6 ms·

When railroad dining cars were the height of luxury

85 points by teleforce 2y ago

fsckboy 2y ago
"when wealthy people rode trains, they were accommodated"
- Freak_NL 2y ago
  Back then, sure. But last month a dining car was introduced by European Sleeper with completely normal prices on the Brussels–Prague sleeper train: https://www.europeansleeper.eu/dining-car https://www.europeansleeper.eu/dining-car The Orient Express is a fancy fantasy tour, like a high-end cruise; great for Poirot re-enactors. But Europe's network of sleeper trains is slowly expanding again, and now features at least one dining car service. The best part is that while not cheap, they are certainly affordable.
  - netsharc 2y ago
    The whole article feels like an ad for the relaunch of the Orient Express next year.
    - TRiG_Ireland 2y ago
      I've been on the actual Orient-Express (which was a modern Euronightlines train) before it was withdrawn. I travelled on my InterRail pass. It has nothing in common with the luxury train service branding itself Orient Express. https://www.seat61.com/history-of-the-orient-express.htm https://www.seat61.com/history-of-the-orient-express.htm
      - netsharc 2y ago
        Ah, true, as JWZ calls it, "brand necrophilia". Seeing that page again reminds me of my bucket list item of going from London to Instanbul by train (or trains, I guess). But it'd be funny because I would pass the city I currently live in.
        jhugo 2y ago
        > Instanbul We found Eric Adams’ HN account. And got a clue about where he really lives!
- crabbone 2y ago
  In Soviet Union... well, I'm not actually sure what were the rules for having a dining car on a train, but all trains I rode had one. And I was very poor. So poor I couldn't always afford a ticket. But, the system worked differently. There were "coupe" cars: the car is divided into small compartment for four people each. Each compartment has a door, a table the four have to share. Two double-decked beds. Upon request fitted with a hammock-like net that served as a crib. Then there were "platz-kart" cars: similar idea, but six people per compartment. No doors (you could see into compartments adjacent to yours). These also had "third floor" of beds (so, potentially could house nine people, but the top floor didn't have padding and was originally designed for luggage). Then there were "common" cars: these were usually the same as "platz-kart", but the third floor counted as a legitimate sitting place. Then, as times got worse, the "common" class of cars became more prevalent, and sometimes these would be repurposed short-distance train cars that didn't have any place to sleep at all (just chairs, like on a plain, or wooden benches). Any train had all kinds of cars, what was different was the proportion (as Soviet Union was headed towards its collapse, there were fewer and fewer "coupe" cars and more "common" ones). But, even in the worst times of the late 90's there still were dining cars. At some point train stuff stopped serving tea, which was the hallmark of any train travel: it came in special cups with heavy steel holders and with two bricks of sugar with the picture of train... In my last visit to the dining car, the only dish on the menu was pelmeni (Russian-style wantons) with vinegar (a more upscale version is served with sour-cream) and vodka for dessert... Even by the standards of the day it was sad. But, hey, they still had a dining car!
- dredmorbius 2y ago
  High-speed rail in Europe (TGV (France), ICE (Germany), AVE (Spain), Le Frecce (Italy), Eurostar (UK-FR-BE), Lyria, (FR-CH), Nightjet (AT-DE-CH), etc. are generally up-scale transport. Ticket prices are not exactly cheap. The ultra-wealthy might use private jets, but rail is fast enough for inter-city travel, generally less problematic than commercial flight, enables work en route, and tends to have better dining amenities aboard.
scrlk 2y ago
Great Western Railway in the UK still operates a Pullman dining car on select services between London Paddington and Plymouth or Swansea: https://www.gwr.com/travelling-with-us/pullman-dining https://www.gwr.com/travelling-with-us/pullman-dining
- TRiG_Ireland 2y ago
  There's also the Gerald of Wales service, now run by Transport for Wales. (GWR is no relation to the original company of the same name, by the way. It's a modern creation, named to capitalise on the positive associations of Brunel's memory.)
FuriouslyAdrift 2y ago
There are dining cars on Amtrack. Not the hight of luxury but not bad on a long trip... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTGywoIytSw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTGywoIytSw
- kylehotchkiss 2y ago
  I actually love the Amtrak dining cars and being forced to make new friends. The food sure beats the snack car.
  - stego-tech 2y ago
    Seconded. As an introvert who took a cross-country trip on Amtrak for fun in 2023 (BOS - LAX), I thought I’d hate having to share a small booth with total strangers. Turns out it gave me confidence in defending my positions to strangers, improved my small talk game, and exposed me to viewpoints I’d never consider otherwise. And the food was amazing, too. Way better than anything I’ve had on a plane or in an airport.
