LA’s Union Station at Christmas Time.

Fred Harvey once approached the Burlington Railroad with an idea that the railroad should provide quality food and service to travelers. They declined, but the Santa Fe agreed to give it a try, and the very first Harvey House was opened in Topeka, Kansas in 1876.
As dining cars had not yet come into existence, passengers were forced to get food at nearby eating houses adjacent to the depots when the train stopped for 15 minutes or so.
The following photographs were taken at Los Angeles Union Station. The restaurant is a former Harvey House and was decorated for the Holiday season. Not many restaurants today have such elegance.

Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland

The summer of 2000 saw three of the major train clubs have their conventions in Michigan. The attractions included a guided tour of the Lionel factory, a view of the layout at the Lionel Visitor’s Center, Greenfield Village, the Henry Ford Museum, the new Madison Hardware and the delightful private collection of cars and model trains at the Carail Museum of Richard Kughn.

One of the other layout tours was to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, “The World’s Largest Christmas Store.featuring 361 Days of Christmas.”