Trains, Trolleys, and Diners: The real story

I visited the Steaming Tender Restaurant in Palmer, MA during the 2009 NMRA convention.  They have a restored diner as part of the restaurant.  Here are some photos that I took.

This is the restaurant's website.  It has an interesting history.

http://steamingtender.com/palmer-union-station/

NH Joe

Thanks for posting, NH Joe.  Nice photos but personally I would called that a "restored dining car" to avoid confusion with the specific diner architecture :-}.  I was actually considering stopping in Palmer on my vacation (if I ever get around to scheduling a vacation, that is). Those photos are tempting me.

And, in a truly odd twist of fate, it seems as though we have lost one more trolley-turned-diner. The Veteran's Diner in RI is now ... no, not gone but ... a trolley again!  Check out:

http://www.classiccars.ws/proj...adtrolley/index.html

Well, and I guess why not? But as a fan of both diners and trolleys, it's hard to know which incarnation to root for.  At least I got to photograph it when it was a "diner".

Tomlinson Run RR

The old "Sterling Diners" certainly had the general appearance of a railroad car. I remember there was one near Fairport NY and my brother's girl friend was a waitress there in the 1960's.

 photo from internet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diner

Inspired by the streamlined trains, and especially the Burlington Zephyr, Roland Stickney designed a diner in the shape of a streamlined train called the Sterling Streamliner in 1939.^[1] Built by the J.B. Judkins coach company, who had built custom car bodies,^[2] the Sterling and other diner production ceased in 1942 at the beginning of American involvement in World War II.

The one diner I tried to find was one made from a McKeen car in the Toledo, Ohio area.  I found it had been destroyed by fire.  Judkins made custom bodies often found on recognized classic 1920's Lincoln automobiles with the Leland designed 60 degree V-8 engine.

Kind of (sorta) related, does anyone remember the Victoria Station restaurant chain? http://www.vicsta.com/#!Victoria Station Denver/zoom/cp3k/image3a9

Ace, that photo reminds me of a Silk City-built (rare) diner in Lake George, NY. Sadly, I just learned that it burned. If this trend of diner restaurants that I've visted disappearing keeps up, I'm going to have to switch to dinner trains and converted train station restaurants for my foodie "life list". Or, better yet, perhaps I'd best stay away. 

CO Highrailer, you've piqued my interest - tomorrow I'll check out my 2011 list to see if the Toledo McKeen conversion was in it.  It's great when you can arrange a trip to combine hobbies, interests, and of course, good food but so disappointing when you find something hasn't survived or if lucky was moved.

UPDATE: Fixed embarrasing typo.

Yes! There was a Victoria's Station in Burlington, MA that I once ate at but it is long gone.  Now there's a kit-bashing project where you could utilize a bunch of those unpainted boxcars normally intended to be made into a hobo hotel ...

Tomlinson Run Railroad 

Yes, I too, have seen and once ate in a Victoria's Station Restaurant, I think it was in Columbus, Ohio, and I saw another maybe in Louisville, Kentucky.  I remember all the boxcars around it, and the closed facility, before it was torn down.   Here in the midwest we seemed to get the chain restaurants before the east, such as McDonald's (I ate at the only one in my college town while in school) in the late 1950's, and when I began trips to central and eastern Pa. about 1970,  I had trouble finding appealing places to eat.  We did not like the atmosphere of "diners".   No problem finding any chain restaurants there now!  Now, of course, I like to find good, different, restaurants, but when traveling there is sometimes comfort in familiarity.  Several restaurant chains, Sambo's for one, that I frequented, have vanished.  

Many years ago when I went to Erie, Pa. on business  I ate in a restaurant that was a rail car, not a dining car. I have no idea if it is still there.

I checked, and there was a Victoria's Station in Louisville, Kentucky, that I never got to.  The above posting reminds me of a rail car that was a resturant on a siding in northwest Columbus, Ohio.  I ate there once, and it was gone.

tripleo posted:

Kind of (sorta) related, does anyone remember the Victoria Station restaurant chain? http://www.vicsta.com/#!Victoria Station Denver/zoom/cp3k/image3a9

Yes, I absolutely do!  Their prime rib and salad bar were awesome!  The building incorporated old boxcars.

The last one I recall seeing (is it still there?) was near the mall in Bedford, MA.  There used to be one in Monroeville, PA, but I haven't driven through that area in years.

