1909 California Limited Dinner Menu

Posted on April 28, 2025 by Train LoverMarch 25, 2025

After signing its 1896 contract with Fred Harvey, Santa Fe was free to run dining cars west of the Mississippi so long as Harvey operated them. In 1909, when this menu was issued, Santa Fe operated three daily trains to California, but only one of them, the California Limited, had dining cars west of the Mississippi. A secondary train called the Los Angeles Express westbound and Atlantic Express eastbound had Harvey-operated dining cars east of the Mississippi serving evening meals between Marceline and Kansas City, but further west the train depended on stops at Harvey Houses.

Click image to download a 465-KB PDF of this menu from the New York Public Library.

Today’s menu doesn’t say what meal it was for but one of the main courses is prime ribs of beef, suggesting it was for dinner. If I read the menu correctly, this is the “joint” course. Those who didn’t want prime ribs for this course could instead choose roast squab or tomato princesse, which I believe was a casserole served with potatoes and other vegetables. Continue reading →

The Fred Harvey Handshake Myth

Posted on April 27, 2025 by Train LoverMarch 25, 2025

There’s a popular myth that Fred Harvey and Santa Fe worked together for nearly a century based only on a handshake. In fact, that was true for just 13 years. In 1876, Santa Fe superintendent Charles Morse agreed to let Harvey run a lunchroom in the railroad’s Topeka station, with the railroad providing the space and paying for utilities and Harvey paying for the labor, food, and supplies. That handshake agreement was soon extended to restaurants in dozens of other Santa Fe stations.

Click image to download a 235-KB PDF of this menu.

In 1889, however, Harvey and Santa Fe president William Barstow Strong signed a contract giving Harvey an effective monopoly on food services in Santa Fe stations west of the Mississippi for five years. Strong had built the Santa Fe from a regional carrier that extended only from Kansas City to La Junta, Colorado to the nation’s largest railway with lines from Chicago to Los Angeles and Oakland. In doing so, however, he had put the railroad deeply in debt, and the board of directors forced him to resign just a few months after he signed the contract with Harvey. Continue reading →

Rock Island Beverage Menu

Posted on April 26, 2025 by Train LoverMarch 25, 2025

In 1965, when this menu was issued, Rock Island was still operating the Golden State, an unnamed train formerly known as the Memphis-Californian, the Rocky Mountain Rocket and various other rocket trains, and a few others. This nondescript beverage menu could have been used on any of them.

Click image to download a 949-KB PDF of this menu, which is from the collection of the Texas Compound collection.

In addition to wines, liquors, cocktails, beers, and other beverages, the menu offers “Rock Island-Golden State souvenir Roly Poly cocktail glasses” for 50¢ each or boxed set of six for $3 (see below). Despite this, I suspect that one train this menu was probably not used on was the Golden State, as that train would have deserved its own menu cover. Continue reading →

The Golden State Route in 1927

Posted on April 25, 2025 by Train LoverMarch 25, 2025

We previously seen an elegant booklet describing the “de luxe Golden State Limited” that was dated October 1927. This one, which is dated July 1927, is printed on glossy but still lower-grade paper than the October booklet and supposedly describes the route rather than the train.

Click image to download a 8.9-MB PDF of this 16-page booklet.

However, the first five pages of the book are mainly about the train, including a full-page illustration of the interior of the observation lounge and photos of the club car, diner, and other on-board amenities. “Varied menus,” the booklet says of the diner. “Delicious food. Real Irish linen, polished silver and sparkling glassware.” Continue reading →

Seventy Years of Rock Island Service

Posted on April 24, 2025 by Train LoverMarch 25, 2025

When the Rock Island Railroad went bankrupt in 1915, some blamed it on the railroad’s too-rapid expansion in the early part of the 20th century. Others more ominously said that this expansion was merely a way for robber barons to cover up their looting of the company, and they pointed out that it was suspicious that Henry Mudge, the railroad’s president whose policies helped lead it into bankruptcy, was named one of railroad’s receivers to lead it out of bankruptcy.

Click image to download a 29.5-MB PDF of this 52-page book.

