I'll give a plug for the old Kansas City Southern. Very few fans paid attention to this railroad.

KCS was assembled around the beginning of the 20th Century. It was designed to haul freight to and from Gulf Coast ports. If you were shipping grain from Kansas or Oklahoma to Europe, the cheapest way was via Gulf ports. KCS quietly went about its business. I believe it managed to stay out of bankruptcy during the depression. The company attitude was, "If you are going to do something, do it right."

KCS operated large modern steam locomotives. It started diesel conversion early. In 1940 it started operating the streamlined Southern Belle passenger train between Kansas City and New Orleans.

The only major mistake made by management was to assume that passenger business would continue to increase following World War II. KCS bought all new equipment for the Southern Belle passenger trains and used the pre-war streamlined equipment to start a new passenger train from Beaumont and Lake Charles to Kansas City.

Like Amtrak KCS operated buses to transport passengers from off-line communities. They were modern air-conditioned Flxible coaches painted in the same color scheme as the Southern Belle locomotives. KCS passenger trains ran fast and on time. When a flood caused track damage, KCS operated the Belle on a 100 mile detour via the KATY and still managed to arrive on time at Kansas City. (I was on that train).

I rode the Belle to New Orleans several times in the 1960's. The dining car crew was all African-American. If they had a white manager, I never saw him. Food was good southern home cooking. It also included fresh gulf seafood. I remember one lunch of delicious chicken fricassee. It cost $1.25 plus 25 cents for a glass of iced tea.