By Emma Survis, 2019 Intern

Each summer, Greater Portland Landmarks hires interns currently enrolled in historic preservation programs at colleges across the country to assist in our advocacy and education work. Our interns bring their knowledge of the preservation world in academia and in other parts of the country. In return, they get to live in a vibrant seaside city and gain valuable experience working in a historic preservation non-profit.

Emma is a licensed architect in Oregon and is now pursuing her Master of Science in Historic Preservation at the University of Oregon.

Miss Portland Diner, 140 Marginal Way, Portland Maine. Photo Credit: Emma Survis

Phillip D. Duprey started the Worcester Lunch Car and Carriage Manufacturing Company in 1906. Named for the town of Worcester, Massachusetts, where the diners were manufactured, the company was one of the pioneers of the American diner industry.[1] Diners embodied mobility, movement, and efficiency with their streamline appearance. This aesthetic influenced all aspects of American design in the 1930’s, from architecture to automobiles.[2]

Worcester lunch cars were available “custom-built,” but the company also produced several typical models that started at 20 feet and ranged from 10 feet, 6 inches to 15 feet in width. The widest model that could be delivered by train was 40 feet long by 10 feet, 6 inches wide. Within a 500-mile radius, the diners were typically hauled by trucks. Distinctive porcelain enamel exteriors displayed the diner’s name in large decorative script and each Worcester lunch car was assigned a serial number starting with #200. Key interior features of the Worcester Dining cars were long pink Tennessee marble counters, white-tile floors and walls, plate metal kitchens, and oak woodwork. The equipment, including steamtables, grilles, refrigerators and exhaust hoods were integrated directly into the “backbar” behind the service counter. There were two basic floor plans early on in the design: the narrower diners had just a row of stools with a booth or table seating at one end of the car while wider models included a row of booths or tables along the length the diner.[3]

The Worcester Dining Car Company sent diners as far as Florida, but they were most popular in their home territory of New England. In fact, Charles P. Gemme, the foreman of the Worcester Dining Car Company for 51 years said, “Why, you couldn’t go into a town in New England without seeing a Worcester lunch car!”[4] The diner concept originated to serve customers after other restaurants had closed for the day. However, they grew to become key community cornerstones that served important social roles.[5]

Only an estimated 90 of the originally built 651 Worcester dining cars remain,[6] two of which are still in operation in Maine. Worcester Lunch Car Company (WLCC) #818, the Miss Portland Diner, is located on Marginal Way in Portland, Maine and WLCC #790, the A-1 Diner, is located on Bridge Street in Gardiner, Maine. Many of the classic dining car features can be seen in the interior of the Miss Portland Diner and the A-1 Diner.

There are three other identified Worcester Dining Cars in Maine: the Brunswick Diner, the Deluxe Diner and the Wirebridge Diner (also known as Robinson’s General Store)[7], all of which have been updated and/or renovated to a degree at which they are not easily identifiable as an original Worcester Diner. The Brunswick and Deluxe Diner are both still in operation.

The Worcester Lunch Car Company went out of business in 1961 due mostly to its inability to adapt to a modernized diner design that could accommodate more customers along with the growth of chain fast food restaurants in the 1950’s.[8] The Miss Portland Diner and the A-1 Diner are well-maintained examples of this dining car period and represent what’s left of a transformative and important movement in American history.