In 1950, when this menu was issued, the Red River left St. Paul at 5:30 pm and arrived in Grand Forks just before midnight; then left Grand Forks at 7:30 am and returned to St. Paul at 2:00 pm. The train included three coaches and a parlor-observation-cafe car that had to be ready to serve dinner westbound and breakfast and lunch eastbound.
Click image to download a 0.8-MB PDF of this menu.
This menu might have been for dinner, or it could have done double-duty for lunch and dinner. For $2 (a little over $20 in today’s dollars), it offered fried chicken or beef pot roast with soup or juice, potatoes, vegetable, bread, dessert, and beverage. A roughly similar (but no doubt fancier and with fresher foods and more entrées) dinner on the Empire Builder cost $2.25. For $1.35, travelers could have their choice of fish, beans and ham, chicken shortcake, or cold meats with potatoes (but no vegetable), bread, dessert, and beverage. The a la carte side includes sandwiches and salads but no other entrées.