With its peeling paint, the rusty old stainless steel and porcelain diner on Joseph Merli's five-acre property on Route 20 might be mistaken for an eyesore.

But to Merli, the 40-by-14 foot eatery he acquired from the village for $1 fits perfectly into his 1940s-themed Canal Street Station Village Museum.

Renamed the Miss New York Central Diner, the structure will go nicely, he said, in front of the General Store at what will be the intersection of Market and Canal Streets, next to a charcoal gray restored locomotive. Before that happens, he and friends will spend at least a year refurbishing the former Country Side Diner, once a popular gathering place along Routes 9 and 20, Schodack.

Some of the bigger projects will include adding a complete kitchen with an old monitor-top General Electric refrigerator, steel cabinets and washbasin sinks. The renovations will be in sync with the time period.

"I feel like I'm putting something back in America, representing the craftsman, and a time gone by that a lot of people remember," said Merli, 58, a carriage builder by trade.

The diner closed about four years ago and was removed to make way for a new diner, Merli said.

He credits Lucia Heavy Haulers and Becker Recovery in Schenectady with helping him transport the 10-ton structure to its new home on a flatbed truck on a trailer. The eatery stands on wooden blocks and features 15 bar stools and six booth seats.

"This would be a typical diner you would find by the train station," he said.

It was manufactured by Paterson Vehicle, the same New Jersey company, that made the Miss Albany Diner on Broadway, Merli noted.

His diner will mostly be open for re-enactments and special seasonal events like farmers' markets and car shows, he said.

"It's not going to be an everyday diner," Merli added. "This is to leave behind for people to see when they drive through Route 20." He says the roadway is a historic American highway.

Merli lives on the property with his girlfriend, Marilyn Miles.

The village already includes a sparkling General Store where you can buy everything from textiles to bolts to penny candy.

Nearby is an antique yard art 1947 Oldsmobile 98 that Merli said was typical of the kind of car you would see parked in front of a diner.

"I've just always liked that time period," he said.

Originally published online here: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=805458