Keegan Klotz, co-owner of Rose Valley Campground in Gamble Township, Pennsylvania, recently acquired a 1950s-era Fodero dining car through Facebook Marketplace, relocating it from Lancaster to Lycoming County.
The vintage stainless steel structure, once a roadside restaurant, will now serve as a community hub for campers near Rose Valley Lake.
The dining car, previously known as Risser’s Family Restaurant and later the Blue Star Family Restaurant in Womelsdorf, had been stored in poor condition.
Klotz and his business partner Bobby Maguire had been searching for a building to serve as a gathering space on their 60-acre campground, when they found the diner online earlier this year.
“People seem to like that sense of community at a campground,” Klotz said, as reported by Sun Gazette on July 10.
The purchase was competitive. The dining car had been featured in an April article by the New York Post, catching the interest of a rail car museum in Tennessee.
However, the sellers, who have ties to the Rose Valley Lake area, ultimately chose to sell it to Klotz and Maguire.
“Thankfully the former owners chose to sell to us,” Klotz said. He noted that the sellers plan to visit the diner after renovations are complete.
Transporting the diner was a logistical challenge. The move required a state police escort and the temporary closure of Rose Valley Lake Road so that a crane could lift the car into place at the campground.
“It was no easy task, it was what they consider a superload,” said Klotz.
Manufactured in New Jersey, Fodero dining cars were built between the 1930s and 1980s. Klotz, who recently visited the still-operational Empire Diner in Manhattan, noted the historic significance of the structure.
Renovations will proceed in phases, with the initial focus on getting utilities connected to the site. “We have water in the prep kitchen. Power is almost ready, and then after that we will be jumping into this pretty good,” Klotz said.
The target is to have part of the diner open to campground visitors by the start of the next camping season, pending zoning approvals and construction progress.
Restoration efforts aim to preserve the diner’s original look, with help from a local renovation team that includes family members such as Donna Timblin. Klotz said future uses could include a camp store, ice cream counter or food service area.
The campground has undergone multiple improvements over the past three years under Klotz and Maguire’s ownership, including planned installation of a commercial playground and infrastructure upgrades.
Featured image by Rose Valley Campground via rosevalleycampground.com