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Reply to "Trains, Trolleys, and Diners: The real story"

Scale Rail, your Fog City photos are really inviting! It looks like a really fun place.  This diner is what diner fans call an "on-site" diner because it wasn't built by one of the typical diner manufacturers and then shipped to the location.  As far as diner buildings go, it's a young'un having been built in 1985.   There are a few diners serving nouvelle cuisine, which can be surprising to those who just want eggs sunny-side up any time of the day :-)

From your photos, it almost looks like it has two "looks": the funky neon lettering with the 50s-style checkerboard walls and a patio versus what looks like a more restrained side, more in the classic dining car style of maybe the forties and the switch to block lettering for the name. The placement of the side lights nearer to the sidewalk instead of the more typical location in between the windows is an interesting touch.  Someday I hope to add a post comparing external and internal lighting on these rail and trolley conversions with diner buildings.  The external placement of side lights makes the buildings -- converted cars or otherwise -- look like a railcar turned inside out.

Then there's that vertical work on the roof-line.  I see the addition of vertical lines as one of the big design departures from the railcar look.  It's more down-to-earth than the sense of horizontal movement you see on a railcar.  But that's enough of my blathering about architecture; thanks for the nice photos.

TRRR

Last edited by TomlinsonRunRR

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