I used to remember when I went on vacation with my parents we used to stop at resturants that were or still are the railroad mainline.[dinner][C=:-)][dinner] My favorites are (or were[xx(][angel]) Mcdonalds &Carls Jr in Mohave California (ex Santa Fe &Southern Pacific now BNSF & Union Pacific), El Charro Cafe in Lordsburg New Mexico (ex Southern Pacific now Union Pacific), The Santa Fe Grill & The Old Spaghetti Factory in Fullerton California (ex Santa Fe now BNSF) & R.I.P [xx(][[angel]xx(] Dennys off of Indio Blvd in Indio California (ex Southern Pacific now Union Pacific). Does anyone recall a favorite eatery or resturant that near the railroad’s mainline & if it still in operation of if it closed?[swg] Also does anyone ever what became of the old Dennys off of Indio Blvd (near a Best Western motel) in Indio California & who opened in its place[:D]??
As a young teenager (1956-58) I would bike up to the Seaboard Station in Raleigh on Sat morning, eat breakfast at the dinner inside before biking over to the Boylan Street tower for some serious train watching: Seaboard, Southern, and Norfolk Southern (the original). Sure wish I’d had the camera equipment and know how then that I have now.
John
As a youngster mom would occasionally treat my sister and me to lunch at Wimpy’s hamburgers located on the northeast edge of the Chicago Loop. From the big plate glass windows facing the elevated tracks I remember seeing a variety of Brill, Pullman, St. Louis Car Company, “Cincinatti Heavyweights,” and even a set of Electroliner equipment making its way around the tight curve just above the intersection of Lake St. and Wabash Ave. I can’t remember which I enjoyed more, the meal or watching those magnificent trains pass by.
A year ago I discovered a great place in downtown Elmhurst, Ill. The place is called the 100 South Chop House and it’s located approximately 75-ft. south and a mile-and-a-half west of Proviso Yard. Not only is the food pretty good, but the place has sidewalk tables hard by the Union Pacific west coast mainline. The best time to have dinner there is during the weeknight rush hour when a constant parade of commuter express trains, commuter locals, manifest freights, coal buckets, and double stacks pass by the tables. Never has that hour of the day when we wish to view the affairs of the world through the frosty glow of a well mixed martini been so grand as those magnificent cocktails enjoyed at the 100 South Chop House.
Back in from the late sixties into the eighties we used to go on family vacations to Port Arthur / Ft. William Ontario (“Thunder Bay” since 1970 or so). There’s a nice park on Lake Superior that we would go to, and on the way back to town there was a little hot dog and ice cream place - really just a walk-up “shack” - that we’d stop at. Their parking lot was right along the tracks, so you could sit in your car or at a picnic table eating ice cream and watch CN GMD-1’s and CP Rail F’s go by with trains. It was pretty neat. I went back a few years ago, most stuff is the same there but the ice cream shack is gone. Unfortunately, although I took some train pics there, I never thought to take a pic of it.
As I recall, the Knight Light (sp?) in Dyersville, Iowa had a pretty decent view of the IC/ICG/CC - and now - CN’s Iowa Division mainline. Sadly the place was closed the last time I drove by and don’t know when/if it’s going to reopen or not. Would have been a real treat to enjoy a fine steak there and watch those meat trains roar by back in the 60’s.
Also, at Lansing, Iowa there’s a restaurant and pub (can’t remember the name off the top of my head) that’s literally right along the CP/ICE mainline (a.k.a. “My Mainline”!) as the track goes through the middle of the street for a short stretch in town. Good fish, steaks, and burgers can be had there and a pretty decent place to down a few cold ones with ESPN on the big screens! [dinner]
I have fond memories of vacation trips and diners by the railroad tracks. This was one of the pleasures of auto travel before the interstates. One that comes to mind was a trip my family took to the east coast in 1955.We took US 30 east from Chicago after stopping for lunch in Wheaton Illinois where I saw both C&NW and CA&E in action.We followed US 30 east where it ran beside the Pennsy main east of Valpariso Indiana.Sadly no action and we turned north on US 31 to pick up US 6 which we would take heading for Cleveland.I saw glimpses of the B&O as we headed east but no trains. We stopped at Waterloo Indiana for supper at a place called the Green Parrot cafe. It had a counter with stools and high back booths. My sister and I were spinning around on the stools which was driving my mother nuts; then a whistle and we stopped. That passenger train was so fast it was almost a blur. The waitress told us; kids that was the Twentieth Century Limited that just shook the joint! In 1995 I decided to see if the Green Parrot was still there, it was remodeled and still in business. What was even better was that a Conrail freight still shook the joint. I hope that they are still in business.
Back in the 1980s I lived in and around Flagstaff, Arizona. After spending time at the Flagstaff Model Railroad Club on Thursday nights a group of us would “go to coffee”. This usually involved sitting around a table at a restaurant within sight of the Santa Fe mainline along East Santa Fe Avenue (US 66). Our two favorite places were Denny’s near the double crossovers at milepost 342 and The Crown out further to the east. Both had their moments in perfecting our BSing and trainwatching skills. The Ed Mosser photo below was taken a couple of years ago when he visited Flag. Thanks Ed
Ed
Back in the early 70’s, one could set in a {near}, trackside restaurant on the main drag in Kingman, Az…{old rt. 66}, and witness the ongoing Sante Fe action right across the street. Believe it was named “Jade”…Not my favorite place to eat, but one sure could check the many, massive powered Sante Fe consists passing.