A syndicate of four “wheeler-dealers” had taken control of the Rock Island in 1901. Once in charge, they watered the stock (issued more stock than the railroad was really worth) in order to raise funds to buy more railroads. Eventually, they gained control of the Frisco, Chicago & Eastern Illinois, and several smaller roads. In doing so, they increased the Rock Island’s debt from $67 million in 1901 to $288 million in 1914. Continue reading →

Close to the Terrestrial Paradise

Posted on April 23, 2025 by Train LoverMarch 25, 2025

A quote opposite the title page of this booklet notes that a fictional story written in 1510 referred to a mythical island called California that was “very close to the side of the Terrestrial Paradise.” Certainly, there were many things about the state that would make people think it was a paradise, but I’m not sure this booklet really conveys that.

Click image to download an 15.4-MB PDF of this 76-page booklet.

“California says to the east,” this booklet opens, “‘Not to know me argues yourself unknown.’ And this is true.” Who writes like that? More important, who wants to read a booklet that is written like this? Apparently, Rock Island marketers thought potential travelers in 1908 would. Continue reading →

Rail Passenger Traffic in the West

Posted on April 22, 2025 by Train LoverMarch 25, 2025

Southern Pacific hired the Stanford Research Institute to do this study of passenger service in about 1966. The book is undated but includes data from 1965 so was done after that year. It doesn’t mention the Post Office’s cancellation of railroad mail contracts, which took place in September 1967, so it was done before that date. I’ve dated it 1966 but it could be from early 1967.

Click image to download a 24.1-MB PDF of this 72-page book.

This report looks at ridership trends on all major western railroads as well as ridership, fares, and frequencies of rail, bus, and air service along the major routes served by the Southern Pacific: Los Angeles-San Francisco, Los Angeles-New Orleans, Los Angeles-Chicago, and Chicago-San Francisco. The report suggests that different railroads have selected one of three approaches to ridership declines: some have spent large amounts of money trying to maintain passenger numbers; others have tried to reduce costs and deficits; and others have taken a “middle-road” approach of trying to reduce deficits while still maintaining lots of passenger service. Continue reading →

Eastbound Golden State Route Guide

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Train LoverMarch 25, 2025

Carlsbad Caverns are featured in full-page photographs on both the front cover and the inside back cover of this 1946 route guide, suggesting that SP thought the caverns were the highlight of any trip on the Golden State Limited. I’ve previously noted that the caverns’ main attraction at one time was that they were cool even in the summer. By 1946 SP trains were mostly air conditioned, so the caverns were probably losing popularity.

Click image to download an 5.0-MB PDF of this 8-page booklet.

Instead of cool temperatures in the summer, most Golden State passengers were probably seeking warm temperatures in the winter. Five of the eight pages of this booklet feature Phoenix, Tucson, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, and San Diego, all great winter destinations for cold Midwest residents. Few such travelers would be interested in visiting a frigid cave in the middle of winter. Continue reading →

The Golden Gate Expo in 1940

Posted on April 20, 2025 by Train LoverApril 20, 2025

Most world’s fairs lose money, but apparently the Golden Gate Expo’s losses were so bad that the fair closed early in 1939. Then the organizers decided to try to recoup some of their losses by opening what Wikipedia calls a “partially revamped fair” in 1940. They only got about half as many paid visitors in 1940, but the attendance fees were about three times the operating costs so the rest helped pay for the buildings that were already there. More important to Southern Pacific, it was a bonanza for the railroads bringing tourists into the Bay Area.

Click image to download a 22.4-MB PDF of this 24-page booklet from the David Rumsey Map Collection.

This is emphasized by the rather uninspiring front cover of this booklet, which encourages people to “Go by Train” to the fair. Such an exhortation would not have been needed a decade or so before when cross-country driving and flying were but dream. The photo on the cover shows the expo on Treasure Island as a bunch of low-lying buildings with one skyscraper, the Tower of the Sun, at the center. Continue reading →

Southern Pacific Oriental Towers Menu

Posted on April 19, 2025 by Train LoverApril 19, 2025

We’ve already seen a 1939 breakfast menu featuring the Oriental Tower from the Golden Gate International Exposition. But the photo on that menu appears to have been taken at night while this was is in daylight and is far more colorful. We’ve also seen (on the same page as the nighttime menu) today’s image on a postcard-sized menu. This is a full menu though, like the nighttime menu, it was used on a tour and thus is unpriced.

Click image to download a 460-KB PDF of this menu.

The expo was held in both 1939 and 1940. Both menus use a typeface for the word “Breakfast” (and in today’s menu for “Banner Tours of the West”) that is known as Giulio. While a typeface designer named Giulio da Milano was active in the 1930s, I haven’t found any information associating him with this particular typeface. Continue reading →