Dining car

“ A dining car is about the most complex proposition in its operation that we have on the railroad. It will be the hardest to bring under the supervision of the division superintendent and his assistants. The difficulties of so doing are many, but are not insurmountable. The dining car, because it moves on wheels, is an incident to the manufacture and sale of transportation. It is not, as a few dining car people suppose, merely a traveling hotel to which the railway is an incident. Originally the dining cars were under the passenger traffic department. ”

“ In the American railroad car running on a long-distance journey there are seats of different sorts, some are high and some are low, and they are detached. This makes much difference. In the dining-cars the tables and chairs are all loose, and one does not have to squeeze into them with the feeling that one is being locked into one's place as we do in England. And the dining arrangements on the American cars are far superior to what they are elsewhere. ”

“ A porter, in his sooty canvas coat, sagged miserably down the aisle. Also a waiter from the dining car, announcing breakfast in a cheerless tone. Breakfast! Who could think of breakfast in a place like that? For a long time, we sat in somber silence, without interest in each other or in life.
To appreciate the full horror of a Pullman sleeping car it is not necessary to pass the night upon it; indeed, it is necessary not to. If you have slept in the car, or tried to sleep, you arise with blunted faculties—the night has mercifully anesthetized you against the scenes and smells of morning. ”

“ NOTHING can exceed the air of satisfaction which pervades a sleeping car just after the berths have been made up in the morning. The night is safely past, dressing in one's section has been got through, and one's destination leaps upon one from out the sheathing miles. Pelleas and I came in from breakfast in the dining car and shared in the general cheer. ”

“ The average full-sized dining-car seats 40 persons, but that does not represent the business it does. Unless the car can be completely filled two or more times at each meal, it is not considered a profitable run. The European method of reserving seats at “first table” or “second table” has never obtained in the United States, and the wise man on a popular train sacrifices his dignity and hurries toward the dining-car at the first intimation that the meal is ready. ”

“ These new cars are incomparable for beauty of design and selectness of adornments, all the elegancies of art having been exhausted to produce the most desirable effect. That the end has been gained, goes without saying, and they stand to-day as far in advance of other Dining Cars as the first Dining Cars were in advance of the lunch counters at wayside stations. ”

“ All trains have dining cars, which are in reality magnificent dining rooms, where three times a day the dainties of the season are prepared by a competent chef to satisfy the most discriminating inner man. ”

“ Naturally she would assume that I intended to go into the dining-car every time. Most of the girls do as a matter of course. In fact I remember feeling condescending whenever I saw anybody eating from a box while the other passengers were filing down the aisle, or up, whichever it happened to be. This year I was to be one of the brave unfortunates left behind in their seats.
Well, very likely you understand that people while traveling really ought not to eat so 206 heartily as usual. Much food in a dining-car clogs the system and ventilates the pocketbook, so to speak. ”

“ We ate our dinner, and a very good dinner it was, in the dining-car. Hephzy, having asked me to translate the heading “Compagnie Internationale des Wagon Lits” on the bill of fare, declared she couldn't see why a dining-car should be called a “wagon bed.” “There's enough to eat to put you to sleep,” she declared, “but you couldn't stay asleep any more than you could in the nail factory up to Tremont. ”

“ For that reason the sleeping car is provided that you may sleep with as much comfort as if you were in your own home, the dining car is provided to furnish you a good meal on the fly and at a price that all can afford. The library and drawing room cars are provided, where you can make yourself as comfortable as you can in your own house. The porter will get your morning paper, furnish you with writing materials or your morning high ball, and look after you like a hen after her brood. ”

“ Everyone is trying to keep his knees from being knocked by swift-passing suitcases
Even the food in the dining-car seems to be standardized. The dishes look differently, and vary mildly in flavor, but there is one taste running through everything, as though the whole meal were made from some basic substance, colored and flavored in different ways, to create a variety of courses. The great primary taste of eastern dining-car food is, as nearly as I can hit on it, that of wet paper. The oysters seem to be made of slippery wet paper with oyster-flavor added. ”

“ The porter put some screens in to protect the fat lady from dust, told the cleric the diner was four forward, and brought the mother a glass of hot milk.
Guy rose and repaired to the dining car himself, determined, if there was an empty seat, to preëmpt it ahead of the sanctimonious one. As he had already surmised, it was going to be a beastly trip. ”

“ Strange that one who could afford a private car cared for weeds in a glass on their dining-table, but then perhaps they didn't know.
A fat cook with ebony skin and white linen attire had appeared on the rear platform beating eggs, and half whistling, half singing:
He seemed in no wise affected or embarrassed by the natives who gradually encircled the end of the car, and the audience grew. ”

“ As it was too early for breakfast at the hotel, we were only too glad to get an opportunity to eat. At eight o'clock the train stopped and the guard unlocked our door, telling us to go front to the dining-car. It seemed strange to be compelled to get out of a train, instead of walking through it, in order to get to the other end of it.
The dining-car was fitted up with stationary tables which almost spanned the car, leaving a small space for people to walk along. There were more people than could be accommodated, but as the train had started, they were obliged to stand. ”

“ In the United Kingdom, where the distances are comparatively small, sleeping and dining cars must be regarded rather as luxuries; still even so, they are to be met with very frequently. The first dining car in England was run experimentally by the Great Northern railway between London and Leeds in 1879, and now such vehicles form a common feature on express trains, being available for all classes of passengers without extra charge beyond the amount payable for food. ”

