Sorry Bob. I just had to make sure you guys were still awake out there in cyberspace.
Maybe this will wake you up?
Dining Cars Derailed?For nearly fifty years the almost abandoned Dining Cars have sat at the side of an empty highway. When Mullen's sold the unique property it was bought by the Smith family. Mrs. Smith was a hairdresser. She opened a hair salon in the small house next to the cars where they resided. Many women from Buellton made their way to the house next to the cafe to have their hair done and swap the local gossip.
A For Lease sign sat in front of the cars for many years with the hope of finding an enterprising entrepreneur to take a chance on the Dining Cars again. Unfortunately, the site violated the three basic rules of real estate, "Location, location, location" and no one was willing to risk it. Occasionally a film crew made use of it, but nothing of widespread fame or notoriety.
Even into the eighties the abandoned gas pumps graced the empty parking lot until some local petro-holic made off with them for their collection. More recently a developer began building houses behind the Dining Cars on the property where the Buellton Speedway once ran. Local rumors suggest that the Dining Cars may be moved soon to make way for more houses and finally leave the station in Buellton.
In the meantime, my friend, and owner of our local tool and party rental company persuaded the owner to allow him to use the dining cars to celebrate his wife’s birthday. The cars had been unused for fifty years and needed a thorough cleaning, but one of the biggest surprises was the neon ceiling; it still works!
I helped him with the 50's props by supplying the car hop, a juke box and other little things. He supplied the real waitresses in period costumes.
For one night the Dining Cars lived again in Buellton. People were so stunned to see them lit up that they actually pulled off the freeway and back tracked to see what was going on.
I'm featuring the dining cars on our Buellton History website right now so if you'd like to know more click on the link.
www.buelltonhistory.org [This message has been edited by the poor mans museum (edited 03-17-2006).]
