Since my husband was a career railroad man, all things train have always had a soft place in our hearts. My fascination lay with the passenger train and the dining cars that were so much a part of the traveling experience. Indeed, the journey itself was as important as the destination.
The golden age of train travel belongs to the late 1800s and early 1900s when industrialism was booming, and trains were more than just a means of hauling freight all over the country. With both coasts accessible by rail, they symbolized progress and connected people like never before, providing adventure, convenience, and a little luxurious pampering, too.
But for the purpose of this blog, I’ll focus on the silver age of train travel, the period from the late forties into the seventies. By then, automobiles were becoming mainstays in households across the country. Buses and planes, along with an intricate expansion of interstate highways, all contributed to the decline of train travel.
Yet for those who needed to travel by rail, or just plain wanted to, beautiful streamliners like the famous California Zephyr roared onto the scene, and passengers fell in love with their speed, comfort, and sleek stainless steel look.
The railroads spared no expense to give their customers an experience they
wouldn’t get at home, providing them fine meals served on cloth-covered tables with china designed as unique as the railroads themselves, in an atmosphere professionally styled by interior designers.
Diners were called to their seating by waiters strolling through the cars and playing chimes. “Nothing could be finer than dinner in the diner” became a beloved and traditional ditty.
Once seated at their tables at their allotted time, waiters served meals on china befitting their railroad.
A few examples:
Here’s a sought-after design called “Indian Tree.” Note the word “Pullman” on this sectional plate.
This is Union Pacific’s renowned design of a winged streamliner. The plate is circled in gold.
I thought this one was pretty from the Chicago, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
Ice cream dishes from the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad.
Here’s an exclusive design called the “Milwaukee Peacock” for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad.
An egg cup from the New York Central Railroad.
Of course, I could go on and on. There are literally hundreds of railroad china designs for who knows how many different railroad lines. But they’re fun to see and admire, aren’t they?
And because I love vintage dinner menus as much as I love vintage china, here’s an example of the dinner offerings in 1955.
Everything is so cheap! 🙂 Did you notice they even provide baby food, pureed to boot?
Alas, even with all the pampering in the dining cars, passenger rail travel never regained its original popularity of their golden age, and many railroad companies failed.
However, the allure of train travel continues with heritage railways and luxury train experiences. My husband and I traveled on the Rocky Mountaineer through the Canadian Rockies, which was fabulous. And in 2026, 17 vintage Orient Express train cars will be “reimagined” and ready for booking!
I love using china and have three separate sets I use for special occasions–one from my grandmother, a Christmas set, and my own when I was a young bride.
Do you have china of your own or perhaps handed down to you from a family member? Do you enjoy displaying it? Or even better using it for special meals?
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Pam has written 30 romances, most of them historical westerns, but she's proud of her contemporary sweet romances featuring the Blackstone Ranch series published by Tule Publishing, too! Stay up on the latest at www.pamcrooks.com
Enjoyed your post.
I have a full set of china and use it for holidays. It’s on display in my china hutch. I have silver from my MIL. I sold my crystal, but my china had coordinating glassware, so I use that.
Glad you enjoyed the post, Denise. I’m glad you USE your china, too! It’s important for such pretty pieces to be enjoyed and looked at.
Nice that you have coordinating glassware, too! Sure makes for an elegant table to impress your guests. 🙂
I have my grandma’s tea set see received when she married. It’s 94 years old!
WOW!!! How cool is that? I hope you are always able to keep the set in your family. Your grandmother would love that. 🙂
I don’t have fine china, but I do have a set of dishes that is displayed in my hutch and used on special occasions. I have always loved the thought of traveling by train across various countries.
Special dishes are special dishes, china or not, right? I’m glad you are using them to make your dinners extra nice. Pfaltzgraff is a line of dishes that have been very popular and look lovely in china cabinets. They look nothing like china, but are still beautiful.
I agree about traveling by train. It’s so relaxing to just sit back and look out the window. No worries about traffic or using a map!
Thanks for stopping by, Danielle!
I don’t have any china. The family china went to my sisters. But I also don’t have room in my small house to display china.
Hi, Rhonda! Having a hutch or shelving to display dishes definitely takes space. But at least your sisters are keeping the family china. It always greatly saddens me when dishes are boxed up and given away when there are so many memories attached to them.
I don’t have china. I used to have 2 sets of dishes- one for everyday and one for good, but when I moved I gave my everyday dishes to a family who needed them.
Good morning, Karijean. I’m sure the family who got your dishes were grateful. They’re expensive to buy, even everyday ones like Corelle or something similar.
Interesting article. I received my mom’s china but it is still in boxes since I have no place to put it. Hopefully, we will be able to get more cupboards or a nice hutch to display it in.