“ McDonald, “which no doubt you will notice, and that is our strict adherence to the law of cleanliness. If there is one rule of the dining-car service more imperative than another, it is the one that declares that everything must be clean. The coats and aprons of the waiters must be pure and spotless as an angel’s robe, napkins and table linen must
A PULLMAN DINING CAR.
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never be used the second time, no matter how little soiled. ”

“ It takes from ten to eleven men to operate an American dining-car of equal or less seating capacity than its fellow of Continental Europe, which rarely has more than four or five servants. The prices, to the average man traveling across the land and accustomed to stay in hotels of even a fair grade are not unreasonable. ”

“ Perhaps no branch of the railway service is more affected thereby than the dining car service. American travelers, as the colored soldier said about the Cubans, are the “eatin’est lot of people.” The long haul for cars and supplies renders supervision more difficult and deficits correspondingly greater. The dining car man on most, if not all, western roads is attached to a losing game. When poverty comes in at the door, love flies out at the window. The dining car superintendent is kept busy retaining the affections of the management in the face of red figures. ”

“ While the problem of dining-car economy, and profit even, remains a problem, the idea is nevertheless being steadily extended all the while to branches and to trains that could not support full-sized dining-cars. ”

“ To the kitchen and the pantry the storeroom is always sending tribute, and they send it to the glass-doored dining-room which, with its long tables, its dazzling white cloths, and its glittering array of silver and glass, looks at night like an enchanted realm. Seats at table are assigned by the steward or the purser, who gives out the seats to those who ask for them first. ”

“ All the passenger coaches are compartment sleepers, and one diner is attached. There is no smoking or observation car, so that the solitary traveller oftentimes finds it lonesome, but smoking is permitted everywhere except in the dining-car, where gentlemen are requested not to smoke “when the señoras are present.” Some of the passengers gather in the diner after the tables have been cleared and talk or play games. The diner has good service and the only trouble is to keep the dust out of your food. A good meal of several courses is furnished in this comedor for two Argentine pesos. ”

“ When three of us marched in, as our cards provided, at 6:15, take our places at Table A-8, four in- dividualists were firmly intrenchered, I hope, never- theless, that the system can be put into practice over here as I know of few unhappier moments than that of discovering, after a feeling progress through five or six cars, that the corridor of the diner is packed like a six o'clock subway train.
I hope that eventually the orderly arrangement of dining car sittings will be able to do away with the annoying no-smoking-in-the-diner rule. ”

“ In the dining-car a tip of twenty-five cents is sufficient for the services rendered a man or woman. The woman who travels alone may leave twenty-five cents for the waiter in the dining-car. The man who travels alone should leave ten per cent. ”

“ Sleeping cars are free—at least every first-class railway carriage is arranged in compartments, so that the back of the seat can be lifted to make an upper berth, which is quite as comfortable as those in American Pullmans, but passengers have to carry bedding with them, sheets and pillows and blankets, and make up their own bunks when it comes time to retire. There is either a dining-car or a buffet on every train, from which coffee, tea, eggs, cold217 meats, bread and butter are served, so that a journey is made very comfortable. ”

“ These cars are luxuriously fitted. Another car on the train is a handsome dining saloon, with kitchen attached, where you can order as good a dinner as you could obtain at an hotel. The cars are also fitted liberally with lavatories and water-closets, separate ones for ladies and for gentlemen. ”

“ The second step in the evolution was inevitable. At best, the hotel car was only a sleeping car with restaurant accommodations. Eating and sleeping have never been associated in the modern mind; there must be a separate place for each.
To meet the demand, or rather to anticipate a demand which his keen eyes foresaw, Mr. Pullman set himself to the task of developing a car which would be only a dining car, serving no other purpose, and practical for operation in conjunction with through trains of the fastest speed. The first real dining car which Mr. ”

“ Two refinements of civilization will amuse the stranger; the first is a railway in miniature from kitchens to dining-rooms, by means of which the dishes are conveyed to the latter with the utmost possible dispatch. The temper indeed of these happy diners should be ineffably serene, considering that they can never be ruffled by soups or fish coming to table one degree less hot than the most epicurean palate could desire. ”

“ Not even in Europe had Billie seen such an interesting and varied collection of people in one dining room as she now saw in this remote and obscure little western inn. There was a group of young Englishmen who had bought a great cattle ranch and were on their way to inspect it. There was a party of men traveling West by motor car. ”

“ At two o’clock, a dish or two of hot game and a profusion of cold meats were set on the small tables in the dining room, and every body came in for a kind of lounging half-meal, which occupied perhaps an hour. Thence all adjourned to the drawing-room, under the windows of which were drawn up carriages of all descriptions, with grooms, outriders, footmen, and saddle horses for gentlemen and ladies. Parties were then made up for driving or riding, and from a pony-chaise to a phæton and four, there was no class of vehicle which was not at your disposal. ”

“ Not only for light, but that the summer breezes may sweep through it when the windows are open, and, as far as possible, keep a river of fresh air rollings between the cooking range and the dining-room. It is long and narrow, that it may have ample wall space and yet keep the distance between the engine and machine shop, that is, the range with its appurtenances, and the packing-room—I mean the butler's pantry—as short as possible. ”

“ When the evening of the tea comes, and the guests have all been introduced one to another, they may be ushered into the dining-room and the supper be served. The dining-table should be arranged in as old-fashioned a style as possible. At the four corners place candlesticks with wax candles, and for a centrepiece have a large bouquet of artificial bachelors' buttons. Use old-fashioned china and silver if you happen to have any. At each place put a few bachelors' buttons, to which attach a menu card by a narrow white taffeta ribbon. ”