ex-BN Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I found it interesting how the film used scantily
> clad women that had "forgotten" to close the
> sleeping compartment door or section curtain as
> enticement to voyeuristic men traveling on the
> train. The young woman (7:40) is shown in a
> see-through nightie with her bedroom door wide
> open. Not to mention the legs sticking out of the
> section curtain.
>
> Was the NYC considered a more "hip" railroad to
> ride (and play) on than the PRR? And how
> disappointed were the business travelers on the
> 20th Century Limited to find that the train was
> mostly men snoring the night away and not filled
> with starlets that were too careless to shut the
> door?
>
> It all gives a new meaning to the "Romance of the
> rails".

Earlier in the film (5:26), a young man and woman in the observation who exchange very quick glances at each other. Whether anything more happens is left to the viewers' imagination.

Many know that Alfred Hitchcock certainly understood the "Romance of the Rails" on the Water Level Route with the 20th Century Limited scenes in North By Northwest.

It's interesting to note that even Amtrak promotes romance (or the possibilities for romance on the 20th Century Limited's successor:

Amtrak Lake Shore Limited Poster