Canadian National 1956 Dinette Menu

Some of Canadian National’s cafe car’s must have been pretty austere if this menu, which served for both lunch and dinner, is any indication. The two main entrées are “Chopped High Grade Beef on Heated Bun” (couldn’t they just say “hamburger”?) and “Grilled Bacon with Cheese on Heated Bun.” Compare this with Canadian Pacific’s Skyline car menu, which in the 1964 edition shown here previously had a table d’hôte menu featuring three entrées plus an a la carte menu with six entrées and six more sandwiches.

Click image to download a 500-KB PDF of this menu.

This may be an unfair comparison. CN’s 1956 timetable lists dinette cars only on the Montreal-Toronto segments of trains between Montreal and Chicago. An ad in the timetable says, “Canadian National’s new dinette cars offer you a wide choice of good food at budget prices.” This menu suggests the choice sometimes wasn’t really very wide.


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