In the good old days, a standard 48 seat diner had a full crew consisting of a steward, up to six waiters, a head chef, up to 4 assistants.
They cooked on stoves fueled by presto-logs or propane, did not use any paper products including knapkins, and turned out food that was probably as good or better than available in the smaller cities the train stopped at. Folks dressed for dinner (well even for just traveling back then).
Each road would have a unique menu with specialty favorite.
I used to travel on some train trips just for the purpose of having dinner in the diner. I remember one trip on The Broadway Limited out of New York around 1970. They still had a full Pennsy twin-unit diner at the time, with its neat table lamps allowing the ceiling lights to be dimmed for a nice dining atmosphere. Of making the Newark station stop and seeing home-bound commuters waiting on the platform, enviously peering in the windows. At the end of the meal, the waiter brought a basket of apples to select from. My friend thanked him, then said to me, "I remember riding this diner when even the pats of butter had keystones molded into them". On hearing this, the waiter broke into a wide grin, and said "Have another apple!"
They cooked on stoves fueled by presto-logs or propane, did not use any paper products including knapkins, and turned out food that was probably as good or better than available in the smaller cities the train stopped at. Folks dressed for dinner (well even for just traveling back then).
Each road would have a unique menu with specialty favorite.
I used to travel on some train trips just for the purpose of having dinner in the diner. I remember one trip on The Broadway Limited out of New York around 1970. They still had a full Pennsy twin-unit diner at the time, with its neat table lamps allowing the ceiling lights to be dimmed for a nice dining atmosphere. Of making the Newark station stop and seeing home-bound commuters waiting on the platform, enviously peering in the windows. At the end of the meal, the waiter brought a basket of apples to select from. My friend thanked him, then said to me, "I remember riding this diner when even the pats of butter had keystones molded into them". On hearing this, the waiter broke into a wide grin, and said "Have another apple!"
