Traveling by train was pretty swanky from the early 20th century, and it hasn’t gone out of style. Still, the lavish furnishings and fine dining of the past hold a special place in the railroad's rich history. Here’s what train travel looked like in the good old days.
|
Two female passengers eating a meal in a London & North Western Railway dining car, 1905. |
LNWR dining car on an American boat train, 1908. |
Interior of a luxury dining car, 1910. |
A first-class dining car on the Britain’s Great Eastern Railway—also known as GER, as shown on the embroidered seat cover, 1912. |
The observation and lounge car on Northern Pacific's transcontinental U.S. railroad line, 1926. |
Gentlemen relax in leather armchairs on the Royal Scot, a train on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, 1928. |
The luxurious first class lounge on board a London Midland and Scottish Royal Scot train, 1928. |
Two elegant ladies and waiters in a train dining car, Germany, 1929. |
Rail passengers listening to the radio through personal headphones in the dining car of a train, 1930. |
Passengers listen to a radio gramophone on a LNER train carriage in 1930. |
Passengers listen to the wireless on board a train on the Canadian Pacific Railway, September 1930. |
Family enjoying Christmas dinner in the Flying Scotsman restaurant car, 1931. |
Midland And Scottish Railway train restaurant, 1932. |
Passengers have lunch on North Coast Limited’s restaurant car, 1934. |
The interior of a carriage, circa 1934. |
“Mitropa” dining-car, Germany, 1935. |
Passengers dine in the Art Deco-style car of the New York Central Railroad’s Mercury train, 1936. |
Passengers in a first-class railway carriage smoking compartment, 1936. |
Children enjoying a festive party in an LMS dining car while traveling home for Christmas, 1938. |
Passengers play cards in a Great Western Railway (GWR) dining car, 1938. |
Cleaners at work in the luxurious coach ‘Minerva’ in 1938. |
A corridor buffet car built for the new electric main line from London to Bognor Regis, Chichester and Littlehampton districts on show at Waterloo station, London in 1938. |
Waiters bringing food to passengers in the dining car of a Canadian Pacific Railway train during a three day journey across the country, 1939. |
Interior view of a crowded restaurant car, 1940. |
Interior view of a restaurant car, 1945. |
Diners in the restaurant car on a GWR (Great Western Railway) oil-fired locomotive, 1946. |
Passengers in a BEA Vickers Viking while away the time with a game of cards, 1947. |
Interior of Jolly Tar, the first of the new British Railway Tavern cars at Waterloo Station, London, May 25, 1949. |
A new British Railways restaurant car at Waterloo Station in London in 1949. |
Passengers in the dining car on a Rio Grande streamliner train, early 1950s. |
Crowded dining car aboard the Simplon Orient Express train, 1950. |
A man uses a typewriter while riding the Venice-Simplon Orient Express, 1950. |
Passengers in a first class dining saloon in 1951. |
British Rail stewards serve drinks in a first-class dining car, 1951. |
Veronica Balfe (wife of actor Gary Cooper) has a cocktail on the Super Chief railroad, 1951. The train was a favorite of celebrities traveling between Chicago and Los Angeles. |
Passengers on the Pennsylvania Railroad restaurant car, 1952. |
|
French actor, director and mime Jacques Taty examines the dining car train, September 1958. |
|
A new restaurant car was launched on the Paris-Lille railway in France, 1959. |