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train.com for a website name. So we’ve got that.” He’s trademark protected the name as well. And as he and I were talking, a team showed up to begin the launch of a social me- dia strategy. That is a critical component of marketing to young families, and should prove useful if and when he adds features to his service. Judging from the sundae pictured in the
brochure, I’d say it’s not just for kids. So set aside a few calories and allow yourself to en- joy a sundae, too. Just The Facts: The Newport Dinner Train/Ice Cream Train is located at 19 America’s Cup Avenue in downtown New- port, Rhode Island. An extensive run-sched- ule through October,
including the Ice
Cream Train’s Thursday/Saturday depar- tures at 11:30 a.m. and Friday’s departure at 6:30 p.m. For more information or to make reservations, go to
newportdinnertrain.com or call 800/398-7427. Elsewhere: For those readers who were expecting to find the annual Dinner Train Guide here this month, know that I’ve decid- ed to forego that experience for this year. If you have followed it from year to year, you know that it uncovered an unusual and hard to account for phenomenon. That is, the number of such operations has remained relatively constant, hovering somewhere in the high 80s to low 90s every year. That re- mained the case through a devastating act of terrorism, through the conduct of two wars overseas, and through an economic cri- sis that I can’t characterize without provok- ing debate. And yet, what has also occurred is that a handful of operations would cease at the same time a similar number would see a launch. Even more confounding has been that there is no clear explanation — a trend, if you will — that explains the demises. Some stop running due to a fractured rela- tionship, train operator and the host rail- road, excursion operator with the food serv- ice provider, or a decline in interest among worn-out volunteers, and even divorces that split the railroad and restaurant factions in half. From my notes over the past year, noth- ing seems to have changed. What has changed is the number of oper- ations that have begun dabbling in offering rail dining experiences, especially those that turn to partnerships with either vintners or micro-breweries. Whether it is the Colorado Railroad Museum operating the Colorado Wine & Music Train, New York’s Medina Railroad Museum teaming up with the Spring Lake Winery, or the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway working with Stuart’s Opera House for the Wine Express in Ohio; or the Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad ride-and- dine out of Lebanon, Ohio, to the Brazen- head Pub in Mason, or similar, these opera- tions are not only popular in their own right, but offer the opportunity to test rail dining as something to be offered on a larger scale in the future.
So my suggestion is this: As you plan your
travels, consult the web and/or published travel-site directories to locate rail excur- sions — and museums, by the way —and go to the relevant websites (or call, if you re- main reluctant to use a computer for this, the most common of its applications) to see what’s cooking (I couldn’t resist the pun) wherever it is you are heading. B&O Coffee: The B&O Railroad Muse- um now offers an authentic replica of the
12 JUNE 2013 •
RAILFAN.COM
coffee once found on its namesake railroad’s dining cars. To quote the label: “Dining serv- ice aboard the B&O Railroad’s passenger trains was critically acclaimed for its Chesapeake regional cuisine. Having top quality coffees and teas on board was no ex- ception. Fresh coffee of the highest quality was brewed on board the B&O’s long dis- tance trains from pre-dawn hours until late at night.” So it was that the railroad’s Com- missary Department, located in its ware- houses at Camden Station in Baltimore, re- ceived shipments of a custom Baltimore Coffee & Tea Company blend. That compa- ny, founded in 1895, was originally located less than one city block away. The coffee is a blend of Fancy Brazilian Santos and Guatemalan Antiqua beans, and the sample I tried is both distinctive and mild. To place an order of Dining Car Blend, go to
http://www.borail.org/category/5.aspx (Gifts & Souvenirs) or telephone 410/752- 2490 and ask for the gift shop. On a Related Note: A recent multi-me- dia piece on the WBEZ/91.5 website in Chicago caught our attention. Louisa Chu’s on-going series, Moveable Feast: Chicago, was devoted to diners. Titled “Chicago Din- ers, Side of Extra Crispy Stories,” it covers the railroad dining car link to the history of diners in a 7:58 minute audio segment, “How Diner Culture Evolved,” which fea- tures a source known to readers of this col- umn — Richard Gutman, Director and Cu- rator of the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University. Other high- lights: A photo essay and video clips that tour Chicago’s oldest diners, and, of special interest to readers here, a link — labeled “Click here to launch the diner tour” — where you select the photograph in the low- er left corner — Pullman Sleeping Car Com- pany. There you’ll enjoy an interview of Daniel Traynor, the company’s executive chef, and a photo essay portraying aspects of meal service on this new operation. Also find comments by David Gevercer, owner of the Silver Palm (February 2012). This later mention may make it necessary for you to conjure a Perfect Bourbon Manhattan before you sit down to visit
http://tinyurl.com/ a9hng3h for the entire experience. There’s a lot to read, see, and hear at this site. Michael Léson: It provoked sadness to learn recently of the passing of Michael Lé- son, who died on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, at the age of 67. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Michael spent his adult life living in the Mahoning Valley, and is best- known to railfans and model railroaders for his high-energy presence at modeling expos and railroadiana events. A talented fine china designer, he worked as the artistic di- rector at Shenango China and Anchor- Hocking before starting his own business, Michael Léson Dinnerware. Happily, for our niche of the market, he eventually tran- sitioned to the design and manufacture of rail-oriented
collectibles. His American
Rails and Highways series included the sometimes-controversial contemporary in- terpretations of traditional railroad dining car china, offering five-piece place settings of brightly decorated plates, bowl, cup, and saucer for more than a half dozen Class I railroads. A local obituary noted he “also enjoyed being a lector at St. Charles Parish, and “was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force Re- serves.” He was the subject of this column in December 2003.
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