Dining by Rail with Bradford Railroad Museum

The Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum is hosting its annual Dining By Rail April 12, 2014. This is a fund raising dinner and silent auction to benefit capital improvements at the museum.

This year the event will take place at the Turtle Creek Golf Club located at 6545 US Rt 36 Greenville, Ohio. The dinner will be prepared from authentic Railroad dining car service recipes.

This year will feature the Pennsylvania Railroad. Enjoying a meal on board a moving train is an experience that started in the late 1800s when the first dining cars were introduced on passenger trains. The 1940s and 1950s were the golden age of train travel and also the pinnacle of railroad dining car operations. For many passengers, the ambiance of the dining car was the reason they rode the trains.

Railroads heavily promoted their dining car services in their efforts to woo customers, employing marketing tactics that, while common in today's foodservice industry, were innovative for their time.

Each railroad had its own fleet of dining cars where travelers were made to feel like royalty as they gazed over menu offerings that included roast leg of lamb with mint sauce, oven-roasted chicken, or pan-fried trout. Freshly baked desserts and fine wines often accompanied dinner. Food was prepared by specially trained chefs and served by attentive uniformed waiters. Dining car tables were covered with spotless white linen, accented with a vase of fresh flowers. Meals were presented on real china with sparkling glassware and stainless-steel flatware

While the Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum’s version of Dining By Rail does not take place on a moving train the food is certainly authentic railroad. There are linens and China and Fresh Flowers and Porter dressed waiters.

The dinner is held in conjunction with a silent auction with items ranging from King’s Island tickets, to OSU items, restaurant reservations, symphony tickets and items for all age groups. We try to feature train related items for our auction.

Entertainment will be provided by Joseph Helfrich.

This year reservations will be limited to the first 120 diners. Reservations can be made by contacting the chairperson Marilyn Kosier through email at mkosier@rrohio.com

A reservation will be needed to attend.

The Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum is located at 200 N Miami Avenue Bradford, Ohio 45308.

The museum will reopen April 5 at 10 a.m. for the 2014 season. For updated information on the museum visit www.bradfordrrmuseum.org