![]() ![]() Other dining rooms overlook well-manicured gardens or bustling downtown centers. "Thank you for slowing your lives down with us today," he says.Some restaurants boast beautiful views of Long Island Sound. As the Essex Clipper enters the station yard, Bradway makes a final announcement. Plates are cleared, take-home containers are filled and the sun nearly sets. "We'll be doing a lot of singing," Bradway says. Of course, Bradway and the serving staff still have one more big job to do: present a cake and sing to each person celebrating a birthday. She and her husband, Rick, are here with their daughter, Christine Coutant of New London. "It's definitely a calm way to travel," says Jan Reinhold of Columbus, Ohio. They stroll to the end of the train for a view from the observation platform they order their coffee or tea. The passengers, at this point, are fully in sync with the leisurely pace of the excursion. Cassidy leans out of the cab and pulls on a red-handled rope to blow the train's whistle. In Chester, the train stops for a moment, then heads back on its return trip. "I never thought I'd be running trains on the same track I used to ride as a boy," he laughs. As a kid, he'd bring some homemade brownies and a note from his parents, and ride the train for free. He points out a row of houses on a hill in Chester, where his family used to have a summer home. Keeping it all on track is engineer Cassidy, age 67, up in the diesel locomotive cab. "It can be hectic, but you learn by just doing it again and again." "We're always watching out for each other," explains Elizabeth Holmes, who has worked the dinner train for 13 years. They confirm dinner orders, bring drinks, serve salads and warm rolls and haul out the dinners, coffees and slices of cake. "You really crank it up in here, especially if it's a lot of martinis," smiles bartender Pete Malone, tucked happily in his beverage-laden alcove.Ī phalanx of workers in black tie weave and bob in the aisles. That means they all want something to drink at once, they all want their dinner at the same time, and they all yearn for dessert in unison. Unlike a typical restaurant, where patrons arrive in waves, everyone on the Essex Clipper shows up at once. Meanwhile, there's an intricate choreography going on in the passenger cars. The whole shebang comes out of a narrow, metal box on wheels, outfitted with a pair of convection ovens, two more ovens under a six-burner stove, a two-door reach-in refrigerator and a three-bay sink. Passengers pre-order their meals, which are served 45 minutes into the trip. The entrees on this trip are prime rib, stuffed chicken and seafood casserole. I'm down here seven years, so I've got my train legs. "I've got me and a helper in here, and three servers. "Everything is freshly prepared this morning, because that's the way I roll," Blonigen says. In the kitchen car, for example, chef Mike Blonigen has an entire train to feed. ![]() Elsewhere aboard the train, folks are working up a big head of steam. "How fast are we going?" a woman asks Bradway. Periodically, passengers hear a blast from engineer George Cassidy's whistle, or the "bing-bing-bing" of a nearby crossing signal. The dark green train chugs from Essex into Deep River and Chester, on its way past farmlands, suburban neighborhoods, tidal marshes, meadows and long glimpses of the Connecticut River. "This is all a new experience for me," Maldonado says. The aisle, Peggy Maldonado of Windham is celebrating her 80th "Usually, the only time we're on a train is when we're going into the city. "We're here for my birthday," says Jessica Abell of Southington, here with boyfriend Mike Lusignan of Milford. Not a single person is staring down at a cell phone. For one thing, everyone is looking up, either gazing out a window or taking part in a conversation. Within moments of leaving the station, it becomes obvious this is not a typical train ride. "You have 9 miles of scenery to watch on our way out, and another 9 on the way back." "These windows are really picture windows for you," he explains. "This feels more elegant and romantic than I expected."Ĭonductor Bradway begins the trip with a brief introduction, once the 90-or-so passengers are all aboard. "It's too bad we're not in period clothing," says passenger Mary Ellen Getty of Salem, part of a group celebrating a friend's birthday. ![]()
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