Customer Reviews

Dining By Rail: The History and Recipes of America's Golden Age of Railroad Cuisine

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Although my best friend called me a "weirdo" for reading this book, I'm glad I did.

"Railroad dining" may sound like arcane history, but there is a lot of information about general railroad history, design and maintenance in addition to the fascinating history of passenger service. George Pullman is now one of my heroes.

The recipes themselves are a fascinating look at what was "fancy" back in the early 1900's. Lots of game meat, fish, no vegetable or ethnic entrees. I'm not sure if I'll ever make anything out of this book, but some of them do look good.

If you're a railfan or a foodie (or both, like me), get this book. Very well researched and written.

To those who travel by plane today "food service" is the stuff of jokes. If you love food and travel pick up this book. The railroad dining car was the best place to eat in town - whatever town it happened to be in at that moment!

You will find the recipes easy to use and interesting to explore. There are multiple recipes for French Toast - our family has come to use the Santa Fe recipe often.

The book "Dining by Rail" was purchased at the urging of a ten-year old son who is a rabid railfan. The book not only has a treasure trove of the most famous recipes from all the different rail lines, but it features a marvelous history of railroads from the point of view of the customer, the cooks, and others whose job it was to provide customer service. One also learns how the menus on the trains reflected the relations with the most important commercial customers of the railroad, an aspect nostalgic railfans don't always think about.

The book is well written and carefully researched. The pictures are evocative, and the recipes very easy to follow and recreate.

Altogether, this book is providing my son and me with a interesting and tasty railroad education!

Here's what I said having bought the book from Amazon UK and had it sent to me in Australia....

Firstly, this ignores as do many American books the rest of the world and makes of course no claim to do otherwise. This is its only flaw really; otherwise it covers the subject in unbelievable detail.

Second, it's two books in one, with history more or less chronologically presented in the first half and with recipes and some information boxes in the second.

Third, Porterfield trawled 7500 recipes to select 350 (I think it is) and lists them by Railroad and indexes them by type & Railroad. He has also selected recipes that are more akin to current food trends (i.e. leaving out those running in rivers of fat and oil or excessively heavy, I also suspect he has tried to keep the complexity down).
He claims to have tried everything included and the 1 or 2, I have tried or modified and tried have been workable - i.e. they work like Delia Smith's do! I have made Strawberry & Rhubarb Pie, though with bought pastry or as a turnover/crumble and followed some of the recipe for Roast Turkey (substituting a corn fed chicken as its only September) but omitted the rice stuffing as we tend to eat rice with our mains for convenience. The Railroads potato recipes are interesting though we seldom eat potatoes so haven't tried them yet but the idea of 2 different types, one used to stuff another is indicative of the care even baked potatoes got from the Railroad. There are several French Toast recipes as it seems it was a breakfast favourite on most lines.

Fourth, as you read the first half you'll wonder into the second half and want to cook something or at least get a snack so this is a warning to you!

Fifth, lovely jacket with the railroad logos in raised shiny white...

Definitely a book to love, treasure, read and then make things from.

Note: it says nearly 400 pages but I was surprised by the larger than pocket book size and it is full not only of text but excellent B&W drawings and illustrations and...I just went wow when I took it out of the mailer - its mind blowing value and detail and if you have any interest in food and/or Railways you really should have this one!

NOTE: all measures in American though cups are used frequently and temperature conversions are easily found on the web these days. Not yet spotted any cilantro (coriander) but there may be a need to understand the difference between spring onions & scallions & small onions but the example I glimpsed made it obvious it was English style spring onions.

Enjoy - I am going to contemplate what the Railroads did and maybe try it out with our discount Porterhouse steak from the supermarket for dinner tonight! That's as fresh as I can get most days!

Whilst my mind pined for Brown Windsor soup, the staple of British Rail in the 60's, which I remember from a trip to Edinburgh from London at the age of 19, I can make that and the roast that followed without help, it wasn't bad on BR either as I recall! I have tried German and Swiss Railway cars food but none have come anywhere near what you could recreate from this book if you have time, the mind and the stomach for...can't remember when I last had 3 courses, oh yes I can, on holiday in the States last year, naturally!

Great book! Wonderful back story of an era mostly gone. Recipes are particularly interesting and became the theme for a wonderful party. Research done by the author is staggering. Bravo!

I have to admit, although an avid railroad history fan I don't buy many books. When I saw the title of ths book, it was love at first sight. After a quick read of the TOC, I ordered at once. What a great journey into the most pleasurable aspect of railroad history, the dining car. I admire the great detail and research which went into this book. I read it in two sittings and was sadden to reach the end. But the second half of the book give you a second chance to go back in time again by preparing those wonderful recipies. Highly recommended.

Really a fun book to have for the railroader with someone who loves to cook. Tons of fine recipies from railroads all over the country. SOME EXPERIENCE REQUIRED! I tried my hand at a dish, but it didn't turn out right despite following directions to the letter. Recently, Mom and I were successful. Her years of cooking experience handed down from Grandma paid off, because she noticed a missing step. Some basic preparation steps are left out becuase by the time a cook was assigned to the diner, he didn't need to see everything on paper. Since then, Mom and I have enjoyed many more weekend cooking classes with the dining car cookbook. Although many projects have turned out well, I'll always recall our first as my personal favorite: Western Pacific Rice Cream Pie. Good times!

My husband used to travel on the trains often and his favorite was the French Toast. Bought the book and there was the recipe, tried it but not as good as he remembered. Still the book has great recipes and the history is wonderful. Would recommend the book to anyone that loves trains

I thought the book was well done. As a kid we took the train back and forth from North Dakota to Calif. I remember some of the best meals riding on the rails.

I bought this for my brothers retirement party. He's a life long railroad fan and history buff. Thought this would be a great combination for a person with more time on their hands to cook. Looked very interesting.