Des Plaines, IL
A beloved suburban diner is in danger of closing. Generations of kids have made the trip to the Choo Choo. Now, though, the city of Des Plaines may have plans to derail its future, CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports.

It's the noon whistle at the Choo Choo restaurant, a place where the hamburgers and fries come on wheels.

It's something that the old black-and-white photos show has been happening at this one-of-a-kind restaurant for nearly 60 years. For generations, the Choo Choo has been a favorite for children from the region and beyond. But now the last hamburger train might soon leave the station.

Jean Paxton, the landmark's owner, says she's been informed that the city would like to build a new police station, possibly right where the Choo Choo has stood since 1951.

"I'm disappointed in their decision in their decision, because the Choo Choo brings so much to this town." Paxton said.

Paxton says Des Plaines needs to preserve its history, especially when it continues to draw thousands of visitors to the town each month. That's why she intends to fight the development plan and has put up a sign urging people to help by visiting www.savethechoochoo.com.

The smashed stainless steel exterior of Cassidies Diner is still covered with plywood, but workers were busy inside Thursday ripping up the tile floor in preparation for the extensive repairs it will take to reopen the downtown eatery.

A Chevy Impala crashed through the front of the building in May, and the diner has been closed since. Witnesses told the Record-Journal that the car was driven by a woman who was breastfeeding while she drove, but police said afterward that there was not enough evidence to pursue charges against the woman.

Owner Jay Eagle Delaney is fighting with his insurance company over the funds to repair the damage.

He wants to restore the diner, built in 1946, to its original appearance, but his insurance company only wants to pay for modern-looking repairs that would cost less, he said.

"I'm not just going to repair," Delaney said in front the eatery Thursday. "I'm going to restore."

The reason he's been able to start the repairs is because he found a contractor willing to take on the project without payment up front.

Daniel Roberts, owner of K & D Machine Services of Meriden, is handling the fabrication of the stainless steel walls that needs to be replaced.

"This is a unique situation," Daniels said of the diner. "But we're going to wrap it in stainless steel again."

By Katie Warchut | TheDay.com | Nov. 6, 2008

Groton, CT
Dan “Dano” Logan, who took over Norm's Diner four years ago, closed the longtime icon at the entrance to the City of Groton this week, blaming the poor economy.

The diner's former owners, Norm (the diner's namesake) and Annie Brochu, however, are in a dispute with Logan over the rent for the building they still own and say the diner will reopen “under new management.”

Annie Brochu declined to say when that would happen or who would run it.

The diner started out as Paula's in 1953, and - since Norm fixed it up more than 40 years ago - it has become a stop for diner enthusiasts from around the country as well as locals.

Serving home-cooked New England food, it survived competition from other local diners and chain restaurants along with the ups and downs of Navy-related business through the years.

Some people leave their hometown at a young age and never look back. Tom Manning, 55, isn't one of them.

"My roots have always stayed here in Portland," Manning said Wednesday amid the post-election breakfast buzz at the newly resurrected Miss Portland Diner on Marginal Way.

His Miss Portland Diner.

To some, it might make no sense whatsoever. Manning, a child of Munjoy Hill who went to Cathedral grammar school and Cheverus High School before going to work for Newsweek in New York City 32 years ago, knows a lot more about running a magazine's business office than he does about owning and operating a restaurant.

But this much he does know: The Worcester Lunch Car diner, in its third location since it opened on Forest Avenue in 1949, is a piece of Portland's past. And Manning, who left for the Big Apple at age 23 and rose to become Newsweek's director of administration, has a thing for local history.

"Look at the Portland Observatory," he said. "When I was a kid, you could never go up there -- with all the broken stairs and stuff. I've always had a good feeling about how (the city) saved that thing and brought it back. And I kind of felt this might be a little similar. I knew the city was looking for someone to step up."

He's got that right. After accepting the diner as a gift from Randall Chasse in 2004, the city tried and failed to find a new owner. Three years ago, the once-bustling diner was removed from its previous site a short distance down Marginal Way and put into mothballs.