Up North: My Birthday Dinner

Saturday, September 8, 2012

My Birthday Dinner

During our recent trip visiting with Karyl and Doug we went to the Union Pacific Museum in Council Bluffs. Great museum, among other things they had several reproductions of the interiors of passenger cars. One was the dining car, and on display were several menus. I commented that somewhere with all my train stuff were a number of dining car menus that my Dad had saved when he worked for Pullman.

So, on my birthday as we sat down for dinner I was pleasantly surprised to find one of those train menus next to my place setting. Macy had done some searching and found the menus. The meal was based on the daily special, highlighted on the first page of the menu below. It made the meal very special.

I need to get these menus on display, they are fascinating, and help describe an era of travel that is long gone. This menu was from the Union Pacific's City of Portland. The train ran from Chicago to Portland via Omaha, Cheyenne and Ogden, Utah. I couldn't find any indication of year on the menu, but I'm guessing early fifty's. By 1960 air travel would be taking over, and US passenger service would begin it's painful decline.