Passenger Trains > Breakfast, on the Rio Grande Zephyr...

From the dining car of the Rio Grande Zephyr in early 1983

Andy

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cant beat those prices...

Nor can the Scenery, Prayer, Selection  -- presented with the Hip Font...

I rode the Rio Grande Zephyr....Mr. Bernstein ran a class act, and the food was very good.

Leonard Bernstein is one of my biggest HEROES.
HE kept TOP-NOTCH onboard service going thru 1983 April on the RGZ.
This allowed me and my genration to sample the GLORY of real passenger train travel.
His Chicken Noodle soup was excellent-excellent--excellent.

---- Daniel

hazegray Wrote:
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> I rode the Rio Grande Zephyr....Mr. Bernstein ran
> a class act, and the food was very good.

Delighted in retrospect that my wife and I seized the opportunity to ride it westbound in 1982. 

Leonard Bernstein was a gentleman.
I am pleased to have known him.  We
corresponded for many years after he
retired and the stories he could tell.

goldcoast Wrote:
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> Leonard Bernstein was a gentleman.
> I am pleased to have known him.  We
> corresponded for many years after he
> retired and the stories he could tell.

So pleased to hear that he was a true gentleman.
Would you mind sharing some of the stories he told?
TIA!

I ride the RGZ twice and loved it.  I remember the
open-face BBQ beef sandwich -- absolutely delicious!

I wish they would bring back all the old name trains,
with new equipment that would be duplicates of the
old streamliners, which would run on their old routes.
(I know -- a lot tracks are gone or built on -- but I can
dream, can't I?)

There is nobody who rode the RGZ with any frequency who
didn't know Mr. Bernstein.  He was a true gentleman, who
rode the service and always mixed with the passengers.  Under his
"watch", the service on the RGZ remained a class operation all the
way to the last run.  We miss him.

I had Rio Grande French toast on my trip and it was excellent far better than anything Amtrak cooks for breakfast.


Chris

JimB, Mrs JimB and myself rode in late 1981, but I forget what we ate for breakfast! Although, I remember a Rainbow Trout, possibly for dinner. The RGZ was one of the more memorable railfan events of my life.

Tom Y

As others have stated, the RGZ was a class act right up to the end.  

Seeing the Rockies from those Budd-built domes was a treat that has been unmatched by any newer technology.  Superliner lounge cars just don't compare.  

I haven't ridden it, but the Rocky Mountaineer looks like it has some drawbacks with those high-backed seats.  They meet the safety standards but the forward viewing appears to be limited to looking into the back of the seat in front of you.      

And lastly, that prayer that is shown at the top of the RGZ menu is probably something you wouldn't see in this day-and-age.  

It might offend someone.  

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I rode it in 1981 when I was nearly four years old. I don't remeber everything but eating pancakes for breakfast while the cooks and waiters served us in white uniforms as the tunnel district went by the windows I will never forget.

Those were the days huh

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Railfan2 Wrote:
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> cant beat those prices...


So you're saying you'd willingly pay almost $9 for French toast today without complaining?...or nearly $7 for eggs and toast?...

...yes, $3.75 would be an awesome price for French toast in yhe diner on the CZ of today, but that's not what it equals out to when you adjust those 1983 prices with inflation.

$.75 for buttered toast?...that's about $1.80 today....you can buy a loaf of bread for $3 or less.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/15 08:33 by nhiwwrr.

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
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>
>
> And lastly, that prayer that is shown at the top
> of the RGZ menu is probably something you wouldn't
> see in this day-and-age.  
>
> It might offend someone.  



And that my friends is precisely why this country is going down the tubes.

I lived in Salt Lake in the late 70s and had to go to Denver for music engagements often so I used the RGZ many times and loved the diner. The train could be up to 12 cars in the peak summer seasons or as short as 5 or 6 in the off peak times, but the diner always ran and was good. The Amtrak Cal Zephyr has poor arrival times in Salt Lake so the day trip over the mountains is sometimes hurt especially in the winter if the train is late.

Phil Blommendahl
Getzville, NY

To each his own. I don't think the country is going down the tubes, and even if it is I don't think that would be the explanation.

Leonard Bernstein was a pleasure to know.  When I worked for the DRGW his office was 20 feet or so away and I always enjoyed visiting and chatting with him.

Agreed, and the prayer doesn't say anything about what we did to the American Indian.
ctillnc Wrote:
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> To each his own. I don't think the country is
> going down the tubes, and even if it is I don't
> think that would be the explanation.

While you don't have the full forward view on the Rocky Mountaineer
that the old CZ Budd domes had, it's still well worth riding.  The view
is still much better than you would see in a Superliner lounge!  And, the
food is top notch!

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
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> As others have stated, the RGZ was a class act
> right up to the end.  
>
> Seeing the Rockies from those Budd-built domes was
> a treat that has been unmatched by any newer
> technology.  Superliner lounge cars just don't
> compare.  
>
> I haven't ridden it, but the Rocky Mountaineer
> looks like it has some drawbacks with those
> high-backed seats.  They meet the safety
> standards but the forward viewing appears to be
> limited to looking into the back of the seat in
> front of you.      
>
> And lastly, that prayer that is shown at the top
> of the RGZ menu is probably something you wouldn't
> see in this day-and-age.  
>
> It might offend someone.