Surprise! Surprise! There is a Saturday Report after all! My wife, Cindy, and I cancelled our long weekend due to the illness of one of the other couples who were going to travel with us.
The Atlantic & Southern Board of Directors convened promptly at 0830 hours and opened the meeting with a Coke and a Diet Pepsi. Then we got down to business. Your reporter was given a tour of the progress made at the Summit Yard. All switch machines are installed and wired for the mainline. Due to one of the ACL E7A units receiving a new decoder in the repair shop, the E6's were called into service to power the Champion. As has been recently reported, we have been tweeking our passenger equipment to avoid unwanted uncouplings and derailments. That project continued today. It is almost necessary to individually tweek each Walthers passenger car in order to get optimum performance. Today we discovered some of our ACL cars had the wrong couplers on them and almost all of the end diaphrams drooped low enough to foul the Kay Dee couplers. Adjustments were made and tweeking will probably continue in the future.
The Champion made its run from Summit to the Midlands and back without difficulty. Those slant nosed E6's really look great pulling a passenger consist.
Lunch was (guess where) at Smokey Bones.
After lunch we decided to run one of our strange locomotives - a Seaboard Centipede. It is not much to look at unless you really,, really like to watch wheels. The loco still has the original unacceptable sound system in it and we decided to convert it to WOW Sound during the next round of updates.
The track gang plans on completing the wiring on the Yard at Summit this week, hopefully making it fully operational next Saturday.
This week's story is the product of some of my nostalgic recollections of dinning on the train in the 1950's and comparing that experience to my recent trip on AMTRAK from Orlando to Savannah. Let me be plain - There is no comparison. No wonder AMTRAK is only one step above greyhound travel.
DINING ON THE ATLANTIC & SOUTHERN
The Atlantic & Southern Railroad does not own any dining cars. It relies upon the diners from other railroads to provide food services to its passengers. That does not mean the A&S management is unprepared to purchase a dinner with Atlantic & Southern emblazed upon its road boards when passenger traffic justifies it.
There were still a few heavy weight diners on the rails 1950 and they tended to be part of the consist powered by the few steam engines still working passenger trains at that late date. Seaboard had several of these diners. The Coast Line diners had recently been replaced by lightweight Bud built diners, but whichever type diner was found in the consist, mealtime could be a pleasant, and quite nostalgic experience.
Some of the post war Coast Line diners had interesting table configurations with seating for four on one side of the diner and seating for two on the other side. The tables for two provided a more private setting and avoided the annoying Pullman practice of seating strangers at your table simply because seats were available.
The variety of dishes offered during an overnight trip included local specialties such as crab cakes, chicken and dumplings, fresh catfish, and citrus delicacies. But breakfast in the diner was the meal anticipated by everyone.
The Coast Line served the standard breakfast fare served on many railroads that included two poached eggs on toast with ham hash and fried tomatoes.
A numbered "instruction book" gave detailed directions to the dining staff. Each steward, chef, and waiterss-in-charge were required to carry a copy of the book with them at all times while on duty. Lost instruction books could be replaced with a "replica' at the cost of $.00.
Instructions for serving breakfast on "All Trains" included the following:
"Complementary demitasse coffee at breakfast. This service must be extended to every guest in the dining car at breakfast on all trains. The guest is not to be asked if coffee is to be brought out by the waiter at the time a glass of ice water is placed on the table for the guest. Failure of the Steward of waiter to follow these instructions will result in disciplinary action."
Some of the instructions were to the point. For instance, the Superintendent of Dining Cars had this to say about serving bacon:
"While it is realized that in heavy trains it will be hard to broil bacon to order, the system of duping one or two pounds of bacon in the frying pan,all owing it to fry with the result that 10%to 15% will break, curl up, and look messy when served has got to be stopped. Hereafter, on heavy trains chefs will place ready sliced bacon on the baking pan, cook partially in the oven to break the grain on the meat and finish in the broiler. Bacon thus cooked will look more appetizing, will not crumble or curl, will show better on the plate, and will repay you in a better percentage for your effort."
Chefs were expected to know how to prepare basic menu item, such as an omlet, and were only provided with variation instructions. Among many variations included an omlet "with fried tomato slices, bacon." Chefs were instructed to "place omelette (that's how they spelled it) in center of hot service plate. Garnish one side of omelette with three slices of fried tomato, each slice overlapping the other, cross two strips bacon on to of omelette. Sprig of parsley."
Many railroads were famous for their breakfast French toast. The Coast Line was no exception. However, the instruction book fails to explain how Coast Line French Toast was out of the ordinary. Having consulted wit the A&S Food Service Superintendent, the following recipe will be used on A&S diners if one is ever acquired:
ATLANTIC & SOUTHERN FRENCH TOAST
(SERVES TWO)
French toast:
Loaf of French bread cut into four 1" to 1 1'2 " slices.
1 large egg, thoroughly beaten
1/4 cup sugar
Few drops vanilla extract
Tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped pecan halves (optional)
6 slices bacon, fried
1 banana sliced into 14 inch rounds -just before serving
Berry topping:
Package (12 oz.) frozen (or fresh) raspberries or blue berries
1/2 cup water (or less)
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in just enough water to dissolve
Confectioner's sugar
Pour beaten egg into a bowl. Add sugar and vanilla extract and mix well. Soak bread slices in egg mixture and grill them until both sides are toasted.
Saute pecans in butter under low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from pan when toasted. Do Not Burn.
Place berries in a pot and add enough water to come up one half inch above the berries on the sides. Heat berries on medium low heat and add sugar and gently stir. When berries are hot, add dissolved corn starch and stir. Remove from heat when mixure ghickens.
Place French Toast on serving plate and sprinkle with sifted Confectioner's sugar. Add toasted pecans on top. Serve berry topping in separate bowl.
Serve with bacon and banana
The complete 1953 Atlantic Coast Line Recipe book can be found at:
http://railroadarchives.org/content/atlantic-coast-line-railroad-recipes-cookbook-1953.
