The cover illustration of Old Faithful is imaginatively colored, but that goes along with some of Burlington’s other advertising in the 1930s. This menu has a code that reads, “7-No-2–43-42-6.” The “42-6” might indicate that this use printed in June of 1942, but one of the entrées is for “1941 spring lamb.” Either year seems about right considering the rail fares listed on the back, but the lack of wartime notices suggests the earlier year.
Click image to download a 1.3-MB PDF of this menu.
The code also might indicate it was used on train number 2, which was an obscure local from Denver to Omaha called the Overland Express. It had a diner and was scheduled between Hastings and Lincoln at lunchtime, so it is possible this was used on that train.
Burlington, by the way, had an unusual system for numbering its trains: instead of using paired numbers like 1 & 2, the Denver Zephyr was 1 & 10; the Fast Mail was 8 & 15; the Ak-Sar-Ben was 5 & 12, and so forth. Some train numbers were paired — the Exposition Flyer was 39 & 40 in honor of the years the Golden Gate Exposition took place — but 42 wasn’t paired with 43 and 6 wasn’t paired with 7, so the code probably doesn’t indicate those trains.
The menu has five table d’hôte meals plus a “special sandwich luncheon” offering six to eight different sandwiches with soup, juice, dessert, and beverage. The a la carte side has at least nine different entrées (depending on how you count), ranging from spaghetti to roast lamb.