Trains in the 50's?

Question

i'm writing a story for english and when your on the trains of today there are usually train attendants walking up the isle asking for refreshments and drinks. Do you think or do you know if trains in the 50's had those? or was it just a regular train with no refreshments available? lol this is a weird question but yeah.. thanks!

Answer 1

In the USA in the 1950s, long running intercity trains had dining cars that served food at certain hours, and lounge cars, where you could go to buy a snack at any time.

There were conductors on all trains, and also porters on sleeper trains.  They could tell you how to get what you wanted, but were not generally involved in on-board food service.

If you were sick or for some other reason did not want to leave your room, you could ask a porter to bring you a meal from the dining car or a snack from the lounge.  They expected to be tipped well for that sort of thing.

On shorter-running trains that did not offer dining car or lounge service, you would encounter the "news butch," a young boy from the local town who would jump on the train when it stopped in a town, and walk up and down the aisles selling cigarettes, cigars, sodas, snacks (the mainstay was Crackerjack) and in some cases sandwiches, and newspapers.  They tended to be big, mean 12 year olds with an attitude.

As a young girl, I remember being sexually harassed a couple of times by "news butches."  They were the lowest form of life among their peers, and had to do what they could to feel like "regular guys."

That was what we call the "good old days."

So there were people selling refreshments in the aisles, but only on local/regional trains, and only at station stops.

Answer 2

yes, the answers above are all correct.  there is no one answer tho'.  in the 50's in USA and Canada, passenger trains were run by many various private companies, so some companies had different services than others.  

you didnt say what country you are in right now.  amtrak relies on diners and lounge cars that passengers get up and go to for food, except for a few trains on the chicago-milwaukee route that have the galley cart.  via rail canada corridor trains use attendents exclusively for food service and have no lounge or diner at all, but via's long distance trains to halifax and vancouver are more traditional with the diner/lounge services.

or if you are somewhere else like UK or europe, then this is a whole different question.

for your paper, narrow it down, maybe to the services on one city-pair (montreal-toronto, chicago-denver) where you can compare/contrast just those companies that served that market, or you may want to choose one company (Canadian National, Union Pacific) and talk about the different types of services they offered.  

people have written whole BOOKS about train food services, so you need to narrow it down and be more specific, and ask more questions here.  chances are, there are some people that will know and be able to help you more.

and remember, different trains even by the same company could have different services and standards.  long-distance 1st class trains like NYC's 20th Century Limited were different than the western streamliners like the California Zephyr, and those were different than all the myriad other types of trains, equipment, daytime/nighttime operations, long-distance vs commuter or regional, and so on.  and yes, some trains didnt have any refreshment services at all.

Answer 3

Train travel in 50s was great and exciting. Made many trips from Arkansas to Detroit, Denver, Chicago, Washington DC etc. Attendants did come through with 20 gallon coffee jug, cardboard cups, cream etc. It was the best coffee I have ever tasted.  Fresh prepared ham sandwiches-and cookies. They served between meals being served in the diner. Do not have these seat servers on todays trains.  Lounge cars have replaced this on Amtrak trains---Also, at certain station stops, there would be a vendor outside the train who would sell hot-tamales-cold drinks, cigs, etc while the train was loading and unloading mail. Sometimes, they would let them walk through the coach, but they had to hurry. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Jane-

Rango is actually a wealth of information.  Another respondant to this query might be Skidderback and Andy F, all of whom are or were engineers.  

In the days of rail, the passenger services were second to none.  As Rango told you, the food and the accomodations rivaled that of the most posh Executive First Class accomodations on todays aircraft.

I know this because my train club restores this classic equipment.  One of the cars we are currently working on is the Articulated Diner "Cascades" from the Shasta Daylight, (Southern Pacific Daylight).  Yes pulled by #4449 in its heyday.

Everything from etched and beveled glass, to plush carpet, with velour lounge chairs, complete solid oak bar, and tables, polished brass fixtures at every place in this car.  

Every company had their premier Passenger Liner.  Names like the Santa Fe Super Chief, The Hiawatha, Wabash Cannonball, Southern Pacific Coast Daylight, Shasta Daylight, The Orange Blossom Special, The Empire Builder, Western Pacific's California Zephyr and many more.

These were all premier Passenger Trains of their day.  For the record, the names were so recognized and popular Amtrak as adopted many of their names for their own premier runs.

Have a good look and enjoy the history of these great trains!

Answer 5

Rango is right, actually, not a smart a s s.  Remember, this is the 50's, and airlines were just barely getting started.  Trains were used less than in the 30's, but were still a very common way to get around.

Just think, back in the '20s and '30s, cross-country roads were terrible and there weren't many of them.  Airlines didn't really exist (hardly), so trains were THE way to get around.  It took days to get across the country, so if you wanted to take a trip from NY to LA, the train had to be set up like a hotel.  They were pretty swanky too.  Dining cars with chefs, and cars with staterooms, were the norm.  Of course, if you weren't rich and famous, there were more basic sleeping cars and cafeteria cars, but it was common for very rich people to have their very own rail cars that would attach to any train.

During the 50's, new modern highways were built and automobiles were much faster and better.  Planes were getting bigger thanks to the advances in aviation during WW II so people had more choices for transport.  So, trains began to advertise that trains were the way to go if you wanted a real adventure, like a cruise ship of today, and the railroads got really fancy.  

However, planes took away the long distance travel business away from trains, and trucks took away a lot of cargo hauling, so these days trains are no-frills ways to go to compete with planes and buses.

Answer 6

Cross country train service in the 1950s in the U.S. was second to none.

Railroads were very competitive, they had chefs onboard cooking truly gourmet meals and there were snacks available all day and night.

Most cross country trains also had a lounge car where you could enjoy a drink, usually in a glass domed car and enjoy the scenery.

The train staff, called stewards and mostly male wore white uniforms, had a great degree of pride in their jobs and it was a very prestiguous job.

There was a tremendous amount of pride in American passenger trains and intense competition.

There were truly the golden days of American passenger travel.

Answer 7

I guess it depends where in the world you lived.

I live in Australia and if we get on a regular commuter train from Newcastle to Sydney, for example (approx 3 hours) there are no refreshment carts and the only people who walk through occasionally are ticket inspectors.

We went to Melbourne a few years ago by train (12hours) on the XPT, there were no people walking through, but this train had a restaraunt  carriage, which had a bar, snack section and section that sold meals.

In 50's steam trains in Australia, I imagine the same thing happened. I have been on carriages from the 50's and 60's and I have also watched movies from that time and there is no one walking around selling drinks or chips.

Answer 8

British trains of the 1950s had, depending on the length of journey, a buffet car or a restaurant car. The buffet car had seating at one end, a bar at the other and sold drinks and light snacks.

The restaurant car had seats and tables, was coupled to a kitchen car and sold meals, usually 3 course i.e. soup, main course and sweet or coffee, cheese and biscuits, etc.

For those who wanted pure luxury there were, on selected principal trains, Pullman cars each with its own attendant. They cost more to travel in and the bonus was you got your meal served where you sat, instead of having to move down the train to the restaurant car like ordinary mortals.

Of course these only applied to the principal expresses and for most people, there was no catering on the train, only what you could grab at the station buffet.