You leave the Pennsylvania Station 'bout a quarter to four
Read a magazine and then you're in Baltimore
Dinner in the diner
Nothing could be finer
Than to have your ham an' eggs in Carolina*
I have never eaten in the dining car of a train and now it is too late. I regret that. Of course there are excursion trains that serve dinner on-board, but riding an excursion is not the same thing. No, it is not the same thing at all as riding the train with salesman going to the next city, husbands on their way home, families on vacation. The passengers may be lonely or bored, or excited to be going someplace new, or in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I imagine sitting at a table in the diner, surrounded by other travelers, alone with a cup of coffee and a piece of pie. People come and go and the world slips by the window. I'll be home in the morning, but not in time for breakfast.
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In 1932, the C&O inaugurated the George Washington as its flagship passenger train with service between Newport News, Virginia and Cincinnati, Ohio. Three dining cars built in 1922 were refurbished for the George Washington. Gadsby's Tavern is the only car that survived. The C&O Historical Society owns the car and has restored it to its original 1932 appearance
For a moment as I stood in the door of this old dining car, I could imagine what it might be like to eat dinner here with the sound of the rails beneath my feet. I expected a porter to come through the door on the other end of the car. But I was all alone and the car was still and silent, a ghost of railroading's past.
*Chattanooga Choo Choo - Mack Gordon/HarryWarren
I'll have apple pie with my coffee, thanks. I really like that interior shot Edd.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather worked for the NY Central and then the Penn Central and he use to get me on board and I made some nice trips with him back in the 50's and 60's.
ReplyDeleteDon, that's great--I am sure you cherish those memories.
ReplyDelete