    - naberhausj 2y ago
      I find it odd that they force you to sit with other people. I walked into a nearly empty Empire Builder dining car and was still forced to sit with people. Why not ask for people's preferences? During that trip, the company at breakfast was a nightmare. I sat across from two very drunk young men who were traveling on there father's money. At one point they started a fight with our waiter. Thankfully, our dinner companions made up for it by being delightful. I completely agree about the quality of the food. For dinner I ate the steak, and it was quite good.
      - bombcar 2y ago
        If you make reservations in advance you can get seated alone (if it works out) - they usually sit smaller parties together so as to not have to breakup the parties of four, etc.
  - 2y ago
TacticalCoder 2y ago
Late 70s, early 80s in Europe we'd take the train for 1200 km (about 750 miles). First my parents and grandparents would drive their cars onto the train, then we'd go inside a cabin. There were 1st class and 2nd class cars/cabins. Then for dinner we'd go eat in the restaurant car. This wasn't a luxury thing that said: we had a Lada (btw shittiest car brand ever and the Lada Niva, the 4x4, is the shittiest, scariest, piece of turd of a 4x4 ever made: this thing will flip over at 12 mph in S-turn no question asked and if you think Lada made good cars you know jack shit about cars). OK, ok, now I digress: maybe it's because my parents had a Lada and it was an utter piece of junk that I now drive a high-end luxury car: surely a seven years long psychoanalysis would figure that one out. So yup, loading the Lada on the train and eating in the restaurant car. The people doing the same around that time were typical middle class (and I don't dispute TFA saying that before that it used to be the height of luxury).
- Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
  > if you think Lada made good cars you know jack shit about cars There are people that think Ladas are good cars? All it takes is watching Russian/Eastern Europe dash cam compilations to know that Lada cars are complete and utter garbage. Terrible handling and they absolutely shatter like glass in a crash. Crumple zones are great, but the entire car shouldn't be a crumple zone. I doubt they'd meet any USA safety standards.
jerven 2y ago
I must say when ever I have the chance I do really enjoy the Cff/sbb dining cars on the swiss network. A real sense of luxury to see the Alps go by drinking a ok coffee or decent beer in a nice environment. Feels nicer than bussiness class on a plane.
zokier 2y ago
Lot of transportation dining was luxurious at the first half of 20th century. Ocean liners were of course famous for their dinners, afaik zeppelins had at least decent food available, and airplane travel had some glamour too.
- PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
  Queen Mary 2, the only still-existing ocean liner, is still famous for its dinners and generally sense of luxury.
  - o11c 2y ago
    For the lazy: * An ocean liner provides transportation between a source and a destination. Historically they were often used to transport mail, thus RMS and variations (Royal Mail [Motor] Ship/Vessel; "Motor" was used when most ships were steamships. I can't find a canonical answer for "vessel" but examples tend to be small ships with short routes to islands, rather than going between continents). * A cruise ship runs around in a circle visiting tourist spots, and generally don't have to be built as strongly. Recent ocean liners operate as cruise ships for part of the year.
- joezydeco 2y ago
  If you watch aviation channels on YouTube, the middle eastern airlines keep trying to outdo themselves with private enclosed suites/apartments on long haul aircraft.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  I crossed the Atlantic on the SS United States when I was 4. I wish I remembered more of that trip!
- ilrwbwrkhv 2y ago
  Yup we reached peak civilization in the first half of the 20th century. It's all downhill from there.
- stephen_g 2y ago
Ichthypresbyter 2y ago
In my experience in Europe, dining cars seem to be more of a Central (and maybe also Eastern) European thing. Benelux doesn't have dining cars at all, and in France and Italy the best you can usually hope for is a cafe-car that will give you coffee or at most a microwaved snack to take back to your seat. On the other hand, the German, Swiss and Polish railways still have services with true dining cars where you can sit at a table, a waiter will take your order, then bring you a good-quality hot meal served on a real plate with real silverware (and at least in Poland, actually cooked to order on the train). Oddly, in some cases eating the dining-car food at your seat is seen as a more premium experience. On Swiss trains, only standard-class passengers need to use the dining car- a member of staff walks through the first class section taking food orders which are then brought to your seat. In my experience of Poland's flagship high-speed EIP services, there are no chairs in the restaurant car- you can either stand and eat at one of the small bar-type tables, or order your food to be brought to your seat.
