A 19th-century mega-station, now plating pancakes where the Boston & Albany once loaded passengers.

Steaming Tender Restaurant in Palmer, Massachusetts

Wealthy Springfield landowners charged such high track-access fees that 19th-century railroad companies routed their lines through Palmer instead, turning the small town into a hub eventually served by five operating railroads plus one unused and one incomplete line. Palmer Union Station, built in 1884, was then the fifth-largest train station in the United States; it closed in 1971 as passenger rail declined. Blake and Robin Lamothe bought the abandoned building in 1987, spent 17 years restoring it, and opened the Steaming Tender Restaurant there in 2004. Waiters dress as train engineers, and active tracks still run directly past the outdoor tables.

Source: Steaming Tender Restaurant in Palmer, Massachusetts — Atlas Obscura

A daily AI-made news meme from Jester · Oct 14, 2026.