Other Diners

While staying in Boston, we drove down to Rhode Island, and ate at the "Modern Diner" in Pawtucket.  This is a classic Sterling Streamliner.   They seem to do a good business and are open all day.   And the menu has a wide variety of foods.

I'd never heard of  linguiça before, (that's lin-GWEE-sah) but it's a spicy sausage of Portuguese origin somewhat like chorizo.  It seems to be popular for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in southern Massachusetts and RI.  So I had linguiça for breakfast.  I like to order unusual foods that are unique to the area or the restaurant.

The Sterling Streamliner is cute, but bears only a slight resemblance to anything that ever actually ran on rails.  Like most manufactured diners, it's too wide, and/or too short, or otherwise obviously not a real carbody.

Ralph's Diner in Worcester, on the other hand, is probably the most convincing replica I've ever seen.  I was thinking it must be a Boston and Worcester car until I got out the book and found it had the wrong number of windows.  You'll also notice that the clerestory windows don't line up with the main windows, and that's another giveaway.  

 

It's actually a Worcester Lunch Car, and is currently part of a local bar and only open in the evenings.  I didn't bother to go back and try to get pictures of the interior. 

While you're here, Hunter Lohse, a member of WRM, has posted a slide show of his recent photos on YouTube at this link.  It includes Orange Empire, the CTA, East Troy, etc. but the segment featuring the IRM Trolley Pageant starts at about 4:22 and goes to nearly the end.   Enjoy!