Derailed Restaurants (AKA: Would you eat it on a tram, SAM I AM?)

[Hines (Bill)]

@Hines

until I discovered @Devon_Sinsley Devon’s cooking thread.

So, after reading LSC Chef Devon’s post and learning you can openly admit, on the LSC, to having other hobbies in addition to railroading, I thought I enjoy food and rail, where around here can I do that?

I was reminded about the defunct Colonial Tramcar Restaurant that used to travel various places from the CBD in Melbourne along its vast tram network to the suburbs and back.

Now, historically, the view out of the restaurant tram was ok, not spectacular and most times, there was a car or truck that blocked the view, but… it was alway packed with locals and tourists. The food was good and the clickity clack was perfect.

Google took me here instead!

Somebody has put 3 train carriages on a roof and made it into a restaurant!

I know! The train goes absolutely nowhere! NOWHERE I SAY! Nowhere.

I know little about it other than it is a high end burger joint on Easey street.

These carriages, pictured above, reportedly look out over the city with great views.

It’s a It made me wonder if it’s blasphemy to ask on this forum if anyone knows of other railway themed places, diners or dinner trains near them that they would go first, for the food and secondly for the view, the smell of soot or diesel or the ride?

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Oh and Devon, if you’re reading this, and if emigration is on your bucket list… we’ve got one of these in broad gauge, no less, and a roundly-round at the national railway museum and a spice importer warehouse just down the road.

…happy to forward them your resumè.

[smcgill (Sean McGillicuddy)]

Were do you hail from Bill this would help with most reply’s…

[Devon_Sinsley]

I still consider that very much a railroad hobby

[PeterT]

@Hines

if anyone knows of other railway themed places, diners or dinner trains near them that they would go first, for the food and secondly for the view, the smell of soot or diesel or the ride?

Where do you start? I have to confess I don’t go to any of these for the food first - the railroad theme is the draw!

• the Rail Stop in Allston, Boston, is right by the tracks and the access to the freight yard, so you get MBTA commuters and big freights to watch over lunch.
• all those Victoria Station restaurants across the country, filled with memorabilia, often bought at the British Rail scrap shop in London. The Victoria Station at Universal Studios, LA, was particularly interesting, with BR coaches to dine in. (According to Wikipedia, they were from the Flying Scotsman tour.)
  https://oldlarestaurants.com/wp-content/uploads/victoriastation02.jpg
  We had one near the Mall in Burlington, MA on 128. You could eat in the cupola of the caboose.
• There are several restaurants with a coach dining room. There was one near Madison, NJ. Then there’s the 5* restaurant in India my son sent photos of. Fabulous place.
• The Rail Stop in The Plains, VA, is pretty neat, and close to the active RR line through town.

I’m sure more will occur to me as the day goes on . .

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

OK - I’ll add…

The Steaming Tender in Palmer MA is a good restaurant in a vintage union station on the NS/Amtrack mainline where it intersects with the New England Central with the NEC yard just off the parking lot.

Clinton Station Diner is a nice restaurant in Clinton, NJ just off I-78 that has a vintage dining car attached.

[Rooster]

@PeterT

@Hines

if anyone knows of other railway themed places, diners or dinner trains near them that they would go first, for the food and secondly for the view, the smell of soot or diesel or the ride?

Where do you start? I have to confess I don’t go to any of these for the food first - the railroad theme is the draw!

OK…considering where I live there are 2 options… Pennsylvania and their is Pennsyltucky all within 100 mile diameter not radius! …

To me the big thing Bill didn’t ask was “Price” and “Where do the locals go” all in the mind of a

So lets talk FOOD then… …

Bill if you like things that I cannot pronounce on a menu let alone be able to spel in a speeling contest then that really isn’t for me. However if you would like to visit Pennsylvania I can give some excellent recommendations!

Considering I like Pennsyltucky food I recommend Williams Grove …FOR the food especially during the events cause all the old ladies work the kitchen!
The steam events are excellent and there is always NS Lurgan Branch right next door.

Does that make sense ?

[smcgill (Sean McGillicuddy)]

The big yard is gone by the rail stop

[Jim_Rowson]

@PeterT

all those Victoria Station restaurants across the country, filled with memorabilia, often bought at the British Rail scrap shop in London. The Victoria Station at Universal Studios, LA, was particularly interesting, with BR coaches to dine in. (According to Wikipedia, they were from the Flying Scotsman tour.)
https://oldlarestaurants.com/wp-content/uploads/victoriastation02.jpg
We had one near the Mall in Burlington, MA on 128. You could eat in the cupola of the caboose.

I took my future wife to the Universal Studios Victoria Station for our first real date. I’ll confess I don’t remember much about the food, but I did get a first kiss after dinner. Maybe that’s why I like trains…

[Rick_Marty]

I’ll chime in with a couple.

The Oregon Electric Station. Located in Eugene, OR, We haven’t been there in years but it was a great place. It is the old brick power station building with several rail cars attached along a covered platform for dinning.

Porters – Dine At The Depot. This is the old Southern Pacific Depot in downtown Medford, OR. Great steaks.

[Hines (Bill)]

@smcgill

Were do you hail from Bill this would help with most reply’s…

Hey Sean,

That’s a difficult answer to give, as nothing here is nearby. We kind of got used to being travellers, when we lived in Broken Hill. If we had 2 days off it was Adelaide, 3-Melbourne and 4 days it was get on the dirt track and follow the INDIAN PACIFIC to Sydney. (About the same distance from Milwaukee to Philadelphia but with no major cities between the two.)

…and because Australia is so far from any other continent it can make sense to continue travelling in the same direction you left, as the trip back will be at least 18-24 Hours in an aircraft once you’ve arrived in the Americas or Europe.

Once we land somewhere, needless to say we don’t want to see the interior of an aircraft, so we tend to drive everywhere. Then there is the problem of “too much to see” or should I say “too much to accidentally overlook”.

Often on trips we’d find we missed something so we started an “Ooh look-at-that” list and a “What-if we ended up here” list but the list needed a visual representation so we bought a map.

An atlas that is big, but sized such that each page depicts a single state, province or country, is usually ideal.

We then mark the location with numbered stickers we found on Amazon…

.

We’ve missed less and found more on our drives across various countries and depending on where this thread goes, we might need to purchase more dots and atlases.

…so Sean at some point, we hopefully will be near your favourite spot… but it seems like we might need a dedicated atlas…ha!

[Hines (Bill)]

@Jim_Rowson

I took my future wife to the Universal Studios Victoria Station for our first real date. I’ll confess I don’t remember much about the food, but I did get a first kiss after dinner. Maybe that’s why I like trains…

Jim,

Pretty gutsy move.
Bob might have to add a Romance Category to the LSC.
The clincher for my future wife was the Durango & Silverton… open air carriage, soot and all.