Railroad-related restaurants in New England

NellsChoo wrote:That's right, the Watertown MA restaurant is still there! I forgot all about them!

Isn't there something in an old station way down Maine, in the Biddeford area? It's some kind of sports place, either a restaurant or club.

Also, I heard something's in NH, maybe the Derry area in an old station. I don't know that area...

JD

Nells, does the Watertown restauraunt still have the coach as part of the seating area or?

caboose9 wrote:

jscola30 wrote:In Yarmouth I think, there is an ice cream stand with a caboose, Bass River Station I think?

Maine?

It always helps to note the state!

whooops!!! MA, actually.

Even more--- In Lee, MA is Sullivan Station in the old New Haven station not far from Exit 2 of the MassPike. They have a complete dinner menu and I believe the Berkshire Scenic makes stops here.

In Northampton, the former station, is Spaghetti Freddie's which is a part of the whole restaurant (Can't remember the name) Nice place for functions -- it's a big place.

In Chicopee, MA off of Route 33 is a place called Bernie's with a dining car being a part of the whole place. I haven't been there but hear people rave about the prime rib. It's usually packed requiring reservations if you want to eat in the dining car.

In Gilbertville, MA is the Whistlestop in the old Ware River RR station on Route 32. Good place for diner-style fast food meals or sandwiches should you take the leisurly ride along 32 north out of Palmer and up through Ware following MassCentral tracks.

jscola30 wrote, "In Yarmouth, MA, there is an ice cream stand with a caboose, Bass River Station, I think."


NYC 19XXX, as Grafton & Upton (no #?), wood, cupola?, Rt. 28.

The car at the Yankee Silversmith restaurant in Wallingford CT was originally a Philadelphia & Reading coach. It later was purchased by the Belfast & Moosehead Lake, and from there it came to Wallingford I think during the 1960s.
At one time there was a "station stops" announcement recording by local rail historian Dave Peters Sr. that played in the "parlour car" as it was called. Dave announced all the stops on the Hartford line circa 1918.

In Cromwell CT there is a seasonal ice cream stand in an ex Amtrak, exx PC, exxx PRR steel caboose, no number available.

CVRA7 wrote, "In Cromwell, CT, there's an ice cream stand in an ex Amtrak, exx PC, exxx PRR steel caboose, no number available."


Hi,

Does anyone have a name or address for the above caboose ice cream stand?

The only cabooses I'm aware of in Cromwell, CT, are:

EL C369/CR 21169/PW 2116/5001 at the Mattabassett Sewage Treatment plant & NH C697, Liberty Realty, 309 Main St., with 2 NH wood boxcars.

Perhaps the car at Liberty is the ice cream caboose?

Thanks, Roger

Hi,

I list the following food/drink related cabooses in CT:

Canaan - MEC 658 - Bagel & Sandwich Shop, near Depot;

Danbury - RR? #? - Rosy Tomorrow's, 15 Old Mill Plain Rd.;

New Britain - PRR? #? - once Brass Lion, later Reno's Cafe, now closed?, 53 Pleasant St.;

New Haven - C&O #? - Picadily Square Restaurant, no reports on this one since the mid 1990s;

New Milford - B&M 463 - Dolly's Wine Boutique, Railroad St.; &

Simsbury - CV? #? - One Way Fair at Depot Restaurant, 4 Railroad St.

Updates and/or corrections on the above will be appreciated!

Thanks, Roger

wog820 wrote

wog820 wrote:Ya know what I miss is Box Car Willy's that was in the Hyannis yard They had the best fried zucchini stix,always great for checking out the action too

Should I conclude from that thst Boxcar Willy's is gone? I was not aware of that

wog820 wrote:I,ve been to that Mc D's a few years ago with my kids and the coach was getting renovated, so you couldn't go in it. They where either goona rip the play ground out of it or put one in it. It is a NH stainless coach heritage though, looks kinda stupid in a Mc D's parking lot I have to go there later today maybe I'll go take a shot of it

http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20061 ... 255629.jpg

ok so I went there today but still I could'nt get inside it. It's closed off for private function. But it is no longer a play area, it is furnished with all booths now, looks pretty good inside.

It is hard for me to tell precisely, given the pattern of light&shadows in your photo, but if the coach doesn't have rounded roof ends it's not a New Haven coach.

Tom Curtin wrote:

wog820 wrote:I,ve been to that Mc D's a few years ago with my kids and the coach was getting renovated, so you couldn't go in it. They where either goona rip the play ground out of it or put one in it. It is a NH stainless coach heritage though, looks kinda stupid in a Mc D's parking lot I have to go there later today maybe I'll go take a shot of it

http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20061 ... 255629.jpg

ok so I went there today but still I could'nt get inside it. It's closed off for private function. But it is no longer a play area, it is furnished with all booths now, looks pretty good inside.

It is hard for me to tell precisely, given the pattern of light&shadows in your photo, but if the coach doesn't have rounded roof ends it's not a New Haven coach.

Since my last post about this I have been corrected, the car is supposingly from the NYC. not the New Haven

The Meredith NH station reportedly burned down over 10 years ago, after having been relocated up the hill on US 3. Nothing remains, except for the train order semaphore at the Essex Station of the Valley Railroad. The signal was rescued back in the early 1970s after it looked like the station was going to be demolished, and installed on a new mast by CVRA volunteers c. 1972.

AH-HA!! I have solved the mystery of the famous Chuck Wagons of Lewiston, Maine. A fellow railfan from Maine knew of that old restaurant and told me that the coaches are ex-Norfolk Western. He is aware that one of the coaches was moved to the Damariscotta area and is currently in the hands of a rail group called Downeast Rail Group? They are trying to restore it. He didn't know what happened to the other one.

Does anyone out there remember these or know of the Downeast Rail Group?

Robert Paniagua wrote:There's also the Fast Food Burger King on Rte 18 in Bridgewater which was the original Bridgewater Sttion on the Middleboro Line, if you sit at the window seats you'll see the trains go by.

You need to go outside if you want to see the trains. Restrooms now block the view of the tracks.

Also Killington VT.

Boxcar Willy's is open under new mangement.

I don't believe anyone mentioned one of favorite station/restaurants in Bennington, Vermont. I haven't been there in over two years but it was a great restaurant in a unique building made from blue marble stone. A good description can be found at :

http://www.trainweb.org/rshs/GRS%20-%20 ... n%20VT.htm

there's a caboose serving as an ice cream parlor just south of rutland, vt. there's also an old station serving as the restaurant in the same location. in clarendon, vt. on route 103.