I’ll bet a good number of you have been to the Mc D’s restaurant that is at the I-15 / Hwy 138 exit on Cajon Pass. I’d noticed it there, but had never stopped until yesterday. Sitting in the dining area, you have a huge, panoramic view of the shared trackage, just above Sullivan’s curve and the UP line above that. While ordering, waiting and eating, I saw 3 trains go by. Nice place for lunch.
Ben there, done that. Want to do it again.
Ever notice how even the fast food is better once you get out of the city? I don’t know how you can screw up reheating a precooked item, but most of the places in the city seem to manage somehow. I got an egg mcmuffin the other day that looked like it had been run over.
Dave
http://www.dpdproductions.com
The difference between a Western Fast Food is a greeting and effort to help you, the eastern places… well no one has time or payroll budgeted for cleanup. =)
I enjoyed Cajon but I gotta say Techchapi (Spelling?) and Raton are pretty exciting as well.
I’ve never been to the Macs at Cajon Jct. I have been to Macs just outside of Argentine Yard on BNSF, and the one overlooking Enola Yard in Harrisburg and we have a Macs here in Kentucky just across the street from the Wye leading into the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant. I hereby nominate these three Mac locations for your consideration.
I’ve only ever been in one McDonalds in my life, that was enough!!!
It was on Wabash Avenue in Chicago, I’ve never been to one here in England and don’t plan to.
Malc.
Best Maccy D- dunno, most of them are pretty much the same
Worst Maccy D- DuBois Pa (wost coffee I have ever had in me life, a record that stands to this day)
Best restaurant I’ve been to wasn’t a McD’s - it was the Capitol centre in Cardiff before the refit. At that time, they had tables in the cafe overlooking the station across the road, so you got a near-constant stream of passenger traffic to watch! Sad to say, they moved everything around and lost that view.
I haven’t been to Cajon since 1997, but I don’t recall a Mc Donalds there although there was a conventional restaurant in which I’ve had a coffee on a couple of occasions in years past. Any idea how long the golden arches have been there?
M636C
well its a mcds and its in galetea ohio just off of I -75 along the former nyc line (now csx) a train does go by once in a great while while eating.
stay safe
Joe
I second SSW about the McD’s at Argentine Yard in KC
I have not been there for a few years – but the kids birthday party clubhouse was a real caboose!
Dave Nelson
The resturant you are refering to was Tiffany’s. I ate there many times. I even made a deal to buy a car there over breakfast. The resturant closed in the late 90’s, I don’t remember when. It got vandalized over the years and was in terrible shape, but still there last summer. When I went up there in September I noticed it was completely gone. I looks like it burned down, but it may have been leveled.
I think the McDonalds was built in 99’ but don’t hold me to that as I was out of the area for a few years. I have ate there probably 100 times but I have never been inside. Just hit the drive through and back to the tracks. I don’t know about best in the word though. I think the McDonalds in Barstow is better. Not only is it trackside on a slightly busier main, the dining area is inside an old passenger car!!!
Mcdonalds is consistently mediocre food nation wide. I have eaten at more of them than I can count, and that about sums it up in a sentence. The one in Barstow is pretty cool though.
[dinner] Not to get to off of the topic… Are there any restaurants that have specifically setup so that diners can watch the trains while they eat and advertise as such??
CC
How about downtown DeKalb IL. Its the only Mcdonalds Ive eaten this year. Seein those UP stack trains fly by from those windows is something else!! All trains seem to be moving at least 10 mph faster than anywhere else!!
McDonalds (MacDonalds) and the words good food in the same sentence?? yikes
McDonald’s??
If you are ever in the Cincinnati Oh area, go across the river to Covington KY and eat at a place called “Riverfront Pizza”. You can watch CSX crossing the old C&O bridge over the Ohio River leading into Queensgate.
You will never eat a hoagie like they serve there.
Don’t like hoagie’s? There’s a Skyline Chili right next door. Just pick out a window seat and watch the trains from there.
Brian (KY)
I’ll vouch for the McDona’d’s in DeKalb. It’s a mandatory drink stop stop on the bike trips to or from Rochelle.
(Sidestepped the food-quality issue rather nicely, didn’t I?)
Timetable speed on UP track through DeKalb is 70. Most trains will be slower than that due to equipment restrictions and ahem traffic density. One of the tracks through town (north track, IIRC) is to be relaid with concrete ties this year.
Arrgghhhhhh. I still have nightmares about something whcih allegedly contained bacon, egg and something else at Gatwick Airport in the UK whilst waiting for a flight to Aberdeen. Made airline food taste like Michelin 5 stars in comparison.
restaurant - is this an early April Fool?
I can’t imagine trains going through DeKalb at 70.
On the other hand, mediocre is putting it nicely when referring to McDonalds. Last time I bought breakfast there they gave me an egg mcmuffin without the egg.