A1E_NT
Page 12 _Monday, October 4,1999
Club Cars
Dinner Train
should offer
more for money
By Shelley Mika
Staffwriter
When I approached the train at
dusk, a mysterious glow illuminated the
windows. I thought I’d be walking into a
1940s movie.
Not exactly. It was more like walk
ing into a place where people remem
bered 1940s movies.
A lot of history surrounds the
Fremont Dinner Train, though. The
track the train runs on first began being
laid in 1869. By 1888, the track reached
the Black Hills and became known as
the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri
Valley Railroad - or the FE&MV ^
The railroad ran under this name
until 1903, when it merged into Chicago
Northwestern, which controlled many
railroads at the time.
But by 1984, the track was to be
abandoned. Two years later, the Eastern
Nebraska Chapter National Railway
Historical Society decided to purchase
and refurbish the track.
It wasn’t until October 1988 that the
privately-owned, for-profit Fremont
Dinner Train first ran its course.
Bruce Eveland, part owner and
manager of the dinner train, stressed
that the Historical Society is like the
dinner train’s “landlord” - who is heavi
ly relied upon. Without the historical
society’s engine and crew, the dinner
train wouldn’t have been possible.
However, Eveland said, “The cars
are my responsibility. In terms of inside,
outside, that’s me.”
The decor of each car is decided by
Eveland, who has chosen a 1940s theme
for all because “the ’40s are the quintes
sential period of train travel,” he said.
Currently, the dinner train has four
cars, each with a distinct style and histo
ry
The first, “Elkhomjliver” was built
in 1947 by Pullman Standard Company
for the Illinois Central Railroad. Later, it
was sold to the Rock Island Railroad
and converted into a diner.
The car has since been remodeled
but continues to serve strictly as a
dining car. The decor is fancy,
with its white tablecloths, crys
tal sugar bowls and lamps at
each table.
But I didn’t feel exact
ly like I’d taken a
“Sentimental Journey,” as
the song playing overhead
suggested.
The car had no original
woodwork, and the pictures
promised in the pamphlet,
depicting rail travel of
years past, took up
only the far
comer of the
room. The
people sit
ting at that table
were probably the
only ones who even
noticed them.
“Elkhom River’s” com
panion car, “Maple Creek,” was
originally a product of the Canadian
National Railways and later the VIA
Rail, Canada’s national inner-city
passenger train service. The
remaining two cars have iden
tical Canadian roots.
Eveland said the major
ity of the cars came from
Canada, because “the
Canadians have cut
back their passen
ger service in the ’90s. So
there’s pretty good equip
ment that has become surplus
up there that migrates south.”
In 1988, “Maple Creek” was
remodeled into a bar/dining car.
This car seemed a great deal
more authentic. With its rich red
curtains and carpet, it also felt cozi
er than the “Elkhom.”
The third dining car, “Rose Creek,”
was built in 1947. This car blended the
better halves of the “Elkhom” and the
f
1
“Maple
Creek”
with its relative
authenticity and
class.
The final car has been
added recently and is still under
construction. Built in 1956, “Car #750”
will be used as a club car before and
after dinner. This will give passengers a
much needed chance V
to get up and socialize.
“We want to have
more of a socializing center
of the train, so people can enjoy
an area of the train typical of what
they would have experienced in reg
ular train travel,” Eveland said.
My own journey began on the
“Elkhom River.” I was impressed at
first. The car was classy and yet unin
timidating at the same time. I half
expected to be sitting among a high
brow crowd that cared about using its
forks in order. But the other passengers
were very relaxed.
After an hour, I found myself wish
Please see TRAIN on 14
\
Ben Folds Five in Omaha
■ Three-man band to
perform ‘inside joke’ at
Sokol Auditorium tonight.
By Danell McCoy
Staff writer
In an age of synthesizers, drum
machines and samplers, it is almost
impossible to find artists who use
actual instruments to create music.
But Ben Folds Five does, and it
does it well.
Using just a piano, drums and
bass guitar, the three-man band has
created a sound that sets it apart from
other groups.
Tonight, Ben Folds Five will show
off its talent in a concert at Sokol
Auditorium, 2234 S. 13 St. in Omaha.
** Ben Folds Five hit the music
scene in 1995 with its first album,
“Ben Folds Five,” and hits
“Underground” and “Uncle Walter.”
Most people, however, recognize
the band from its second album,
“Whatever and Ever Amen,” which
'hit platinum in the United States,
(
Canada, Australia and Japan.
The album also reached No. 3 on
the Rolling Stone Reader’s Poll for
best album.
The band’s song “Brick” put it on
the pop charts and gave Ben Folds
Five an MTV Video Awards nomina
tion for “Best Alternative Video.”
The band’s newest album, “The
Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold
Messner,” was released in April.
“This is the first record we’ve
said, ‘You know, let’s go into a nice
studio and take the time, and let’s do it
right,”’ pianist Ben Folds said in a
press release. “We had time, and we
had money, and we were excited
about going into a studio. We wrote
most of the record in the studio at
Sound City in California, pretty
much on the 101 Freeway on the way
to the studio.”
The title for the album is an inside
joke between the group members,
said drummer Darren Jessee.
“’Reinhold Messner’ is the name
that me and my friends in high school
used on fake IDs,” Jessee said in a
press release. “We had this poster
board of an Arizona driver’s license
Concert Preview
Tin Facts
Who: Ben Folds Five
Where: Sokol Auditorium, 2234 S. 13 St.,
Omaha
When: 6:30 tonight
Cost: $20
The Sldnny: Three men, three instruments,
great music.
when we were 17, and the name was
Reinhold Messner, who was actually
bom in ’62 or something absurd. We
all had it. So, it would be a chain of
five 17-year-old guys going to bars at
night with the same name.
“That’s where the name comes
from. Reinhold Messner is the patron
saint of underage chinking.”
The band, whose influences
include Elvis Costello, Earth, Wind
and Fire, Elton John and R.E.M., has
toured both nationally and interna
tionally with Beck, Dave Matthews
Band, Neil Young and Counting
Crows.
Doors for the show will open at
6:30 p.m., and tickets are $20.
Russell’s ‘Three Kings’
a masterful creation
By Samuel McKewon
Senior staff writer
“What’s the most important thing
in life?” Major Archie Gates (George
Clooney) asks near the middle of
“Three Kings,” one of the best war
movies ever made and certainly the
most relevant to our time.
His answer? Necessity, which, he
goes on to explain, will make it easier
for him and his three soldier mates to
steal foe Kuwaiti gold theyVe plotted
so well to steal from Iraqi soldiers,
who stole it from Kuwait.
Necessity, in this case, dictates
that not only will foe Iraqi soldiers
(who have already surrendered to foe
Americans) allow them to steal it, but
they’ll help them do it
Why? Because it’s not necessary
Iraq keep the gold However, it is nec
Film Review
The Facts
Title: "Three Kings*
Director: David O. Russell
Rating: R (language, desert violence)
Stare: George Clooney, Ice Cube, Marie
Wahlberg, Spike Jonze
Grade: A
Five Words: “Three Kings” irreverent
war classic
essary to suppress revolts among its
ravaged people, which gain their
strength from American presence.
This is one of numerous paradox
es littering “Three Kings,” a movie
that melds morality and action
adventure together as well as it’s ever
been done.
Please see KINGS on 13