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A dinner train is a relatively new type of tourist train service whose main purpose is to allow people to eat dinner while experiencing a relatively short, leisurely round trip train ride. This contrasts with conventional passenger trains, whose main purpose is to transport passengers to some destination as quickly as possible but which also might serve dinner on long-distance routes. Dinner trains have become popular in recent years, particularly in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. This is in part a result of a nostalgia for passenger trains (which are less common in the U.S. than in many other countries) and in part because it provides a very different experience from driving and from eating at ordinary restaurants. The first dinner train in the United States was the "Supper Chief" that ran on the
Sierra Railroad The Sierra Railroad Corporation is a privately owned common carrier. Its Sierra Northern Railway freight division handles all freight operations for all branches owned by the Sierra Railroad. The company's Mendocino Railway group operates t ...
in California in the 1970s. Dinner train service was renewed in 1999 with the Sierra Railroad Dinner Train. There are over 80 dinner trains currently operating in North America. Most such trains operate either seasonally or a few days a week, but some operate daily (or even twice daily on weekends in a few cases). Almost all dinner trains run on lightly used branch lines or tourist lines, and virtually all use older passenger cars. Almost all dinner train trips are characterized by 2–4 hour trips that return to where they started since the emphasis is the experience and not traveling to a destination. Some feature the use of
steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
for at least some of their runs. Speeds are usually between , much slower than ordinary passenger trains, not only due to lower track standards but also to the fact that the emphasis is on the journey itself, not the destination. Dinner trains can be fun not only for the passengers who ride them but also for the train crews and other employees. They can also provide jobs and be a profitable business. Moreover, they can generate substantial benefits for local economies, including boosting tourism and increasing sales at nearby businesses. For example, the ''Spirit of Washington'', which operated daily on the Woodinville Subdivision near Seattle, provided 80 full-time jobs and contributed roughly $10 million annually to the local economy before ceasing operations in late October 2007. There was also the Michigan Star Clipper Dinner Train which was a dinner train that operated for 24 years out of
Walled Lake, Michigan Walled Lake is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern suburb of Detroit, Walled Lake is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 7,246. History The town ...
, with trips heading from West Bloomfield to
Wixom Wixom ( ) is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern suburb of Detroit, Wixom is located roughly from downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 17,193. The city was home to the now-demoli ...
. In addition to just providing dinner while riding on a scenic route, some dinner trains have developed additional functions, such as hosting wedding receptions, reunions, company retreats,
murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...
events during the dinner. Some so-called ''dinner trains'' do not actually serve meals aboard the train. Rather, the food is served in a building or outdoors after the train has reached its destination; the passengers then reboard for the return trip. This is particularly true for narrow gauge railways, on which it would be impractical to prepare and serve formal meals. Examples include the gauge
Puffing Billy Railway The Puffing Billy Railway is a Narrow gauge railway, narrow gauge heritage railway in the southern foothills of the Dandenong Ranges in Melbourne, Australia. The railway was one of the five narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways, narr ...
near
Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...
and the gauge Lahaina Kaanapali Railroad in
Maui, Hawaii Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...
.


See also

* Colonial Tramcar Restaurant, one of several heritage trams that serves the same purpose as dinner trains *
Excursion train An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent custo ...
*
Joyful Train is the name given to railway rolling stock or train sets operated by the JR Group in Japan primarily for charters, special events, tourist excursions, and other similar purposes. Traditionally, this term is only used for chartered trains dedicate ...
* Orford Express, a tourist
passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...
from
Sherbrooke, Quebec Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...
to Magog * Dinner Train, a former dinner train in the Netherlands


References

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External links


DinnerTrains.comKansas Belle dinner train
Trains Restaurants by type Dinner