Northern Pacific Lunchroom Menu

In addition to dining cars, Northern Pacific (and many other railroads) also operated “lunchrooms” in many of its train stations for the benefit of employees and the general public. In 1944, when this menu was published, NP had lunchrooms in Fargo, Jamestown, and Mandan, North Dakota; Billings, Butte, Forsyth, Garrison, Glendive, Helena, Livingston, Missoula, and Paradise, Montana; and Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. It also ran a hotel in Paradise.

Click image to download a 1.7-MB PDF of this menu.

This menu, which doesn’t say which lunchroom it came from, was no doubt somewhat constrained by wartime rationing. One side of the menu offered hamburger steak, pork chops, a small steak, and various egg dishes. On the other side, a paper clipped insert offered “today’s specials” including a variety of sandwiches, chicken chop suey, spaghetti and meatballs, and a king salmon steak. The salmon steak (which came with mashed potatoes, green beans, and dessert) cost 60¢ or about $9 in today’s money, while the small steak (which came with bread and beverage) cost $1 or a little less than $15 in today’s money.


Leave a Reply