Milwaukee_F40C wrote:Spaghetti Factory and Spaghetti Warehouse were probably owned by the same restaurant investment group. I went to Spaghetti Warehouse in Naperville, IL a long time ago. There, too, the "trolley" was part of the restaurant's national chain mass-market theme. It might have had something like "Aurora Street Railway" painted on it. I don't remember how accurate or cheesy it was in detailing, but overall it seemed like an oversize replica of a streetcar constructed for the dining purpose. It is probably easiest to construct a streetcar shaped outline and decorate it with sheet metal side panels and stained veneer on the inside.
A couple years ago the Fox River Trolley Museum acquired a car original to the museum line, a St. Louis Car Co. lightweight interurban. The Fox River car has unusual proportions, with a streetcar-like length and height profile, but very wide compared to common streetcars, with huge windows and riding low to the ground on small wheels. In thinking about the "trolley" that was at Spaghetti Warehouse in Naperville, as far as I can remember, the similarity to the Fox River car's profile is peculiar.
January 21, 2015
This is a late response since I have just joined the Forum. Spaghetti Factory and Spaghetti Warehouse were not under the same ownership. The Factory was started in Portland, if I remember right, and the Warehouse originated in Dallas. Bob Hawk was the Dallas originator and owned a good part of the controlling stock until he sold out to a separate restaurant group located in Dallas. Bob bought loads of antiques and trolley bodies for his restaurants until he had a hard time acquiring them where he needed them: the cost of acquisition and refurbishment became so high, including freight to a new location, he found construction new bodies was cheaper and faster.
I knew Bob as we were both members of the Historic Preservation League Board of Directors. Later, Bob acquired a New Orleans car from a Weatherford, TX museum and was planning on installation in Kansas City. There was a problem in that the car was not really right size for the building. In discussing this with Bob, he said he would like to find a certain series Dallas car which would fit into the new location. I just happened to know a local friend that knew where 2 of those bodies were hidden and Bob made a deal with Ed to swap the New Orleans car, complete with all the hardware, trucks, motors, etc. for 2 Dallas car bodies.
That car body became the first car of McKinney Avenue Trolley in Dallas, TX. but we did not restore it as we sold it back to New Orleans when they were trying to find old Pearly Thomas cars from N.O. for the Riverfront line.
HarryN
