West Shore Diner- Lemoyne, PA

Posted on January 10, 2009 by Spencer Stewart

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.

A more recent, more drab paint scheme.

Virginia Auto Group- Front Royal, VA

Posted on January 6, 2009 by Spencer Stewart

A 1956 Mountain View that my parents had eaten at in the late ’80s. Now converted to a used car lot office. The two other diners in town, the Good Food diner- see 1 and 2– (where my dad was severely food poisoned in the ’70s), and the Fox Diner, are now both gone.

Reader photos

Posted on December 4, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

I was sent these photos of Steffen’s Diner by its owner, Steffen Waber of Switzerland.
http://www.steffens-diningcar.com/

It’s a converted bus, similar to a lunch wagon in concept. From the photos, it looks to be popular to the biker crowd.

Frazer Diner- Frazer, PA

Posted on November 23, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

I was sent these pictures by my old man, who visited on Friday.

The Frazer diner is a 1935 O’Mahony, originally located in and named the Paoli diner. (Paoli is also the home of the Philadelphia curling club, where I’ve spent a lot of time). It was moved in 1957 to its current location, just down the road, in Frazer. It was renovated/restored in 2002.
A photo of it before the work was done, showing the old awnings, can be found at:
http://www.agilitynut.com/p/frazer.jpg
A photo of the old neon sign can be found at: The American Roadside

The Charcoal Pit- original location – North Wilmington

The Charcoal Pit Tradition dates back to September 1956 when it first opened its doors. The “Pit” – referred to by loyal customers, became such an instant success that only after three months from the grand opening, it was decided to build more room for its long line of hungry customers. The “Pit” went from a small four table and a counter burger joint to a 115 customer-seating establishment.

http://charcoalpit.net/

Fracher’s Diner / Main Street Station – Plymouth, NH

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

Frachers Diner – 2007

Bishop’s 4th Street Diner

Posted on November 12, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

Newport, RI, 2007

It appears it used to be red.

Irene’s Update

Posted on October 17, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

Here is a shot of Irene’s taken yesterday

Versus how it used to look as the Short Stop

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.

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

Posted on October 15, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

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.

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

My Art

Posted on October 7, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

I paint what I like.

Harold’s Furniture, Lebanon, PA.
Notice that the neon of the sign reads, “Furniture”, while the enamel reads Harolds. Photographed this one on a Lebanon diner trip. Unfortunately, most of the diners from that trip have now either been moved or are closed.

Abandoned Silk Mill, Columbia, PA.
Saw this while driving down the highway on the way to Lancaster. Pulled off at the exit and took some quick snaps in the early morning mist. The roof’s long since caved in, and the entire thing’s fenced off. That’s probably a good idea, it looks about ready to fall down, and I’m sure there are enough people like me out there who are just curious and stupid enough to go in.
This is a fairly massive painting, done on a big piece of plywood. I finished in less than a week, working day and night at the Maryland Summer Center for the Arts at Salisbury University, to get it ready for a show.

Abandoned Travel Trailer, Oatman, AZ
This is just outside tourist trap central, Oatman, Arizona, famous for its wild donkeys. The trailer’s an old model, filled with light wood and broken bottles.

Music Store, Kingman, AZ
Kingman Arizona was the first stop of our Arizona trip. We stayed at a restored hotel across from the railroad tracks, owned by a French gentleman. The town’s a hotbed of neon.

Nash, Cool Springs, AZ
A rusty old nash sitting outside the Cool Springs gas station, on the road from Kingman to Oatman, one of the most beautiful and winding stretches of road you’ll ever have the pleasure to drive.

Gas pump detail (work in progress) Cool Springs, AZ
A detail from a large painting of a mobilgas pump at the Cool Springs Gas Station.

Tiki

Owl Diner – Lowell, MA
The most diner-enthusiast accommodating establishment I’ve visited. Homefries to die for. A great worcester semi-streamliner.

Palace Diner – Maine
Hit the palace while it was closed, but took pictures, and did the drawing. The owner saw this drawing posted on Roadside, and got in touch with me about using it on their menu. Gave to go ahead, and never heard back after that.

Diner – Winslow, AZ
Across the street from LaPosada. Closed.

Diner – Winslow, AZ
It’s still for sale, all these years later.

Motel- Holbrook, AZ – Painting won 2nd place at a Johns Hopkins art competition.
American Owned. Broken windows.

Celebrating my win.

Idaho Potato Museum – Blackfoot, Idaho

Posted on October 6, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

July, 2008
Hit up the Idaho Potato Museum on our way out to Butte, Montana for the National Folk Festival. Spent the night in Blackfoot, and a very nice, very quirky bed and breakfast.

Why stop at the Idaho Potato museum? I can’t think of any reason not to. Old train station, giant potato, Idaho local history. Hard to lose.

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Diner Hunter

Tag Archives: roadside

Idaho Potato Museum – Blackfoot, Idaho