George

https://oregonencyclopedia.org..._c1921_005568_sm.jpg

The former Oregon Electric station in Eugene Oregon is now a restaurant and bar with rail cars behind the station serving as dining rooms. It's within a block of the Amtrak station.

http://www.oesrestaurant.com/gallery/

photo by Ace 2003

In the 1970's the building was used for a regional branch of the Portland OMSI museum. The inside of the building was divided up into separate areas with lower ceilings and a planetarium, losing all the character of the original station. In back were an old SP&S baggage car and coach, used for a museum-affiliated model railroad club layout and classroom space. I had a weekend job at the museum during my early high school years, and was also involved with the model railroad club where I made some lifelong friends.

This was the OE track arrangement at the Eugene old depot circa 1970: Portland to the left, end of track at right.

The building was sold after 1980 and redeveloped into the present restaurant, which has restored much of the original character of the station. The baggage car which housed the model railroad was converted into a kitchen area, I heard. You can see some of the rail cars in Google street views, although they are mostly roofed over now. The museum had two baggage cars and a coach; the restaurant redevelopment brought in some additional rolling stock by truck.

Oregon Electric Station, Eugene Oregon

photo by Ace 1970

RS3 locos like BN#4065 (still in SP&S paint) used to go down 5th Street until the tracks were paved over in the 1970's. I have photos of an old SP&S baggage car being delivered (donated) to the museum circa 1970, if I ever get the slides scanned.

The former Oregon Electric Station in Albany Oregon is now a pizza restaurant. The architecture is similar to the Eugene station, but smaller.

photos by Ace 2007

Oregon Electric passenger service down the Willamette Valley ended in 1933, but these two former stations have survived as restaurants.

George,

The Victoria Station you remember in Bedford, Mass. may have been the one I went to. It was across the highway from the Burlington Mall.  The Bedford and Burlington town lines are very close at Mall Road. According to the following website, the only one of the chain left in the US was the last one built. It's in Salem, MA and looks gorgeous with large windows opening to the waterfront:

http://www.victoriastationsalem.com/1006/Page.aspx

In the second video, on the restaurant's Videos page, the manager says the Salem restaurant was the 99th and last one because number 100 was never built. And, she continues, Salem was the only one that didn't have seating in boxcars "which was a good thing".   To each her own :-).  However, there is a wall of RR memorabilia visible in the background of the video.

Trolleys->Diners->Trolleys Again/Streamliner Moderne

I've got some serious weekend errands to devote myself to right now. (It's like a 100 degrees in Mass. again and I simply MUST make sorbet before I along with the strawberries wilt). Later, hopefully I can scan and post my photos of two Sterling Streamliner-styled diners. The front ends will look VERY familiar to RR fans. One is still in Salem, MA.  So fans of Victoria Station, streamliner moderne styling, and diners can have a photo and food field day.

Also, I found a great picture of another trolley turned diner turned trolley again and will post the link.  Getting back to the original thrust of this post, I now have this observation: while the number of retired RR cars and trolleys that were repurposed as diner-style restaurants is much smaller than the manufacturers of plastic or wood layout models would lead us to believe, the conversion (encasement) of some into "diners" has saved at least two for restoration as trolleys. So far,  no evidence of a railroad car turned "diner" turned RR car again. Just joking.  There's no need ... unless maybe it was super rare.

On the other hand, when real diners burn or are the victims of arson, which they seem to often be when empty and even when active, they either go to the scrap heap or sit rotting in a field somewhere. Sound familiar? Both hobbies have dedicated preservationists, but sadly, you can't save them all.

Sorbet becons.

Tomlinson Running Out of Patience With This Heat Railroad

The 1910 McKeen car I alluded to, now restored:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...Railway_Motor_Car_22

TRRR

Ace, you have a great sense of history and railroading (real and model), and great pictures to back it up.  I loved seeing the track plan. Thanks!

Here are photos of the Sterling Streamliner diners that I have visited.  Sterling was the manufacturer and Streamliner the model name.  A clear RR knockoff. The handful of surviving Streamliners apparently have fallen on hard times, including one of these. The side view should be very familiar to RR enthusiasts!  Of course the food fare between the country's most "moderne" trains and community diners couldn't have been more different, but there's no hiding the fact that the architecture in this case was directly copying the famous engines.

