Vintage photos show how glamorous train travel used to be

• Vintage photos from decades ago show how traveling by train used to be a lot fancier.
• First-class cabins were furnished like living rooms and included radio gramophones.

Traveling by train was pretty swanky in the early to mid-1900s, and it hasn't gone out of style. Today, Japan's bullet trains can make the trip from Tokyo to Osaka in just 2 1/2 hours, and in the US, Amtrak is working on high-speed trains to launch in 2024.

Still, the lavish furnishings and fine dining of the past hold a special place in the railroad's rich history. These vintage photos show how glamorous train travel used to be.

People used to dress up for train travel.

Passengers waiting with their luggage to board the first special passenger train to London in 1909.      Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Passengers wore fascinators and white gloves — no sweats or hoodies here.

Employees of Messrs Carreras peer out of their railway carriage window prior to departure from Charing Cross Station in London in 1934.      E. Dean/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Traveling was an event.

Employees of Messrs Carreras waving from the platform prior to departure from Charing Cross Station, London, in 1935.      E. Dean/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Railway carriages were spacious and well-lit.

The interior of a train carriage circa 1934.      Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images

First-class cars in particular were tastefully decorated.

Cleaners at work in the luxurious coach Minerva in 1938.      Fox Photos/Getty Images

Furnished like living rooms, they came complete with armchairs, drapes, and carpeting.

The luxurious first class lounge on board a London Midland and Scottish Royal Scot train in 1928.      Edward G Malindine/Getty Images

This first-class car evokes the ancient Momoyama style of Japanese art.

A luxurious Japanese Railway Department observation car circa 1920.      Fox Photos/Getty Images

Celebrities like Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger enjoyed the comforts of first-class cars.

Paul McCartney of the Beatles and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones sit opposite each other on a train at Euston Station, London, in 1967.      Victor Blackman/Express/Getty Images

Second class wasn't quite as glamorous, but it still ensured a cushy ride.

Passengers in the second-class coach of a Hikari Train in Japan, circa 1965.      Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Restaurant cars hosted guests with elegant table settings.

A new British Railways restaurant car at Waterloo Station in London in 1949.      Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Passengers dined on fine china.

Passengers in a first-class dining saloon in 1951.      Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Some trains offered food buffet-style.

A corridor buffet car on show at Waterloo station in London in 1938.      J. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Others employed dapper servers to pour drinks.

Diners in the restaurant car on a Great Western Railway oil-fired locomotive in 1946.      Harrison /Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

In cars equipped with radio gramophones, passengers could enjoy music and radio programs while draped in fur.

Passengers listen to a radio gramophone on a LNER train carriage in 1930.      Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images

Playing cards was also a popular pastime.

Passengers in a BEA Vickers Viking play a game of cards in 1947.      Fox Photos/Getty Images

As was reading the newspaper.

Passengers listen to the wireless on board a train on the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1930.      Fox Photos/Getty Images

Sleeper cars featured upholstered beds with plenty of room to spread out.

A woman reading in a sleeper car in 1905.      Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

Sleeper-car attendants would bring passengers morning cups of tea on trays.

An LMS sleeper car attendant brings a passenger a cup of tea in 1945.      Fox Photos/Getty Images

Traveling back then still involved the same crowded rush as it does now.

Passengers waiting for the Cornish Riviera express train at Paddington Station, London, in 1924.      E. Bacon/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

But there was also a special thrill to riding the railroad that's hard to come by these days.

Milkmen from United Dairies on one of the LNER trains chartered at King's Cross Station, London, in 1932.      J. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images