Hi, Barbara! Even if the china is still in boxes, hopefully you’ll get to use the pieces now and again. You’ll think of your mom, for sure, and she’d be smiling down at you. 🙂
My China hutch holds many, many pieces and sets of hand painted china that were brought from the “old country” sometime in the 19th century when relatives would return from visits. I also have cut glass with edges sharp enough to cut if not handled with care. The hand painted china and cut glass still gets used during the holidays. My china was brought from Japan when I was working as a flight attendant many years ago. As for dining on the railroad, I remember trips from California to St. Louis on the Santa Fe and being called to the dining car with the attendant’s chimes.
Carol, I loved reading your comments!!! It sounds as if you have a lovely collection of dishes. All very cool, and you even got to hear the steward’s chimes!! That’s my favorite comment of all. Yay! 🙂
I love the elegance of this, Pam! I have a set of china that I really love to look at but I rarly get out and use. Maybe someday I will get a hutch so they can be displayed instead of packed away. My husband actually uses our nice dishes more than I do. Whenever he plans a surprise romantic evening for me, he always uses the good china.
Karen, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Your husband is a KEEPER!! What a great guy. Using china while spending a little romantic time with you is such a heart-squeezing way to express his love. How many guys would even think to do that?
Love it, love it.
I do have a set of china that was a Christmas gift from a friend of the family. It sits in the cupboard and I haven’t used it in years. With a large family and a lot of children, when we have Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners, I use decorative paper plates. No dishwashing, just throw them away. The food tastes just as good on paper plates lol.
LOL. True about the food tasting the same, and no one can argue about the convenience of throwing away paper plates, especially with children!
But I do love a pretty table–tablecloth, centerpieces and all–with the china. It’s my hope my grandkids will always remember how Christmas and Thanksgiving at Grandma’s was a little fancy. 🙂
I have some serving pieces from my mom’s China. My sister has the place settings. My mom was a twin and her and her sister had the same China, silverware, pots and pans etc.
Hi, Nancy! I must say I have a tea pot and coffee pot from my china set that I have never used. I intended to but just never did. But they sure look nice in my china cabinet with the rest of the dishes.
How cool that your mom and her sister had the same dishware!! They think alike – like twins do!
Great newsletter and i really enjoyed the china photo’s!!!
I love china!!!
I have two sets of my Grandmothers china. (One set very old and fragile that may have been my Great Grandmothers).
I was also honored to receive my Mother-in-Laws china (that was her Mother-in-Laws china originally.
And lastly I have my Christmas/Winter china.
There are also many miscellaneous pieces…platters; bowls, etc., that I picked up at tag sales/flea markets
I’m officially a china collecting addict, but there are worse things ;o)
I could so, so easily become a china-collecting addict with you, Lynn! LOL.
How absolutely cool that you have such heirlooms from your grandmother and mother-in-law. You sound like the perfect one to keep them in the family because you appreciate the pieces so much.
My grandmother’s china was rimmed in gold, and I don’t dare put them in the dishwasher, so I understand about “old”. I do think some dishwashers have a “China Setting” that washes more gently, but I wouldn’t trust it.
Thanks for sharing!
Idk how I missed your post yesterday. I’m enjoying seeing it this a.m. and looking at the pictures of railroad china! Taking Amtrak around the country is my hobby and whenever we’re stopped in Kansas City MO I always go into the station because they have a display of Fred Harvey memorabilia from when they ran the dining cars for the ATSF and there are always several different china patterns out. I’ve been in there many times and never tire of looking at it. The Harvey Company had their headquarters in the KC Union Station and there is a lot of interesting stuff to see, so for any railroad buff it’s a great place to visit.
As far as good china, even when my children were small I’ve always used mine every day although I don’t put it in the microwave because it’s too old. Since I’ve never had a dishwasher that isn’t an issue. I have enough pieces to serve more than 50 people although I’m not interested in doing that anymore haha. Or as I’d say, ‘What!? Can’t you see I’m busy reading!’ 🙂
Hi, Rachel! My blog just posted this morning, so you didn’t miss a thing, and you’re not late at all. 🙂
Interesting that you’re such an Amtrak fan! I’d love to travel on one. I live close to Kansas City, and I think it’d be a great getaway just to see the Fred Harvey memorabilia. Good to know!
50 people??? Oh, my goodness. LOL!
I don’t have my own set of china.
Hi, Bridgette. I suspect you’re not alone in that. China isn’t as popular as it once was, but for those of us who have one set or several, the dishes are especially nostalgic.
Thanks for stopping by!