Another possible source for the tight coupling/conflation of diner architecture with dining cars and trolleys in the popular mind may be a direct result of how diner owners named their restaurants.  In the Sterling Streamliner link below, you'll see how frequently "Flyer" appears in the title, such as "Yankee Flyer" and "Penn State Flyer"; and then there was the one named "Dining Car".  Very suggestive of popular regional trains.  Perhaps the 'Dining Car' owner was trying to present an image of the RR dining car, which provided the finest fresh food to set each road apart from the competition. In the illustrations in this link, notice also the use of portholes on the center doors.  You'll also see some diner buildings with dual slanted ends -- they look a bit like an MU, don't they? :-)  Other diners, including at least one Streamliner knock-off, can be found with "trolley" in their names, too.

    https://dinerhunter.com/2012/0...erling-streamliners/

Lastly, I'm including two railroad-themed diner photos that aren't Streamliners, along with an especially photogenic "semi-streamliner".  I'm not aware of any 'semi-streamliner' design equivalent in the train world but they remind me a bit of Pullman or heavy passenger cars.  For the restaurants, the stainless steel was sometimes an add-on over the original enamel siding.

Enjoy!

Tomlinson Run Railroad

P.S. -- Like RR stock and trolleys, most diners had builder's plates with a serial number.

Examples of Streamliners

1940 Sterling Streamliner #406, formerly in Salem, NH. Now apparently sitting in a field in CT since 2005.  The slanted side's windows are covered in this picture but the web contains others were they are visible -- along with a classic chevron stripe across the front. 8/27/1994.

1941 Sterling Streamliner #4110, Pawtucket, RI. Checkout the slanted end, the windows, and that great paint. This one still has its chevron. Summer 2000.

Examples of RR-influenced Names

The Pig 'n Whistle, 1952 Mountain View (mfr). Brighton, MA. It got its name from the stockyards and railroads that were once near by.  This one is now closed but still standing. 24 June 2000.

Henry's Diner, now The Breakfast Club. Worcester #841, Allston, MA. This one's a puzzle: from Google satellite there are no obvious former RR tracks nearby, and yet this diner sports a railroad crossing sign topped by a chef's hat!  Cute by unfathonable to me :-}.

Photogenic Semi-streamliner

1941 The Rosebud Diner, Worcester #773, Davis Square, Somerville, MA (take the "T" to it!) 6/24/2000.

Yep, I remember Victoria Station in Alexandria and Fairfax VA, Gaithersburg MD, and also Willow Grove PA. Each one had an assortment of real rolling stock converted into dining areas.

P-Town Caboose Coffee Shop in Pacifica, CA.  Matt

For kicks I'm researching which former RR cars and trolleys are still functioning as "diners" since I created a list of known ones some years ago.  In the process, I uncovered the fact that one so-called diner consisted of not one but seven RR cars (per an article; Google shows five visible).  Sort of a Victoria Station before there was such a thing.

One car was supposed to be FDR's reelection car and because there was a recent post about FDR's car's I thought I'd post the following link.  Scroll past the Chinese food photos to get to the interior shots of the Presidential Car. It's now part of the "Orient Express" (nee Andy's Diner) in So. Seattle, Washington:

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsou...ailcar_my_lunch.html

Nice woodwork!  There's a brief mention of the prior history of one of the other railroad cars as well.

Tomlinson Run Railroad

There's a Birney car that is part of a restaurant in Skippack, PA.

On the old diner front we ate at the Cloister Restaurant in Ephrata PA whose modern exterior hides a classic stainless diner from somewhere in the 30's to the 50's.  They were closing so I couldn't see if there was any manufacturing information or "tag" as the diner site on the web calls them.

It even has opening windows reminiscent of a passenger car or school bus window. 

Here's a post card shot from thebay:

Rule292/Rob, thanks for the tip about the Birney car. It wasn't on my old list -- maybe because it wasn't pretending to be a diner?  The all-knowing, all-seeing interweb has a picture of it when it was The Trolley Stop on Rt. 73 in Skippack, PA.  It's an undisguised trolley. The blog post says it was painted in the colors of the Reading Transit System.

Today it is part of the Hotel Fiesole in Skippack and sporting a new look:

Hotel Fiesole with Birney Restaurant

Interior of the Trolley 

A very toney looking hotel has some how successfully grafted a Birney trolley onto its front and made the whole thing look classy and oh so European.

The Ephrata restaurant where you ate is hiding a circa 1950 Silk City-manufactured diner.  What a great postcard!

Thanks for a most interesting pointer to a nicely restored and functional bit of transportation history.

Tomlinson Run Railroad