Dinner trains

How would our members rate/rank the various dinner trains by region?
NE, SE, Midwest, West
By scenery
By quality of food
By overall experience

No dinner train enthusiasts out there?

I don't even know where to start. Are you asking us to select our favorite dinner train operation in the whole country? In the whole state? Can you give us some parameters? Every dinner train operation is unique and has its own attractions.

=otto=

Otto,

I guess I'll settle for recommendation/s for the best/better of the dinner trains in the NorthEast (where I live)

I know some but not much about the ones at Essex Ct and Newport RI, but would travel anywhere to the New England or Mid Atlantic states for the best ride, scenery and decent on board meal/s.

I was on the Spirit of Washington in WA some years ago and it was quite nice, good scenery, decent trip miles, and good food.

CarterB wrote: I was on the Spirit of Washington in WA some years ago and it was quite nice, good scenery, decent trip miles, and good food.

Not sure how wide spread the news was, but....

The Spirit of Washington Diner Train has shut down due to trackage problems. The trackage the Spirit of Washington was on was owned by BNSF. BNSF has shut down the line and it is now to become a hiking trail. The Spirit of Washington has planned on moving its operations to another area, but has yet to do so.

Thank you Washington Legislator Ron Sims for your great Rails-to-Trails program that has destroyed many jobs as well as hurt the local economy. The Spirit of Washington was not the first and sadly will not be last.

The Spirit of Washington did try to start up out of Tacoma but couldn't get any ridership and folded up within a month or so. The line they had been on was acquired by Washington State for a hiking trail and also to reduce some of the requirements of rebuilding some roads over the tracks.

As far as the northeast, I've never ridden a dinner train up there but have elsewhere in the country. I generally don't like dinner trains because they seem to think they have to entertain you and not let you sit back and enjoy the scenery.

However, the best one I've ever done is the Bardstown Dinner Train on R.J. Corman's line in Kentucky. They serve the great food and let you enjoy the scenery.

Bartman,

Thanks for the Bardstown info!