Derailed Diner On Track

With a lot of businesses shutting down a new Robertsdale restaurant is putting its best foot forward with a big train wreck. The Derailed Diner looks like three train cars plowed into the side of the Oasis Travel Center. Inside, diners can eat at a truck tailgate or sit at a customized table. Each table has a glass top with a travel-themed diorama inside. The detailed and ambitious eatery opened just two weeks ago and was a dream of owner Karen Brown. The manager says Brown chooses not to participate in the national recession.

“Sometimes you have to spend money to make money and this has been her vision for a long time and we're at a point where we wanted to do it so we did it,” says Travel Center General Manager Linda Scott. Scott says the diner took four years of planning and hard work. Scott says they want to make the diner a destination rather than a random stop along the road. They're planning an official grand opening sometime in January. The Derailed Diner is at the Oasis Travel Center at the Wilcox Road exit along I-10 in Robertsdale.