This evening I just stumbled on yet another interurban car turned diner turned ... well it's waiting to be restored back to an interurban car by the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. I'm not sure if some of the photos of the trolley and its diner incarnation are copyrighted, so I'll just provide links.
The Berkshire Hills was built in 1902 by Wason Manufacturing Co. as a very high-end electric parlor car. Wason was a J. G. Brill subsidiary, which along with the parent company, also built restaurant diner buildings. Around 1932?, the car was sold for $300 and became the Berkshire Hills Diner in Pittsfield, MA. The diner became part of a larger restaurant that had a fire in 1994. This event paved the way for the car's shell to be donated to the Trolley Museum, where it is currently in storage.
Parlor car historical and technical details from the Seashore Trolley Museum:
https://www.trolleymuseum.org/collection/National/297
The car's diner phase:
http://forum.bustalk.info/view...da235761bcb7ecfc0808
Pictures of the original car and the later diner together:
https://sites.google.com/site/...ogram-8--more-photos
Some nice historical photographs, including a fantastic interior view (also shown in a link above):
http://www.newdavesrailpix.com...satonic_1903_092.htm
http://www.newdavesrailpix.com...ksquare_1904_028.htm
http://newdavesrailpix.com/ber...lls_interior_091.htm
Surprises: some 50's-ish diner buildings had rounded ends with curved glass windows at the building's "corners". This is something that would seem impractical in a rail car, interurban, or trolley because of the way cars were connected and or people would enter and exit the cars. But apparently the Berkshire Hills had some curved glass windows. From the pictures it looks like it might have been on the car ends.
Tomlinson Run Railroad