- magnuspaaske 2y ago
  The food is still microwaved on the ICE and presumably in other countries too, but the presentation is fantastic. The experience of eating in a proper restaurant while seeing the landscape roll by is amazing and while not all services need a restaurant or can support one I don't expect restaurants to go away. More automation might mean more people can work on the presentation of the food while the kitchen can take up less space which should overall improve the economics of the onboard eating experience.
  - bobthepanda 2y ago
    Airplanes have the “serve luxurious food with no space or kitchen” down to a T. One interesting case is Japan where a full dining car is a rarity and you’re expected to buy station meals when you depart.
    - Aeolun 2y ago
      I think Japan Railways figured out that a car full of passengers is worth a lot more than a kitchen/restaurant for the other 11 cars.
silisili 2y ago
Today we have trains of nothing but luxury(ish) dining - I remember https://www.kydinnertrain.com/ https://www.kydinnertrain.com/ , I assume others exist? Though obviously not the same, as these are meant solely for dining and sight-seeing, not actual travel.
- dredmorbius 2y ago
  Napa Valley has its wine train: <https://www.winetrain.com/ https://www.winetrain.com/> There are others in Peru, India (Delhi to Agra), Venice, South Africa, Japan, Australia, and Scotland: <https://www.cntraveler.com/story/luxury-trains-with-the-best-dining-cars https://www.cntraveler.com/story/luxury-trains-with-the-best...>
dbcurtis 2y ago
In the USA the Great Northern continued to run its own commissaries even after most other railroads turned dining car operations over to the Pullman company. During the 1930’s, the Empire Builder famously would slow going over a particular bridge in western Montana so that the kitchen crew could “hoop up” a package of freshly caught trout. I find that factoid unreasonably charming.
o0-0o 2y ago
Continental in Quebec. Go there. Keep them in business. They have Steak Diane, and a bunch of other Continental classics cooked table side. Not to be missed. https://restaurantlecontinental.com/en/ https://restaurantlecontinental.com/en/ One of the best restaurants on the planet, and zero pretentiousness. ~_*
- newsclues 2y ago
  The food on VIA rail is still pretty good.
andai 2y ago
I read recently that there used to be three classes in trains (at least in the Netherlands) until the 1940s, when the nicest one was removed. That seems like a shame! Although, the worst one used to have no windows and steam blowing into the compartment, so I guess the situation has improved somewhat.
- Aeolun 2y ago
  To be fair, the difference of the remaining classes in the Netherlands is mostly density of people, there is no functional difference.
  - andai 2y ago
    They recently increased 1st class prices to reduce demand, because lack of crowding is the main selling point.
Jedd 2y ago
In 2013 we did the overnight train from Paris (~10pm) to Barcelona (~10am) - this was a recently revived option, and I think it only lasted a few years in operation - presumably the economics just weren't there, unfortunately. The 'mini-twin' option, that included a sophisticated dining experience - perhaps not quite as the 1883 experience described in TFA, but really good. We were escorted on board, shown our room, with two big comfy seats, politely encouraged to drop our bags and head down to the restaurant car, while they converted the room to sleep-mode. (Similar process, in reverse, in the morning.) Cost was £289.00 for two people - flights would have been a bit cheaper but a whole lot more bother, and as usual once you factor in transport + accom + food for that period, flights get even less compelling. Can recommend these more sedate options while travelling, but perhaps that's an increasingly rare luxury.
simonw 2y ago
Sacramento in California has a truly fantastic railway museum and one of the exhibits is an old dining car you can walk through where each table is set with branded crockery from a different historic American rail operator. Here are a couple of photos: https://gist.github.com/simonw/b077396a0c27b32312d2a18eebd492a4?permalink_comment_id=5234654#gistcomment-5234654 https://gist.github.com/simonw/b077396a0c27b32312d2a18eebd49...
- kyleee 2y ago
  Really awesome, thank you for sharing
wodenokoto 2y ago
After watching the old murder on the orient express I too was fascinated by the dining aspect and looked at what was available today to relive the experience the movie depicted (minus the murder, hopefully) The quoted price was in the 10s of thousands of euros for a week. Really puts it in to perspective how luxurious those things were.
debian3 2y ago
If anyone is interested, you can look up Rovos Rails. They have dining car like shown on the articles. Truly unique experience and even better for those of you who want to disconnect, as there is no cellphone service for most of the journey.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

