Dining Cars: Eating in luxury and travelling at Speed

One such innovator was George Mortimer Pullman, an American engineer who designed luxury railway cars including the sleeping car and the dining car. The first dining car he personally designed was named ‘Delmonico’ and ran on the Chicago and Alton line. His designs were a vast improvement on the comfort of passenger rail travel.

The Pullman dining cars made their way across the pond on 1 November 1879, when the ‘Prince of Wales’ ran on the Great Northern Railway from Leeds to London. This was the first public dining car service in Britain and was exclusively for first-class passengers. It was a success from the beginning and the Wakefield Express described the first journey:

"Glasses were filled with wine and placed on the tables, and not a drop was spilled. Ordinary decanters and bottles betrayed no tendency to topple over into the laps of the guests, or plates to empty their contents on the carpet, and considering the unprecedented speed at which the train travelled the cars were remarkably steady, and there was an entire absence of the feeling of rapid travelling. The lunch passed over to the entire satisfaction of all."

The introduction of the dining car was embraced by the public as an opportunity to dine in comfort. Over the next 25 years railway companies across Britain began introducing their own dining cars for both first- and third-class passengers.

Dining cars came in varying designs and layouts reflecting the fashions of the time. The one below was made at the Wolverton Works for the West Coast Joint Stock for the Caledonian and London & North Western Railway Companies in 1900. It was for first-class passengers and won a gold medal for craftsmanship and finish at an exhibition in Paris. When it returned to Britain it was used as part of King Edward VII’s Royal Train. Despite its royal connections, the interiors were very typical for the period, with upholstered chairs, wooden panelling and tables laden with cloths and silverware.

By the 1920s up to 200 meals a day were served on a single dining car, this meant a lot of work for those working in the kitchen. The kitchens were small and the cooks and kitchen assistants had to prepare, cook and plate each dish within a tiny space whilst travelling at speed.

Many cooks were hired from ships due to the similar working conditions. Not only did they have to prepare a lot of food, but they were expected to make meals to a high standard. As the dining car became more popular, railway companies began opening kitchen depots at major stations, where a team of chefs and kitchen assistants would partially prepare some of the food for the journey.

By the late 1930s, dining cars were a well-established part of the passenger railway service. However, the Second World War brought a series of changes. Dining cars were withdrawn from the railways twice, first in 1939 and again in 1944 to be restored again in October 1945. Additionally, the introduction of rationing extended to crockery, cutlery and linen as well as food, reducing the quality of the dining car service.

As a result, when dining cars were reinstated in 1945 the food service was much simpler than what had previously been on offer. Instead of six-course meals, passengers were served no more than three, usually featuring meat pie, sausage or cod. As the railways were nationalised, one of the many problems they faced was restoring railway catering—regardless of their efforts, they rarely matched the expectations and memories of the dining car in its prime.