Yay or Nay?

[Desertdweller]

Don,

I certainly agree.  I read somewhere that the only American railroad to show a profit on their dining cars was the New Haven.  Don't know how they managed to do that, as their food was reportedly very high quality.

Nor do I know for how long they did manage to show a profit.

What I was trying to suggest to B&O was a dinner train concept, where meals would be served in fancy surroundings at high prices to tourists while the train plods along at 5-10mph.  I think a lot of these operations don't even prepare the meals on board, but receive them from a catering restaurant.  It is the experience of dining on a moving train that attracts the customers.

Not all of these dinner train operations are profitable, either.  Unless you have a large customer base to draw on, the locals will ride out of curiosity a time or two, then demand collapses.

Les