85 points by teleforce 2y ago

fsckboy 2y ago

"when wealthy people rode trains, they were accommodated"

Freak_NL 2y ago
Back then, sure. But last month a dining car was introduced by European Sleeper with completely normal prices on the Brussels–Prague sleeper train: https://www.europeansleeper.eu/dining-car https://www.europeansleeper.eu/dining-car The Orient Express is a fancy fantasy tour, like a high-end cruise; great for Poirot re-enactors. But Europe's network of sleeper trains is slowly expanding again, and now features at least one dining car service. The best part is that while not cheap, they are certainly affordable.
- netsharc 2y ago
  The whole article feels like an ad for the relaunch of the Orient Express next year.
  - TRiG_Ireland 2y ago
    I've been on the actual Orient-Express (which was a modern Euronightlines train) before it was withdrawn. I travelled on my InterRail pass. It has nothing in common with the luxury train service branding itself Orient Express. https://www.seat61.com/history-of-the-orient-express.htm https://www.seat61.com/history-of-the-orient-express.htm
    - netsharc 2y ago
      Ah, true, as JWZ calls it, "brand necrophilia". Seeing that page again reminds me of my bucket list item of going from London to Instanbul by train (or trains, I guess). But it'd be funny because I would pass the city I currently live in.
      - jhugo 2y ago
        > Instanbul We found Eric Adams’ HN account. And got a clue about where he really lives!
crabbone 2y ago
In Soviet Union... well, I'm not actually sure what were the rules for having a dining car on a train, but all trains I rode had one. And I was very poor. So poor I couldn't always afford a ticket. But, the system worked differently. There were "coupe" cars: the car is divided into small compartment for four people each. Each compartment has a door, a table the four have to share. Two double-decked beds. Upon request fitted with a hammock-like net that served as a crib. Then there were "platz-kart" cars: similar idea, but six people per compartment. No doors (you could see into compartments adjacent to yours). These also had "third floor" of beds (so, potentially could house nine people, but the top floor didn't have padding and was originally designed for luggage). Then there were "common" cars: these were usually the same as "platz-kart", but the third floor counted as a legitimate sitting place. Then, as times got worse, the "common" class of cars became more prevalent, and sometimes these would be repurposed short-distance train cars that didn't have any place to sleep at all (just chairs, like on a plain, or wooden benches). Any train had all kinds of cars, what was different was the proportion (as Soviet Union was headed towards its collapse, there were fewer and fewer "coupe" cars and more "common" ones). But, even in the worst times of the late 90's there still were dining cars. At some point train stuff stopped serving tea, which was the hallmark of any train travel: it came in special cups with heavy steel holders and with two bricks of sugar with the picture of train... In my last visit to the dining car, the only dish on the menu was pelmeni (Russian-style wantons) with vinegar (a more upscale version is served with sour-cream) and vodka for dessert... Even by the standards of the day it was sad. But, hey, they still had a dining car!
dredmorbius 2y ago
High-speed rail in Europe (TGV (France), ICE (Germany), AVE (Spain), Le Frecce (Italy), Eurostar (UK-FR-BE), Lyria, (FR-CH), Nightjet (AT-DE-CH), etc. are generally up-scale transport. Ticket prices are not exactly cheap. The ultra-wealthy might use private jets, but rail is fast enough for inter-city travel, generally less problematic than commercial flight, enables work en route, and tends to have better dining amenities aboard.

scrlk 2y ago

Great Western Railway in the UK still operates a Pullman dining car on select services between London Paddington and Plymouth or Swansea: https://www.gwr.com/travelling-with-us/pullman-dining https://www.gwr.com/travelling-with-us/pullman-dining

TRiG_Ireland 2y ago
There's also the Gerald of Wales service, now run by Transport for Wales. (GWR is no relation to the original company of the same name, by the way. It's a modern creation, named to capitalise on the positive associations of Brunel's memory.)

