The Mrs. baked up a batch of Krusty Korn Kobs today, after we purchased a bag of batter and the cast iron bakeware @ Railfest two weeks ago.

The bag, mixed with 2 eggs, a cup of milk and a stick of butter -(you can also use oil if you are trying to be "cardiologically correct") yielded 28 kobs. They were light and airy, with a strong flavor of corn bread minus the crumbs.

We also purchased the Erie-Lackawanna coffee, and although my search for a used percolator on ebay revealed some strong prices, and in one case, a bidder named "Johnacraft", I have not yet located the perfect perk-so we brewed it in the drip machine. It was robust and deep without being bitter.

Darn good eatin'.

(Available by internet order from eldps.org, an organization I may join, but have no personal financial interest in)

Glad you stopped by, and that the mix met with your approval!

Our arriving at the coffee blend is an interesting story. Tim Stuy was looking over some archival photos of the Erie Lackawanna's Hoboken commissary, and in the background of one photo, not surprisingly, were supplies on the shelves. One was legibly from "Latouraine Coffee", a Secaucus, NJ coffee roaster.

Latouraine is still a name in the business, but in these days of Corporate buyouts and mergers, had traveled a wandering course -- bought out by Chock Full of Nuts, which was then bought out by Sara Lee foods. Calls to Sara Lee were rather curtly rebuffed, though with a afterthought PS at the end of the call to contact a specialty roaster in NJ, Corim Coffee.

Well, it turned out that the folks at Corim Coffee knew who the salesman was that covered the Erie Lackawanna account for Latouraine, and made a call...and on a 3x5 card in someones' account records was the specific blend information! Corim has replicated that blend for us, and it's been a pretty good seller for us since.

That's how Erie Lackawanna coffee ended up in Superheater's pot!

Were you the gentleman escorting folks through the "city of Lima"? Whoever provided the tour did a great job.

Here's another irony. My wife was born in the city of Lima (the city, not No. 741), on November 17.

The number of years ago will remain unspecfied in respect for her feminine sensibilities and my desire for more Krusty Korn Kobs.

Looking at the eldps.org site it seems that there is allot of neat items for sale - EL Coffee, mints, plates, glasses etc. - I'm going to guess these are recreation items? Pretty cool. I may have to do some Christmas shopping for the family.

-Justin

Justin,

All of our items are reproductions, as faithful to the originals as possible (and properly marked). We do have a nice stock of original menus that are available for sale.

My personal favorite is our recipe book. Since the recipes are from the passenger-lean 1960's the recipes are for small quantities and thus are ideal for home cooking. I am particularly fond of the corn fritters and the Apple Brown Betty.

Well I'll have to look into that stuff for Christmas. My Dad is a die hard EL fan (grew up in North Jersey and remebers going down to the station in the 60's with his Mom to pick up my Grandfather off the train and watching the tired and worn RS-3's tear out of the station) and my uncle, another EL fan, worked for them in the early 70's.

Looking at the website it says the NKP car you just restored will be based out of Scranton - is this the same plan for the rest of the cars, having everything based out of Scranton? Eitherway, keep up the good work - it's really amazing what you guys have done, not just with the City of Lima but everything else - the coffee, menus etc. - you guys have really raised the bar of railroad preservation.

-Justin

Thank you for the kind words! We strive to be as authentic as possible in our restorations, both inside and outside our cars.

As a reminder, the website address is www.eldcps.org. I notice that the 'c' was left off the above notes.