The Chuck Wagon room was the Denver Zephyr‘s equivalent to the California Zephyr‘s Cable Car Room. Like the Empire Builder‘s Ranch Car, the Chuck Wagon was decorated to look like the dining hall of a dude ranch, though it probably … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Menu
Union Pacific menu covers often displayed spectacular photos of parks and other scenic areas that could be reached by taking a Union Pacific train. But this City of St. Louis menu has a prosaic photo of the train station for … Continue reading
Pre-Canadian Canadian Pacific menus tended to have pictures of mounties, mountains, or Canadian Pacific hotels. But for the Canadian, the railroad used this grand painting of the train on Morant’s curve. The painting was done by Chesley Bonestell, who–shades of … Continue reading
This 1955 dinner menu features Olvera Street, a Mexican-style marketplace that still operates today in Los Angeles, on the front cover. Like a previous lunch menu, the inside of this menu appears to have been edited in preparation for another … Continue reading
This 1958 dinner menu from the City of Portland is unusual for a Union Pacific menu in that it has a second fold, solely for the purpose of repeating the Union Pacific logo. It is also unusual for a dining … Continue reading
Santa Fe publicity promoted the Turquoise Room as “the only private dining room on rails.” After 1954, when Union Pacific included a private dining room in the dome-diners of the City of Los Angeles and City of Portland, this changed … Continue reading
I have two menus from the Cable Car Room, both dated 1969. One dated June includes four simple meals: beef stew; baked ham; turkey sandwich; and a fruit plate, each accompanied by a salad, bread (potato in the case of … Continue reading
The California Zephyrs each had a stewardess known as a Zephyrette who assisted mothers and children, made train announcements, and took reservations for the diner. As explained in the Zephyrette manual, there was a specific procedure for those reservations. Unusual … Continue reading
While the Pere Marquette and Empire Builder were the first post-war trains, the Rock Island holds the honor of being the only railroad allowed to introduce a new passenger train during the war. In January, 1945, the Twin Star Rocket … Continue reading
The Los Angeles train terminal, the last major train station built in the United States, is featured on the cover of this heavily edited lunch menu. The menu itself looks like it was being modified for future editions: one of … Continue reading