I do have what I call china. It has the look of gold rimmed china and can only be hand washed. My mother bought it for my hope chest when I was but a teen. She bought it piece by piece with stamps from the grocery store. I still use it for special occasions…like Christmas. I also have what looks like a milk glass (but really thick) punch bowl set from my great grandmother’s wedding in 1903 when she was 15 years old. I have used this on special occasions also.
Hi, Sandra. Would you believe buying my dishes piece by piece at the grocery store was how I got my china as a young bride, too? We didn’t have money (nor did my wedding guests or my parents) to buy a whole set, and it was so much easier to complete the set little by little. It was so fun to see what pieces would be featured every week, and to this day, I love my china.
Yours was rimmed in gold. Mine was rimmed in silver. Beautiful blue flowers. I still love those dishes, 50 years later.
My goodness. Your grandmother got married at 15?? Wow! 🙂
Thank you, Pam; that was enlightening! In probably 3rd or 4th grade I rode the train from Wash., D.C. to Baltimore as part of a Camp Fire Girls field trip. We took brown bag lunches. I very vaguely recall dishes being used for meals when flying but think that’s from watching TV. Our family mostly drove from MD to MA to visit my dad’s family during summer vacation. I have to admit to being a Philistine and a klutz. My siblings gave us a set of china when we got married but it stays packed up in its box. I prefer less fragile dishes (and still manage to break some of them).
Hi, Mary! I bet that Camp Fire Girls train trip was pretty special for you when you were so young. Because you still remember it, right?
I don’t ever recall dishes being used on airline flights, but then, I didn’t take my first plane ride until I was married and had a couple of babies. Even then, meals were served in disposable tableware. And now, the airlines don’t even serve meals except on really long flights. Sometimes, you don’t even get a snack. LOL.
WOW that china is beautiful! No I don’t have any china. We’d love to travel the rails a bit. Mike loves steam engines.
My husband loves steam engines, too, Carrie. We drove an hour once to see one pass by in 30 seconds. 🙂
I hope you get to travel at least once by rail. Like I said in my blog, there’s definitely opportunity. And it’d be such a fun memory with your husband.
I have a beautiful set my in-laws , called “Largo”,purchased for my ex-husband and me. Needless to say, the China far outlasted the marriage – with only one handle broken on the sugar bowl. This despite being moved all over the western United States. I have a pretty China closet that matches my dining set.
Hi, Ginni. Well, I just had to Google “Largo”, and if it’s the same as what I found, your china really is pretty! I love the delicate designs on the pieces I found. Not overpowering or bold. I’m glad you’ve gotten to keep it. 🙂
I love some of these patterns.
I have our “good china” from our wedding which we do use on special occasions. I am on our third or fourth set of everyday dishes. The kids and my husband are hard on them. I wish I had our first det. It had daffodils on it. All I have left are the salt and pepper set. I have too many sets of dishes, but enjoy them.
I do have a nice Holiday set for 12, and a set of wooden plates, etc. that I got in the Philippines when I was in the Peace Corps (they have lasted 54 years). I have several sets of 4 place settings – a lovely floral china my husband gave me when he retired, a plastic watermelon set for picnics, and an aqua reproduction Depression glass set. A special set was given to me by my aunt. When she married, Carnival glass was the “thing” and she has a complete service for 8. I didn’t realize they made butter dishes and candleholders among other things, but she had everything. We use it every so often. We got my husband’s mother’s set of good china, but gave it to our oldest daughter along with her tea cup collection. I have a set in boxes that my husband doesn’t know about that I got at a church rummage sale. It has an ivy pattern that reminds me of my mother. I would put it out now, but have no room for it. It may be our everyday dishes some day. I have way too many dishes including antique pieces that were given to me or I ended up with after auctions.
What is really sad is beautiful sets of antique dishes sit in shops forever. It seems people aren’t interested in nice dishes anymore even with the prices being so cheap. It is really sad they aren’t appreciated.
A side note. We love traveling by train. The Canadian trip you took is one my husband has wanted to take. We were looking at a Chicago to Albuquerque, NM with the Balloon Festival at the end. We have restored dining cars in town as part of our museum. They hold an annual fundraising dinner on them every year. A small station from a neighboring town is the museum. I was the children’s librarian in a neighboring county where the library was in the old train station. A nice brick building built during the Jim Crow era with some interesting remnants of the “accommodations” made for the time.
Pat, as always, you offer so much newsy comment! 🙂
I love your appreciation and enjoyment of dishware, and each has their own story, don’t they? (Wooden plates from the Philippines that have lasted for 54 years. Wow!)
And you are so right – china isn’t valued as much anymore. Many people don’t entertain — or even cook — like previous generations did. But at least, for those of us who have and use china on special occasions, we can still make memories for our families and display the pretty pieces for everyone’s enjoyment. 🙂