Abstract
During the golden years of American railroading, passengers could devour lobster salad sandwiches in the dining car and craft cocktails at the bar. But when planes largely replaced trains, fine dining and imbibing on the rails became as rare as a steam locomotive - and the law governing railroad food and beverage remained tangled in a forgotten, complex, and often contradictory jurisdictional thicket.
With passenger railroads now key to tackling climate change, congestion, and sprawl, fine refreshments could help lure Americans back to the rails once more. Therefore, this Article seeks to answer the question ""Who exactly regulates America's railroad food and beverage services and how?
The Article begins with a legal history of railroad refreshments, which tells the story of how we arrived at the regulatory status quo. It continues with a survey of the current jurisdictional thicket, including a look at nationwide Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules and case studies of state-level strictures in the railroad-rich jurisdictions of Colorado and Illinois. The Article concludes with a legal blueprint for intrepid railroaders looking to restore high quality food and beverage service to America's trains amid a jurisdictional thicket that is unlikely to change under our federalist system.
Recommended Citation
Adrian Untermyer, Refreshment on the Rails: The Law of Food and Beverage aboard America's Trains, 47 Transp. L.J. 91 (2021).
First Page
91