West Shore Diner- Lemoyne, PA

The West Shore Diner was built in the 1930s by the Patterson Vehicle Company of Patterson, New Jersey. It may be the only surviving Silk City diner with this narrow floor plan. It appears it may have originally been all stools, but that at some point, the back wall was bumped out. This moved the backbar out the back a bit, allowing the counter to be moved further back, freeing up space for some deuce booths on the outside wall. The ceiling is similar to other silk city diners, but as it is so much narrower, it is steeper on the sides, and does not have the elegant curve of later models. Dark woodwork, tile and formica make up most of the interior, while the exterior has been repainted time and time again. The West Shore shows its 70+ years of age, but is a unique example of early New Jersey diner manufacture. his is my go-to diner in the Harrisburg area, and one of the best I’ve been to. It is one of the friendliest around. The food is excellent, and comes in enormous portions at bargain prices. They have great t-shirts, too, which is always a plus. You can’t go wrong with a stop at the West Shore.
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A more recent, more drab paint scheme.
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Irene’s Update

Here is a shot of Irene’s taken yesterday
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Versus how it used to look as the Short Stop
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The exterior doesn’t look like the fluting is original, it reminds me of the replacement material used on Mel’s diner, the former Lincoln diner of Lebanon, PA.

The former Short Stop diner was also known as the Time Out Diner. It’s a 1950s kullman dinette.
Other similar models include the:
White Crystal, which has a reversed floorplan, with the corner door on the right, and the White Rose System of Linden, New Jersey.
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Both of those diners, however, have canted corners, identifying them as later models. Irene’s is an earlier kullman, with flat vertical sections, and a four window front facade, instead of a five window. Earlier model Kullman dinettes retained the corner door, but had rounded windows.

Paterson, New Jersey

Here are some of the diners which I took pictures of in Paterson, New Jersey, once home of the Paterson Vehicle Company, builder of Silk City Diners.

Erfed Remodel.  If you have a copy of Dick Gutman’s The American Diner then and now, you will have seen pictures of this diner from when it was an on site, from when it was diner-ized, and from when the addition was put on .  This is how it looks now, a bit faded.

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Only a few doors down, to the left of the Nicholas diner is a 1950s Silk City, once Chappy’s, but I can’t seem to find my pictures of it.

The Egg Platter Diner, a Master
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