The cover of this menu features what appears to be a demitasse cup of coffee (in B&O’s Centenary pattern) with the note that it was “on the house,” a “pleasant B&O tradition.” However, the menu itself says nothing about coffee … Continue reading
Baltimore & Ohio introduced “strata-domes” to the Columbian in 1949. Today we have two menus featuring a strata-dome on their covers. One is dated 1952 while the other is undated but must be from a little later considering some of … Continue reading
I presented a B&O menu card a couple of days ago that I guessed was from 1950 and was intended for lunch. I don’t have to guess the date of this one as it says 5-51, but it still doesn’t … Continue reading
This handsome menu is dated 12-50, which means that the train featured on its cover, the streamlined “new” Columbian, had been in service for a year. The original Columbian entered service in 1931 as the first air conditioned train in … Continue reading
This menu is undated but I suspect it’s from around 1950. It also doesn’t say what meal it is for, but lunch seems reasonable as many of the offerings are lunch-like: hot chicken sandwich, beef stew, mushroom omelet, and several … Continue reading
The colorful painting of the Jefferson Memorial on the cover of this Baltimore & Ohio menu is signed by Paul Burns (1910-1990), who is best known for his illustrations for women’s magazines such as Colliers. Often identified as Paul C. … Continue reading
Inaugurated in 1925, the National Limited was Baltimore & Ohio’s premiere all-Pullman train that connected New York with St. Louis. The name came from the National Road, which had been built by the federal government in the 1830s and which … Continue reading
We’ve previously seen an April, 1964 timetable for the combined C&O/B&O passenger systems. This four-page brochure is a revision to a slightly previous timetable. Click image to download a 1.1-MB PDF of this timetable. The presence of asthma in our … Continue reading
October is National Apple Month, and in the Octobers of the 1920s and 1930s the Great Northern and Northern Pacific often celebrated apples in their menus. This made sense as Washington state grows more apples then the rest of the … Continue reading
Jointly issued by nine different railroads in 1948, this brochure unfolds into the equivalent of a 12-page 8″-by-9″ booklet. About a quarter of the brochure describes the “East’s luxurious modern trains,” while most of the rest features potential destinations. The … Continue reading
