Re: (erielack) Dining Cars

[Tim <njmidland_@_peoplepc.com>]

I only got to experience EL dining cars twice on the same day.  We rode the Lake Cities from Blairstown to Hoboken and back in November of 1969.  I had been in dining cars before (New Haven and New York Central) and my mother was a "pro" at long distance train travel so I knew what it was going to be like.  We went to the diner right after we got on in Blairstown.  It was one of the Erie heavyweight diner-lounge cars.  Everything was perfect - the tablecloth, the silver and that breakfast smell!  My mother and I were seated with a couple that got on in Scranton and were going to New York for the day to do their Christmas shopping.  I think I had eggs and bacon, but at this late date I'm not sure.  I do remember the view as we went across the Cutoff.

We ate on the return trip as well.  The only thing I remember was that dinner service started about an hour before departure time.  I remember seeing commuters getting on a train on the next track across the platform and looking up at us with envy (or so I thought!).

I think it was that trip that got me hooked on dining cars.  I have had dinner in the diner on Amtrak, on VIA, in Alaska, in England, even Australia.  But I have always wanted to go back and dine on the EL again.  I think we all know that it is going to happen, now it's just a question of when.

Tim

- -----Original Message-----
>From: "Montgomery, Edward T" <Edward.Montgomery_@_fcps.edu>
>Sent: Mar 3, 2006 8:33 PM
>To: erielack_@_lists.railfan.net
>Subject: (erielack) Dining Cars
>
>I was reading about railroad dining cars in the current TRAINS and it brought up a memory.  I was riding Amtrak's "Montrealer" between Newark and DC in February of 1978.  I met an Amtrak public relations guy on the trip.  He was handing out questionaires and asking questions of passengers.  When he found out I was a railfan, he suggested we have breakfast in the diner.  We go to talking and he told me about trips he had made including a coast-to-coast trip making the across the platform connection at Dearborn between the AT&SF and EL.  He went on to tell me how good the EL food was, that they didn't seem to compromise on quality even though the passenger loads weren't great.  I never had the opportunity to ride an EL through line train but was wondering, how good was the food?  Did EL have some specialties?  Did they continue any of the specialties that DL&W or Erie originated?  As far as I can tell, the ex Erie diners were upgraded and had quite modern kitchens compared to !
> what some other lines were using such as wood fired stoves.  I know EL won several dining car awards in the early 60s.  So, what was the EL diner experience like?
> 
>Ed Montgomery
> 
>
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