Last_Train_(bridge)
In contract bridge, Last Train refers to a bid just below game level in the agreed suit. A Last Train bid is typically made in a bidding sequence in which one of the partners has already indicated slam interest.
A survey in the magazine The Bridge World showed a strong consensus approving the Last Train convention, with the following definition:
“Any time there is only one call that indicates slam interest or further slam interest without raising the partnership’s level of commitment, it is a Last Train slam-try, unrelated to the strain named (unless followed by an uninvited further action).”
The convention was both devised by Jeff Meckstroth[1] and named by him after the Monkees song "Last Train to Clarksville".
Because Last Train is a bidding convention with a special meaning under a partnership agreement, subject to National Regulatory Authority rules, it must be alerted. In the absence of any partnership agreement, most players would interpret the Last Train bid as a control bid, showing a high card value in the suit named.