![]() The museum had two baggage cars and a coach the restaurant redevelopment brought in some additional rolling stock by truck. You can see some of the rail cars in Google street views, although they are mostly roofed over now. The baggage car which housed the model railroad was converted into a kitchen area, I heard. The building was sold after 1980 and redeveloped into the present restaurant, which has restored much of the original character of the station. This was the OE track arrangement at the Eugene old depot circa 1970: Portland to the left, end of track at right. I had a weekend job at the museum during my early high school years, and was also involved with the model railroad club where I made some lifelong friends. In back were an old SP&S baggage car and coach, used for a museum-affiliated model railroad club layout and classroom space. The inside of the building was divided up into separate areas with lower ceilings and a planetarium, losing all the character of the original station. In the 1970's the building was used for a regional branch of the Portland OMSI museum. It's within a block of the Amtrak station. ![]() The former Oregon Electric station in Eugene Oregon is now a restaurant and bar with rail cars behind the station serving as dining rooms. According to a Google search today, the diner is now called the Red Arrow Diner and has a metal roof. ![]() ![]() To my moderately trained eye, in 1991 when I visited, the ceiling was the only thing left reminiscent of its original use. Given that, let's hope this was one of the sturdier retired RR cars. The left-hand side of the diner hangs out over a river gorge, adding to its. A Google hit obtained today says this restaurant began life as a 1911 Osgood Bradley electric trolley, so I guess the date from the tour guide was a bit off. We (foodie foamers) didn't get to go inside. Veteran's Square Diner, West Warwick, RI. Sorry my scanner does such a poor job on these photos. Some day, I may scan and post photos of streamliner diners. Here are photographs of two surviving diners that were created from a RR car and trolley, respectively. The last time I paid attention (pre-2011), there were about 12 converted RR cars in the country and about 22 converted trolleys. they were in poor condition to begin with. There certainly aren't many of these true conversions left, which would seem to support the view that 1. Diner historians believe that these already old and leaky shells gave "true" diners made by specific manufacturers a bad reputation. There are always exceptions to every rule and when cities or RRs retired some of their cars, some cooks saw these offerings as an inexpensive way to set up a dining establishment. And, it didn't hurt that some of these manufacturers made rail cars as well as restaurants (e.g., Brill, Kullman?). Thus, you find barrel and monitor roofs with clerestories, stainless steel sides, and "modern" streamliners. Just like railroads, these eateries reflected the designs and fashions of the times. The facts are that "true" diners were buildings constructed as a portable architecture form. One area that underscores this confusion is the numerous 0-scale models of "diners" that are converted RR cars. There's a lot of misinformation out there about diners (the food establishments) being made out of old railway cars or trolleys.
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