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A pleasant article on the last dining car service in England.
It made me hungry
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel...lman-offers-escapism-and-luxury-a6840901.html
It made me hungry
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel...lman-offers-escapism-and-luxury-a6840901.html
On the 12.06 from London Paddington to Penzance, the Pullman dining car is quieter than usual. It is early January, low season, and as the concrete overpasses and tall brick backs of the city's Georgian houses fall away, winter sun begins to stream through the windows.
Our table for two is set with silverware of a satisfying weight. Slanted rectangles of sunlight tremble across the tablecloth, glinting on the wine glasses. A waiter puts china plates bearing the Great Western Railway emblem in front of us. "Careful," he says, handling them with a tea-towelled hand. "They're piping hot."
Britain's dining cars have died a sad death. When they were first introduced on the East Coast line in 1879, their kitchens cooked over burning coals. From hot buttered kippers for morning commuters, to roast sirloin and salmon hollandaise on Christmas Day, the food ranged from the functional to the decadent. When British Rail wound down in 1997, there were still 250 dining cars. They were quickly deemed unprofitable and the last continual service ran on the 19.33 from London Kings Cross to Leeds in May 2011.