The first dome car in the Canadian had a small kitchen beneath the dome and a coffee shop/lounge behind the dome. While each of the dome-observation cars were named after individual national parks and had interior decorations specific to those … Continue reading
This March 10, 1954 menu offers whitefish meuniere, shrimp, capon, veal steak, roast ribs, and charcoal broiled sirloin steak. Prices for complete meals range from $3.90 ($33 in today’s dollars) to $5.85 ($49 today). For those with more modest tastes, … Continue reading
As the “world’s greatest travel company,” Canadian Pacific had steamships and airplanes as well as trains and it happily cross-advertised between these modes. This menu from the steamship Empress of France features the Chesley Bonestell illustration of the Canadian on … Continue reading
My final Charlie Russell menu, at least for now, isn’t actually in my collection; I found this 1956 Buffalo Hunt lunch menu at Waterlevel.com, a web site that allows people to share their rail and other collectibles. This menu, and … Continue reading
The most expensive item on this 1956 Indian Warfare (aka For Supremacy) menu was a $3.25 (about $27 in today’s dollars) “special dinner” featuring broiled lobster tail and hot butter, complete with soup or juice; potatoes; vegetable; salad; biscuits; dessert; … Continue reading
This 1957 Indian Warfare dinner menu included the exact same Lenten Special as the lunch menu. This one is stapled inside instead of paper clipped, so rather than harm the paper I left it in. Curiously, the a la carte … Continue reading
Here is a 1957 lunch menu that has a “Lenten Special” paperclipped inside. A sockeye salmon loaf doesn’t sound like much of a sacrifice for Lent; diners who didn’t like salmon could still have a choice of tuna salad sandwich, … Continue reading
The five Russell paintings used on Great Northern menus (and reproduced in the observation cars) were painted between 1895 and 1899. Russell married in 1896 and his wife Nancy soon took over the business side of his art, helping to … Continue reading
Desperate Stand does not depict any particular battle but was a typical cowboys-and-Indians story that Russell imagined, probably because action portraits like this were popular. Click image for a larger view. In contrast to the action on the menu cover, … Continue reading
The Great Northern needed five complete train sets to protect the streamlined Empire Builder‘s 44-hour schedule between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest. The observation cars on the 1947 Empire Builder were named Mississippi River (car number 1190), Missouri River (1191), … Continue reading
