The Southern Railway Dining Car Cookbook

Book excerpt: Nothing was better than dinner in a railroad dining car. Food had to be simple to prepare, especially when the kitchen was rolling down the tracks at speeds of up to 80mph. The Southern Railway served the South, and the meals in the dining cars reflected the good, wholesome food from that area. You won't find exotic quiche's in this book, but there are classics such as Fried Chicken Southern Style with Cream Gravy and Southern's Shrimp Creole. There was an added bonus to dinner in the diner; the ever-changing American landscape outside the window. The heyday of the passenger train may be gone, but the food that helped make getting there half the fun, is still available and easy to make for the average home cook. I have been a lifelong railroad enthusiast as well as an accomplished amateur chef. I combined my loves in the publication of "The Southern Railway Dining Car Cookbook: A Historic Reference." The research for this book started in 1989 and a first edition was self published in 1990. Thanks to the research capabilities of the internet, I was able to find additional recipes from archives in areas served by the Southern Railway and the result is this second edition.