FuriouslyAdrift 2y ago

There are dining cars on Amtrack. Not the hight of luxury but not bad on a long trip... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTGywoIytSw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTGywoIytSw

kylehotchkiss 2y ago
I actually love the Amtrak dining cars and being forced to make new friends. The food sure beats the snack car.
- stego-tech 2y ago
  Seconded. As an introvert who took a cross-country trip on Amtrak for fun in 2023 (BOS - LAX), I thought I’d hate having to share a small booth with total strangers. Turns out it gave me confidence in defending my positions to strangers, improved my small talk game, and exposed me to viewpoints I’d never consider otherwise. And the food was amazing, too. Way better than anything I’ve had on a plane or in an airport.
  - naberhausj 2y ago
    I find it odd that they force you to sit with other people. I walked into a nearly empty Empire Builder dining car and was still forced to sit with people. Why not ask for people's preferences? During that trip, the company at breakfast was a nightmare. I sat across from two very drunk young men who were traveling on there father's money. At one point they started a fight with our waiter. Thankfully, our dinner companions made up for it by being delightful. I completely agree about the quality of the food. For dinner I ate the steak, and it was quite good.
    - bombcar 2y ago
      If you make reservations in advance you can get seated alone (if it works out) - they usually sit smaller parties together so as to not have to breakup the parties of four, etc.
- 2y ago

TacticalCoder 2y ago

Late 70s, early 80s in Europe we'd take the train for 1200 km (about 750 miles). First my parents and grandparents would drive their cars onto the train, then we'd go inside a cabin. There were 1st class and 2nd class cars/cabins. Then for dinner we'd go eat in the restaurant car. This wasn't a luxury thing that said: we had a Lada (btw shittiest car brand ever and the Lada Niva, the 4x4, is the shittiest, scariest, piece of turd of a 4x4 ever made: this thing will flip over at 12 mph in S-turn no question asked and if you think Lada made good cars you know jack shit about cars). OK, ok, now I digress: maybe it's because my parents had a Lada and it was an utter piece of junk that I now drive a high-end luxury car: surely a seven years long psychoanalysis would figure that one out. So yup, loading the Lada on the train and eating in the restaurant car. The people doing the same around that time were typical middle class (and I don't dispute TFA saying that before that it used to be the height of luxury).

Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
> if you think Lada made good cars you know jack shit about cars There are people that think Ladas are good cars? All it takes is watching Russian/Eastern Europe dash cam compilations to know that Lada cars are complete and utter garbage. Terrible handling and they absolutely shatter like glass in a crash. Crumple zones are great, but the entire car shouldn't be a crumple zone. I doubt they'd meet any USA safety standards.

jerven 2y ago

I must say when ever I have the chance I do really enjoy the Cff/sbb dining cars on the swiss network. A real sense of luxury to see the Alps go by drinking a ok coffee or decent beer in a nice environment. Feels nicer than bussiness class on a plane.

zokier 2y ago

Lot of transportation dining was luxurious at the first half of 20th century. Ocean liners were of course famous for their dinners, afaik zeppelins had at least decent food available, and airplane travel had some glamour too.

PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
Queen Mary 2, the only still-existing ocean liner, is still famous for its dinners and generally sense of luxury.
- o11c 2y ago
  For the lazy: * An ocean liner provides transportation between a source and a destination. Historically they were often used to transport mail, thus RMS and variations (Royal Mail [Motor] Ship/Vessel; "Motor" was used when most ships were steamships. I can't find a canonical answer for "vessel" but examples tend to be small ships with short routes to islands, rather than going between continents). * A cruise ship runs around in a circle visiting tourist spots, and generally don't have to be built as strongly. Recent ocean liners operate as cruise ships for part of the year.
joezydeco 2y ago
If you watch aviation channels on YouTube, the middle eastern airlines keep trying to outdo themselves with private enclosed suites/apartments on long haul aircraft.
WalterBright 2y ago
I crossed the Atlantic on the SS United States when I was 4. I wish I remembered more of that trip!
ilrwbwrkhv 2y ago
Yup we reached peak civilization in the first half of the 20th century. It's all downhill from there.
stephen_g 2y ago

Ichthypresbyter 2y ago

In my experience in Europe, dining cars seem to be more of a Central (and maybe also Eastern) European thing. Benelux doesn't have dining cars at all, and in France and Italy the best you can usually hope for is a cafe-car that will give you coffee or at most a microwaved snack to take back to your seat. On the other hand, the German, Swiss and Polish railways still have services with true dining cars where you can sit at a table, a waiter will take your order, then bring you a good-quality hot meal served on a real plate with real silverware (and at least in Poland, actually cooked to order on the train). Oddly, in some cases eating the dining-car food at your seat is seen as a more premium experience. On Swiss trains, only standard-class passengers need to use the dining car- a member of staff walks through the first class section taking food orders which are then brought to your seat. In my experience of Poland's flagship high-speed EIP services, there are no chairs in the restaurant car- you can either stand and eat at one of the small bar-type tables, or order your food to be brought to your seat.

