Canadian Railroads > dining aboard

I am writing a chapter in a book tentatively titled "Meals on the Move:  Dining on the Legendary Railways of the World."  My chapter will be on the trans-continental passenger service, beginning with CPR until present, Via Rail.

​I would be very interested in images to do with station buffets, dining on the rails (throughout history), dining cars, provisioning, food for train staff, feeding the troops (during two world wars), etc.  I am also very interested diaries, food mentioned by passengers, letters, travel journals, recipes, etc.

​This book (from Reaktion Books, UK) is primarily about food.



Judy
Delta, BC

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I presume you realize that Canadian National Railways also ran transcontinental passenger trains, restaurants and hotels in Canada.  This is a huge topic in a country the size of Canada.  Do you feel you can do it justice in a chapter?

You might start by acquiring a copy of the book of Canadian railway recipes from Exporail.  Exporail, The Canadian Railway Museum, recently had an exhibit about railway dining in Canada.  A trip to Montreal would seem to be a prerequisite.

KG



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/16 10:42 by kgmontreal.

Thank you for your reply.  Yes, I have been to St. Constant, in late June.  Yes, I have recently completed the ViaRail trip, leaving Toronto on June 28, "mimicking" the June 28, 1886 first journey of the Pacific Express, arriving at Port Moody, BC July 4 (I also arrived July 4 but spent two days stop-over enroute in Winnipeg).  And, yes, I am fully aware of the former Supercontinental run by CN, which I have travelled cross-country on many times, dating from the early 1970s. 

​The book is a compilation of nine legendary railways--among them, Orient Express, Blue Train, Santa Fe Chief, Ghat, Trans-Siberian, etc.--and I am doing the chapter on Canadian trans-continental journeys.

​Unfortunately, Exporail will only allow me to reproduce two recipes and two archival images from their book, which is an excellent one, so I am scurrying about, under some time restraints, to find subsitute images. 

​Judy

Like some US railroads, CP provided "lunch counters" at locations where passenger trains were serviced.  Somewhat like Santa Fe and the Harvey House hotels and restaurants along the transcontinental railway, CP had a series of "houses" on their route through the mountains which were both trackside restaurants and hotels. Early CP transconinental passenger trains didn't include diners.

​Trackside hotels west of Calgary were the "Mount Stephen House" at Field BC, "Glacier House" at Glacier BC, the " Sicamous Hotel" at Sicamous BC and "Fraser Canyon House" at North Bend BC.

​The Banff Springs Hotel and the Chateau Lake Louise are both some distance from the tracks.

​The "Houses" had long careers, except for Glacier House.  Mount Stephen House became a Railroad YMCA which lasted until the 1960's.

Glacier House was on the original route over Rogers Pass, and suffered a great loss of patronage when the Connaught tunnel was built. It lasted until 1933 when it was demolished. Oddly, parts of it survived for many years, as doors and windows and other fittings, plus crockery and furniture were given away to the workers that demolished the buildings. A very elderly neighbour showed me a fancy interior door he had removed and placed in his house.

The Sicamous Hotel was both a station and a hotel on Shuswap Lake and it lasted until the late 1950's.

The Fraser Canyon house , at North Bend in the Fraser Canyon survived into the 1970's as a crew resthouse.

CP's original terminus was Port Moody BC, but very shortly the line was extended to Vancouver. In the 1900's, CP built a Chateau style station and hotel next to the tracks on the waterfront, which was replaced by the current station by about 1920.