Diners in the restaurant car on a GWR (Great Western Railway) oil-fired locomotive in 1946.
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Vintage photos from decades ago show how traveling by train used to be a lot fancier.
First-class cabins were furnished like living rooms and included radio gramophones.
Passengers dined on fine china and played cards to pass the time.
Traveling by train was pretty swanky in the early to mid-1900s, and it hasn't gone out of style. Today, Japan's bullet trains can make the trip from Tokyo to Osaka in just 2 1/2 hours, and in the US, Amtrak is working on high-speed trains to launch in 2024.
Still, the lavish furnishings and fine dining of the past hold a special place in the railroad's rich history. These vintage photos show how glamorous train travel used to be.
People used to dress up for train travel.
Passengers waiting with their luggage to board the first special passenger train to London in 1909.
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Passengers wore fascinators and white gloves — no sweats or hoodies here.
Employees of Messrs Carreras peer out of their railway carriage window prior to departure from Charing Cross Station in London in 1934.
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Traveling was an event.
Employees of Messrs Carreras waving from the platform prior to departure from Charing Cross Station, London, in 1935.
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Railway carriages were spacious and well-lit.
The interior of a train carriage circa 1934.
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First-class cars in particular were tastefully decorated.
Cleaners at work in the luxurious coach Minerva in 1938.
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Furnished like living rooms, they came complete with armchairs, drapes, and carpeting.
The luxurious first class lounge on board a London Midland and Scottish Royal Scot train in 1928.
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This first-class car evokes the ancient Momoyama style of Japanese art.
A luxurious Japanese Railway Department observation car circa 1920.
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Celebrities like Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger enjoyed the comforts of first-class cars.
Paul McCartney of the Beatles and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones sit opposite each other on a train at Euston Station, London, in 1967.
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Second class wasn't quite as glamorous, but it still ensured a cushy ride.
Passengers in the second-class coach of a Hikari Train in Japan, circa 1965.
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Restaurant cars hosted guests with elegant table settings.
A new British Railways restaurant car at Waterloo Station in London in 1949.
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Passengers dined on fine china.
Passengers in a first-class dining saloon in 1951.
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Some trains offered food buffet-style.
A corridor buffet car on show at Waterloo station in London in 1938.
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Others employed dapper servers to pour drinks.
Diners in the restaurant car on a Great Western Railway oil-fired locomotive in 1946.
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In cars equipped with radio gramophones, passengers could enjoy music and radio programs while draped in fur.
Passengers listen to a radio gramophone on a LNER train carriage in 1930.
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Playing cards was also a popular pastime.
Passengers in a BEA Vickers Viking play a game of cards in 1947.
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As was reading the newspaper.
Passengers listen to the wireless on board a train on the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1930.
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Sleeper cars featured upholstered beds with plenty of room to spread out.
A woman reading in a sleeper car in 1905.
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Sleeper-car attendants would bring passengers morning cups of tea on trays.
An LMS sleeper car attendant brings a passenger a cup of tea in 1945.
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Traveling back then still involved the same crowded rush as it does now.
Passengers waiting for the Cornish Riviera express train at Paddington Station, London, in 1924.
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But there was also a special thrill to riding the railroad that's hard to come by these days.
Milkmen from United Dairies on one of the LNER trains chartered at King's Cross Station, London, in 1932.