magnuspaaske 2y ago
The food is still microwaved on the ICE and presumably in other countries too, but the presentation is fantastic. The experience of eating in a proper restaurant while seeing the landscape roll by is amazing and while not all services need a restaurant or can support one I don't expect restaurants to go away. More automation might mean more people can work on the presentation of the food while the kitchen can take up less space which should overall improve the economics of the onboard eating experience.
- bobthepanda 2y ago
  Airplanes have the “serve luxurious food with no space or kitchen” down to a T. One interesting case is Japan where a full dining car is a rarity and you’re expected to buy station meals when you depart.
  - Aeolun 2y ago
    I think Japan Railways figured out that a car full of passengers is worth a lot more than a kitchen/restaurant for the other 11 cars.

silisili 2y ago

Today we have trains of nothing but luxury(ish) dining - I remember https://www.kydinnertrain.com/ https://www.kydinnertrain.com/ , I assume others exist? Though obviously not the same, as these are meant solely for dining and sight-seeing, not actual travel.

dredmorbius 2y ago
Napa Valley has its wine train: <https://www.winetrain.com/ https://www.winetrain.com/> There are others in Peru, India (Delhi to Agra), Venice, South Africa, Japan, Australia, and Scotland: <https://www.cntraveler.com/story/luxury-trains-with-the-best-dining-cars https://www.cntraveler.com/story/luxury-trains-with-the-best...>

dbcurtis 2y ago

In the USA the Great Northern continued to run its own commissaries even after most other railroads turned dining car operations over to the Pullman company. During the 1930’s, the Empire Builder famously would slow going over a particular bridge in western Montana so that the kitchen crew could “hoop up” a package of freshly caught trout. I find that factoid unreasonably charming.

o0-0o 2y ago

Continental in Quebec. Go there. Keep them in business. They have Steak Diane, and a bunch of other Continental classics cooked table side. Not to be missed. https://restaurantlecontinental.com/en/ https://restaurantlecontinental.com/en/ One of the best restaurants on the planet, and zero pretentiousness. ~_*

newsclues 2y ago
The food on VIA rail is still pretty good.

andai 2y ago

I read recently that there used to be three classes in trains (at least in the Netherlands) until the 1940s, when the nicest one was removed. That seems like a shame! Although, the worst one used to have no windows and steam blowing into the compartment, so I guess the situation has improved somewhat.

Aeolun 2y ago
To be fair, the difference of the remaining classes in the Netherlands is mostly density of people, there is no functional difference.
- andai 2y ago
  They recently increased 1st class prices to reduce demand, because lack of crowding is the main selling point.

Jedd 2y ago

In 2013 we did the overnight train from Paris (~10pm) to Barcelona (~10am) - this was a recently revived option, and I think it only lasted a few years in operation - presumably the economics just weren't there, unfortunately. The 'mini-twin' option, that included a sophisticated dining experience - perhaps not quite as the 1883 experience described in TFA, but really good. We were escorted on board, shown our room, with two big comfy seats, politely encouraged to drop our bags and head down to the restaurant car, while they converted the room to sleep-mode. (Similar process, in reverse, in the morning.) Cost was £289.00 for two people - flights would have been a bit cheaper but a whole lot more bother, and as usual once you factor in transport + accom + food for that period, flights get even less compelling. Can recommend these more sedate options while travelling, but perhaps that's an increasingly rare luxury.

simonw 2y ago

Sacramento in California has a truly fantastic railway museum and one of the exhibits is an old dining car you can walk through where each table is set with branded crockery from a different historic American rail operator. Here are a couple of photos: https://gist.github.com/simonw/b077396a0c27b32312d2a18eebd492a4?permalink_comment_id=5234654#gistcomment-5234654 https://gist.github.com/simonw/b077396a0c27b32312d2a18eebd49...

kyleee 2y ago
Really awesome, thank you for sharing

wodenokoto 2y ago

After watching the old murder on the orient express I too was fascinated by the dining aspect and looked at what was available today to relive the experience the movie depicted (minus the murder, hopefully) The quoted price was in the 10s of thousands of euros for a week. Really puts it in to perspective how luxurious those things were.

debian3 2y ago

If anyone is interested, you can look up Rovos Rails. They have dining car like shown on the articles. Truly unique experience and even better for those of you who want to disconnect, as there is no cellphone service for most of the journey.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]