As someone who appreciates watching as many trains as possible go by (live ones) from a relatively safe, comfortable location, and who also happens to appreciate good food (or my version of it) I was wondering if anyone out there who travels the USA extensively (or knows their own corner of it like the back of their hand) knows of the best greasy spoons/cafes/restaurants located within sight distance of Class I mainlines. To give an example, I understand that in KCMO, for example, there’s a cafe/diner that isn’t all that great, but is basically surrounded (if that’s possible) by about three mainlines that converge on each other, so that you can go there just about any time of day or night and watch some kind of train movement going in and out of KC. In some cases, these places can even be railroad-themed, in Vancouver, WA for example, there is/used to be a restaurant called “The Crossing”, it’s within about 50 feet of the BNSF mainline and just a stone’s throw from the Columbia River, so you must see at least 4-5 trains/hour, if you’re sitting in the right “dining car” (the restaurant operates out of a couple of NP dining cars). It was a little expensive, but what a great way to while away the hours, eh?! I don’t expect that I’ll get enough responses to classify by category, but I love barbecue, so, any rib shacks along Class I’s to promote?!
A few Wisconsin and Milwaukee area examples. On the CP (former Soo, former Milw Road) main line, on State Street, Saz’s State House is right on the main and in the summer has some outdoor seating that would give you good views of the main west of town. They are famous locally for their ribs by the way; in season there is a decent chance to see pro athletes eating there
Further west in Oconomowoc the old depot has been turned into a restaurant and if you are lucky your seating will be at a window facing the main. they also have some outdoor seating in the summer with a superb view of the rails. There is a lot of rail related stuff inside too and a passenger car outside. http://www.foodspot.com/mainstreetdepot/
In Burlington Wisconsin the CN (former WC, former Soo Line) main passes very near the Charcoal Grill but even though they made the restaurant look like a depot, they arranged the windows and seating so that relatively few seats look out on the rails. Duh! I have never had the ribs at a Charcoal Grill but their chicken is good. http://www.burlingtonchamber.org/life/restaurants.php
Sobelman’s in Milwaukee on St Paul features outdoor seating in full few of the CP tracks just west of the Amtrak depot. Their hamburgers are large and delicious. I do not know what the sight lines are like inside. h
My favorite spot is Palmer, MA on the CSX B&A line and NECR main – the lines cross at a diamond at the station. Inside the restored station is the Steaming Tender…great food, eat in or take out menus (I want to go back and try a steak but don’t know if I can sit inside that long with trains passing by).
There is a couple of good places here in Arizona. Up on the BNSF Trans-Con, you can find great places in Kingman and Flagstaff to sit and watch. Nice thign about the T-C, there is alot of action, with mid-day weel trains totals getting up into a train every 15-20 minutes each way.
In Kingman, there is a place on the far west side of town on the Route 66, that is a nice burger joint. Great view of the tracks, and across the street is a Santa Fe 4-8-4 on display.
In Flagstaff, there a slew of places. My favs are ther Bun Huggers (burger joint) and just hanging out by the Amtrak Station. Across street are bunch of bars that serve food too.
My vote is for the Alpha restaurant in Ft. Madison, IA. Your window seat looks across US61 to BNSF’s Transcon main line. It is part of a historic hotel B&B (I forget its name) and the food is great. Try their catfish sandwich. With your honey across the table and trains in the background, how does it get any better?
Funny you should mention barbecue/bbq: if you happen to find yourself in Little Rock, my place is right on the Union Pacific mainline that runs from Texarkana to North Little Rock…about 45 trains or so in a 24 hour period.
And right across the tracks, as in my store smells like bbq all day, is 3 Sams BBQ. The BBQ joint is so close to the tracks the building shakes when trains go by. Very popular place around here. Lotta food for decent money.
The BBQ afficianados ask me, well what kind of BBQ is it? I used to answer, they have pork and beef. They say, no…is it KC style? Texas? Memphis? North Carolina? Holy cow…I never knew there were so many different flavors. Anyway, with the good food and the trains, that should qualify for a category!
Another good restaurant in Iowa is the Broom Factory in Cedar Falls, which has tables next to windows overlooking the CNIC east/west main (less than 100 feet away) and its bridge over the Cedar River.
In Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin there’s a very nice family restaurant (I forgot the name of it) right across US-18 from the BNSF double-track main on the south side of town- lots of windows and an unobstructed view.
Canazar…have you ever tried the Crown Railroad Cafe in Flagstaff? That is my all time favorite when I travel out there. It is on the east side of town and has pretty good food and cheap. Right across the street from the BNSF.
About 10 years ago I was making regular trips from NW Indiana to Dubuque, Iowa. Once I took a different route (scenic) and went thru Lena, Il and Warren, Il and then rejoined US 20 at Galena. I stopped at Warren to eat and the diner was called “Land 'o Corn” named after the IC passenger train in the 50’s/60’s. I had a good lunch there (typical small town diner) and then watched as two CCP trains, each with about 9 GP10’s met there.
Yeah, that’s probably the one. It’s called “The Crossing”. It’s closer to the Amtrak depot than it is the I-5, right in between the two legs of the Fallbridge Sub, one of which crosses the Columbia River into Portland, the other (this leg is the one you can watch out of the window) connects with the northbound UP-GN joint mainline to Kalama, Tacoma and Seattle. Their “Gandy rolls” were quite nice, if a little expensive, and they were situated in two ex-NP dining cars, with lots of classic photos and railroad paraphernalia. I don’t know if they’re still in business, though, I haven’t been back there for several years.