Online Lecture – Dining on the Train: From Soot to Soufflé
On January 20, join the Toronto Railway Museum and James D. Porterfield at the table for an online lecture about railway dining. James will explore how feeding railway passengers evolved from road-kill (!) into five-star dining experiences. Bring your appetite for railway history as we delve into how these restaurants on wheels operate.
Feeding passengers was a problem for railroads almost from their inception. In this presentation, a talk with slides and selected items to display, Jim Porterfield, author of DINING BY RAIL: The History and Recipes of America's Golden Age of Railroad Cuisine, offers an informative and humorous account of how that practice developed over time. The online lecture will be accompanied by a description of menu items selected at random by guests, discussion of five items you likely have in your kitchen that originated in a dining car, and a Q&A session. An extensive bibliography of books and related items devoted to rail dining, plus two free recipes, will be made available to lecture attendees.
TICKETS
Tickets for this event are free, although registration is required.
Attendees will get access to our exclusive Zoom meeting room, where they can engage directly with the presenter and museum historians in a post-lecture Q&A. The event will begin at 7pm Eastern Standard Time, and will end at 8pm EST.
ABOUT JAMES D. PORTERFIELD
James D. Porterfield is an author whose books include Dining by Rail: The History and the Recipes from America's Golden Age of Railroad Cuisine, now 29 years in print. He edited and introduced Jack Orr's acclaimed biography of O. P. Orr, Set Up Running, about a Pennsylvania Railroad engineman from 1904 to 1949, and Harry Bedwell's classic railroad novel, The Boomer: A Story of the Rails. Jim is a Contributing Editor for Railfan & Railroad magazine. His monthly column, "On the Menu," describes dinner trains and aspects of rail heritage preservation, and his annual feature is devoted to railroad art. Jim has contributed to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's quarterly magazine and website, and served as a website host for the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Gozaic travel division. A popular presenter to both rail history groups and the general public, he is also an occasional guest on “Let’s Talk Travel,” a regional radio and Podcast talk show devoted to travel destinations.
A graduate of what is now Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Jim was an adjunct professor in marketing at Penn State University's main campus for 24 years, and today serves as the Director of the Railroad Heritage & Tourism Institute, an educational support organization for the railroad heritage industry, and of the American Society of Railway Artists.
ABOUT THE TORONTO RAILWAY MUSEUM (TRM)
The Toronto Railway Museum (TRM) brings people together by telling stories of Toronto’s railway heritage. The Museum is located in the heart of downtown Toronto and is typically open year-round. TRM presents exhibits, tours, educational programs and publications that broaden the understanding and appreciation of Toronto’s rich railway history. TRM is committed to telling the stories of the railways, and welcoming conversations of its varied experiences through its lecture series, exhibits and integrated programming with a mission to learn from the past to make the future better.
The Toronto Railway Museum would like to acknowledge the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s Community Building Fund. More information is available here.
