Former restaurant owner donates historic train cars to Peru

PERU, Ind. (AP) - Ron Short's legacy in Peru was opening The Siding, a quirky restaurant packed full of historic memorabilia that allowed patrons to dine inside the two historic train cars attached to the building.

The 76-year-old Peru native opened the restaurant in 1969, and it eventually became one of the most popular places to eat in north central Indiana, as well as the oldest restaurant in the city.

But in December, Short announced he had sold the property at 8 W. 10th St. to Draper's Auto Sales, which now plans to demolish the building and turn the property into a car lot.

The Siding will soon be only a memory, but its legacy will live on.

That's because Short has donated the two restored train cars that became the restaurant's calling card to the city.

Peru Mayor Gabe Greer said the donation is a generous gift they hope to turn into an attraction for residents and visitors.

"Everybody knew The Siding restaurant and loved going there," he said. "It was a big part of our identity. Now that it's gone, we can repurpose those cars that people knew and loved."

The question, now, is how exactly that will happen.

Greer said the city currently is considering placing one of the train cars along the Nickel Plate Trail, which runs through the city, and another one near the restored Peru Depot at the corner of Broadway and Canal Street or along the City Riverwalk along the Wabash River.

"Those are great ideas, but we're still open to comment from the public," he said. "This is a community effort, so we want to hear everyone's ideas."

That's why the city has scheduled a public meeting to discuss what to do with the train cars. The meeting will be held 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, at Peru City Hall.

Greer said everyone is invited to share ideas about the future of the train cars.

"We really want this to be a community project since it's a community asset," he said. "The more people it involves, the more successful it will be."

The biggest issue, now, is figuring out how to remove and transport the cars, which weigh 60,000 pounds each. City officials currently are investigating different options to do this.

How, exactly, to transport the train cars was the same issue Short faced in 1978, when he decided to attach the cars onto the restaurant to expand the dining area.

Short made the decision after learning that a man in Plymouth, Michigan, had restored two historic passenger cars to use in his new restaurant. The venture didn't pan out, though, so he was trying to sell them.

Short ended up purchasing train cars and had them shipped down on the railroad to Peru. At the same time, workers were pulling up old railroad track in Denver, Indiana, so he had them bring some of the extra track down to Peru.

The workers built a makeshift track from the main line to the restaurant to get the 60,000-pound cars right up to the building. Then Short hired a crane to lift them off the track and had them attached to the building.

"It all went together like clockwork," he said in an interview in December. "If you tried something like that today, it probably wouldn't happen, but zoning laws were a little more flexible then."

It was an event that became a historic day for a lot of people in the city, Short said.

"It was big-time news. People remember that day. It was like the moon landing," he said.

Greer said the train cars have become an iconic piece of Peru's history, especially since the city has a long history as a railroad town.

In fact, that railroad past was the inspiration for the restaurant in the first place, Short said.

"Peru was a railroad town back in the day," he said in December. "Years ago, if you didn't have a job in the railroad in Peru, you didn't have a job."

The name of the restaurant referred to dead-end railroad tracks that were built off the main line to allow trains to unload or back up.

And the name fit perfectly, considering the building sat almost beside the city's central rail line that crosses over the town's main drag on Broadway.

Greer said keeping the restaurant's train cars in the city is a great way to celebrate Peru's railroad history, but also a great way to remember one of the most unique restaurants to ever exist in the area.

"It helps carry on Ron Short's legacy," he said. "He did so many great things by having his restaurant in the community for so many years. It's a standing memory to his restaurant and what he brought to Peru."

"It just goes to show the depth of generosity the people have in this city," he said. "Ron is a much-beloved person in town and shared so much of himself with the community. This is just another example of Ron giving back to the place he loves."

Short could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

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Source: Kokomo Tribune, http://bit.ly/1QFgPxt

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Information from: Kokomo Tribune, http://www.ktonline.com