact efficiency, chefs and subordinate cooks were hired who could prepare meals on the move, waiters were trained to feed an entire train’s worth of passengers in perhaps three sittings in ninety minutes, and commissary depots were set up along the main routes to supply the trains with fresh meat, vegetables, and dairy products. The thing is, no line ever turned a profit on their dining cars -- except on the packed troop trains during the two world wars, when the government was paying the bill. But a stellar menu was a prime source of word-of-mouth advertising, a loss-leader, as they say.
Moreover, as someone once noted, in a restaurant or a hotel dining room, one’s goal was to eat quickly and get on with whatever one was supposed to be doing -- but in a railroad dining car, one’s frame of mind was just the opposite. You were traveling as fast as you could toward your goal and nothing else was pressing until you got there. Something really good to eat and the time to lose oneself in it -- that’s the essence of truly fine dining.
James Porterfield is both deeply knowledgeable about railroad history and something of a gourmet cook, which gives him the qualifications for this first-rate history of the railroad dining experience which is detailed in all its engineering and business-related aspects. He has researched his subject carefully, digging through the company archives of many railroads and interviewing surviving cooks and waiters. He leads the reader through the intense rivalries that developed among the lines, and the frequent attempts at reconciliation by CEOs set on saving money. There are numerous illustrations and almost every page includes footnotes. And that’s just the history! The second half of the volume consists of a selection of recipes from every major and most of the minor roads (three dozen in all), featuring every sort of dish, from Southern plantation-style cooking on the B&O and freshwater fish on the Southern Pacific to the Canadian Pacific’s pork pie and the New York Central’s terrine of ragout. Even the T&P had bragging rights to cantaloupe pie with meringue, for which the line received hundreds of requests for the recipe every year. And on Christmas, the effort to provide great meals was doubled. On Christmas Day in 1951, the Pennsy alone served more than 3,500 complete turkey dinners across its system. People today who sit in an overcrowded AmTrak passenger car, peeling the cellophane off an overpriced cold sandwich, cannot begin to know what they’ve missed by being born three generations too late. (And I won’t even mention airline food.)
When railroads first began to run coast-to-coast -- more than a two-day trip, that is -- they didn’t have their own dining facilities. The train would stop at a designated station, everyone would surge off, charge into the station restaurant, demand instant service, cram themselves with whatever was offered as quickly as possible, then fight their way back on the train. If you had thirty minutes for all of this, you were lucky. Shortly after the Civil War, the idea arose of including cooking and dining facilities on the train itself. Kitchens were designed that were models of compact efficiency, chefs and subordinate cooks were hired who could prepare meals on the move, waiters were trained to feed an entire train’s worth of passengers in perhaps three sittings in ninety minutes, and commissary depots were set up along the main routes to supply the trains with fresh meat, vegetables, and dairy products. The thing is, no line ever turned a profit on their dining cars -- except on the packed troop trains during the two world wars, when the government was paying the bill. But a stellar menu was a prime source of word-of-mouth advertising, a loss-leader, as they say.
Moreover, as someone once noted, in a restaurant or a hotel dining room, one’s goal was to eat quickly and get on with whatever one was supposed to be doing -- but in a railroad dining car, one’s frame of mind was just the opposite. You were traveling as fast as you could toward your goal and nothing else was pressing until you got there. Something really good to eat and the time to lose oneself in it -- that’s the essence of truly fine dining.
James Porterfield is both deeply knowledgeable about railroad history and something of a gourmet cook, which gives him the qualifications for this first-rate history of the railroad dining experience which is detailed in all its engineering and business-related aspects. He has researched his subject carefully, digging through the company archives of many railroads and interviewing surviving cooks and waiters. He leads the reader through the intense rivalries that developed among the lines, and the frequent attempts at reconciliation by CEOs set on saving money. There are numerous illustrations and almost every page includes footnotes. And that’s just the history! The second half of the volume consists of a selection of recipes from every major and most of the minor roads (three dozen in all), featuring every sort of dish, from Southern plantation-style cooking on the B&O and freshwater fish on the Southern Pacific to the Canadian Pacific’s pork pie and the New York Central’s terrine of ragout. Even the T&P had bragging rights to cantaloupe pie with meringue, for which the line received hundreds of requests for the recipe every year. And on Christmas, the effort to provide great meals was doubled. On Christmas Day in 1951, the Pennsy alone served more than 3,500 complete turkey dinners across its system. People today who sit in an overcrowded AmTrak passenger car, peeling the cellophane off an overpriced cold sandwich, cannot begin to know what they’ve missed by being born three generations too late. (And I won’t even mention airline food.)
January 17, 2013
Read the summary of this and be amazed at some more "fascinating" history. Who ever thought of how and when meals started being served on railroads?
Gee, we don't normally think about how the early settlers, travelers survived without the Golden Arches, do we ?
Excellent info on the logistics and personnel needed to put together what became gourmet rail car dining. At one point, people took a train trip just to eat a grand meal.
Recipes were definitely from another era - not sure I'll be trying any of them - but interesting to read.
Read in 2010.
Gee, we don't normally think about how the early settlers, travelers survived without the Golden Arches, do we ?
Excellent info on the logistics and personnel needed to put together what became gourmet rail car dining. At one point, people took a train trip just to eat a grand meal.
Recipes were definitely from another era - not sure I'll be trying any of them - but interesting to read.
Read in 2010.
December 8, 2018
The Limited trains of the 1930s “sought to create the aura of a grand hotel. […] A passenger could call on the services of a stenographer or secretary, if not already accompanied by one, or those of a concierge or social secretary to, among other things, get theater tickets at one’s destination. Service of the Great Northern’s Oriental Limited included a maid, a manicurist, a hairdresser, a shower bath, and a lounge for women; and a barber, valet, and shower bath for men. Tea was served in the observatory lounge. News bulletins, as well as magazines and books, were available in the train’s library.”
September 25, 2014
For railroad enthusiasts with an urge to try cooking this is the book. Divided into three sections (the smallest being the appendices of about 17 pages combined) this provides both a history of the dining car and recipes that were served thereon. After a short preface comes Section One which is the history of the development of dining on trains and the dining car through it's general demise as passenger rail service needed to compete with the automobile and airplane. Section Two contains the recipes, each accompanied by a list of the equipment needed. Most likely one will try these recipes in a non-moving kitchen. Imagine trying them while moving at sixty miles an hour, going over hills and around curves in a small kitchen understanding that in the west you would possibly be going up mountains that would change the air pressure and thus cooking times. I plan on trying some of the recipes to see how they taste at a constant elevation without movement.
October 19, 2022
Trains are one of the most fascinating machines and someday I'm going to ride one!The Boxcar Children, Orphan Train stories, and American outlaw stories certainly helped. And no, subways and airport shuttles aren't what I had in mind.
This was such a fascinating look at a lost part of American history. Riding the train was more than transportation from Point A to Point B; it was a culinary experience. Each train line had its own unique dishes and service procedure. I found it especially interesting how precise these chefs had to be with meal preparation.
The first half of the book contains interesting history and photographs, while the second half contains recipes from various railway lines. The author sorted through over 7,000 recipes for the best of the best.
This was such a fascinating look at a lost part of American history. Riding the train was more than transportation from Point A to Point B; it was a culinary experience. Each train line had its own unique dishes and service procedure. I found it especially interesting how precise these chefs had to be with meal preparation.
The first half of the book contains interesting history and photographs, while the second half contains recipes from various railway lines. The author sorted through over 7,000 recipes for the best of the best.
April 28, 2022
I like trains.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews