Hi John/Jay Jay,
Thanks for the great link and contribution to this topic. The photos are superb and it's nice that the article focused on Steve Harwin's many restoration projects. I, too, was struck by the part that said that there are some areas of the country where people didn't like sitting with strangers. That's so much a part of the appeal and fun of eating in a diner, as well as in a dining car for that matter.
I have the Venus Diner listed on Rt. 8 in the Gibsonia section of Pittsburgh and no other info, so it's good to know where it is now. The diner was manufactured by the Fodero Dining Car Company, Bloomfield, NJ (1933-1981). They were known for their stainless steel work and for their 1940s "winged clock". The clock is evocative of the wings found on UP engines and around headlights on trolleys. There are photo examples of both in an earlier post of mine in this thread. Jim, I really like that curved glass and didn't know that Butler had a manufacturer there. Interestingly, I found one or two trolleys that used curved windows. I will try and dig up pictures sometime; it seems like an impractical choice for actual cars. First it takes up space on the ends where the doors usually are, and second I would think that curved glass would be under greater stress than flat glass and so at risk for cracking when in transit.
Thanks again,
Tomlinson Run Railroad
