The Modern Diner is the only known surviving Sterling Streamliner diner still in operation. Its profile resembles that of a 1934 silver locomotive that once pulled the streamlinedBurlington Zephyr train.[2] The diner's roof, now painted maroon, was originally silver.[3]
New York City inventor Roland Stickney designed the diner, which the John B. Judkins Company of Merrimac, Massachusetts manufactured in 1940.[3][2] The diner was originally placed at 13 Dexter Street in Pawtucket.[3] It operated at that site until 1984, when it was moved to its present location to avoid demolition.[3] The diner was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[1] It was the first diner to be added to the register.[4]
The diner has been held by the same owner for over 28 years.[5] Its signature Custard French Toast was featured on television's Food Network as one of the "top five diner dishes in the US" in 2015.[5][4]