Re: Animas Forks car menu

I should add that these menus were intended for one time use. Each "Bill of Fare" menu card had a small open circle next to each menu item and the patron was to put an "x" or a check mark indicating their choice, much like current ordering techniques on Amtrak. Once the order was filled, these went into the trash or stove to be burned. In anticipation of service on the car "Animas Forks," it would have been reasonable to place a printing order for at least 1,000, perhaps 5,000 of the menu cards. The "Wine List" card did not have the little order circles on it but had a column for writing in the prices, maybe to indicate what was available out of the full list. While I have never seen a reliable account of how long this buffet service actually lasted, we know it wasn't long, maybe only days before they yanked the car from that service. Thus, plenty of left over menu cards, and the reason why I saw those piles of them in the Pitcher house, along with SN furniture and other paper work. The folks who owned the house at the time were from Texas and their first question to me was did this stuff have any value? When they sold the house, most of that material went with them although they did make a donation of some survey field note books to our historical society.

Fritz