The Tidewater Grille, off Union Avenue, in Havre de Grace, MD overlooks Amtrak’s bridge across the Susquehanna River. The restaurant has tables on a covered patio and in the main dining area inside that gives diners (railfans) a good view of the action crossing the river. On week days there are approximately four trains an hour which are mostly Acela Express or Northeast Regionals; the count increases if you include the Silver Star, the Crescent, or an occasional Norfolk Southern local freight.
I had the opportunity to railfan with some friends in the Albany, NY area last month.
We were fanning in Amsterdam, NY and discovered a great place about 1/2 mile east of the Amsterdam, NY Amtrak station. Its called Russo’s.
Great Italian food…and a good view of the CSX mainline tracks from the front window.
Check it out if you are ever in that area.
Awesome food at Russo’s and right across the road from the tracks. Sit back, eat hot wings, have a few cold ones and watch trains go by.
The 100 South is only one of many that can be found in Elmhurst. The quantity and variety of restaurants there, all of which are just across the street from the tracks (either Park Street or First Street) is part of what makes that city so fantastic for train-watching. I haven’t had the pleasure of going to the 100 South yet (can’t forgive them for taking out the old Paradise Restaurant that used to be my favorite, in that spot), but my own favorites are Fontano’s for sandwiches and Two Brothers from Italy for bigger meals and entertainment of Forum friends.
Rochelle needs a good trackside restaurant!
Gee, I’m a little surprised that no one has mentioned Giuseppi’s yet. Located in what was the downtown Colorado Springs Rio Grande / Rock Island depot, Giuseppi’s largest dining room has a long wall equipped with plate glass windows that overlooks the BNSF/UP joint line. Oh, and yes, there’s a very famous 14,000+ ft. mountain that can also be seen from those same windows. The mountain’s name is “Pikes (something?).”
Holding’s Little America Hotel and Resort in Cheyenne, Wyoming used to have a coffee shop with a view of The Overland Route mainline, but that coffee shop was recently remodeled out of existance. However, the old Union Pacific passenger station (now owned by the City of Cheyenne) has a small restaurant, one which features outdoor seating that is just spittin’ distance from the U.P. tracks.
And while I’m writing about Wyoming, the decades old “Overland Deli” at 1st and Ivinson Sts. in downtown Laramie is closed. Apparently the founder retired and sold the business to some folks from out-of-state, people who didn’t know what it took to run that kind of restaurant. The quality suffered, patronage declined, and the place eventually folded-up. Although the fare was more oriented towards the “sprouts-and-tofu” crowd, the food was really excellent and the view of the Union Pacific mainline right across the street was superb. The late Dick Kindig loved the place.
There’s a fairly good Mexican restaurant housed in the old Pacific Electric station located in downtown Rialto, Calif. The adjacent trackage is still active, but it’s just an industrial spur today.
Bob, Pat and I received some really lousy service at the restaurant in the Cheyenne depot when we were there two years ago. I think it was purely the fault of our waiter, but only the location would bring us back.
Lots of good places close to the trains in Fullerton, California.
And Bob, if you’re ever in Elmhurst again, drop a note–I won’t indulge in a martini,but perhaps a steak or a chop–or pizza or pasta at “my” place, Two Brothers.
There used to be a Sambo’s restaurant in Alhambra CA. It was at the west end of the SPs Aurent yard.One night I saw a freight with 7 units .Each loco was a different model.It had everything from a SW1500 to a SD45T-2.
The Station (I think) in Northumberland, PA is the old PRR depot, at the south end of the yard of the same name on the Harrisburg, PA to Buffalo, NY line. Not much traffic these days compared to back when, but better than nothing.
Isn’t there a restaurant - German food, or maybe steaks of some kind ? - in the Portland, Oregon Union Station ?
In Eugene, OR, there just has to be a place that overlooks the ex-SP main line.
- Paul North.
The Mcdonalds in Durango CO is just down from the RR depot, right where the tracks cross College Ave. In the mornings & evenings you can sit there, watch & listen to the steam engines whistling for the crossing.
The RR Cafe in Washington Court House Ohio was the ( beanery ) for PRR crews many years ago. It sat at the crossover for PRR & C&O . There was quite a sight & sound when one of those EM 1s hit the crossing with a string of freight . I can still recall the oil smell mixed with what ever was cooking . There was always a cracked window in the lower left of a 6 over 4 . The joint just shook & tables and dishes rattled when a train hit either way on the crossover. ( in 1949 ) ~~~~ Cannonball
Carl:-
Two Brothers in Elmhurst sounds fine. I’ll be sure to remember to drop you a line the next time my travels take me that way.
As for the Cheyenne depot restaurant, the plaster ceiling, walls and ceramic tile floor mean that whenever there are more than about 15 people in the place you have to shout to be heard. Any more than 20, and you can’t hear yourself think. I pointed this deficiency out to a manager/owner one time and she was highly insulted that I could ever make such a complaint. Needless to say, my pocketbook gives them all of the support they deserve.
/s/ Bob
P E Cole’s Buffet, 6th & Main Sts., downtown Los Angeles.
For you unrepentant traction phreaques reading this, Cole’s Pacific Electric Buffet is located in the old Pacific Electric Building in a scudzier part of downtown Los Angeles. When I lived in the area during 1971, it was my favorite Saturday luncheon spot. The food there was pretty good, but the extensive collection of very old photographs hanging on the walls and authentic, old-timey atmosphere of the place was the real draw.
The place was closed for awhile due to the extensive conversion of the old P.E. Building into residential units. I understand that this restaurant and bar have reopened this year. I have every reason to believe it’s still a great place; but whether it’s turned into a “ptomaine tavern” or not, I’ll be sure to try it the next time I’m in town.