It feels so safe and familiar sitting at the

counter. The sandwiches are cut the way they’ve always been

cut in cafes for all our modern lives. The pickles are

always on the plate right alongside the chips, next to the

sandwich. No one waits long for their refills of coffee

and there is no “No Smoking” section for the purists of

our day.

Reva and Dean Dalman smile affectionately at

one another in quick moments between flips of the

burgers. The sign above the kitchen door warns that they

can’t please everyone, but they sure will try.

Where do you find that anymore? Where can you

go where people behave the way they used to with

each other _ civilized, respectful, pleasant and just

downright neighborly?

The Railroad Cafe doesn’t serve breakfast after

noon. Those are the rules.

During the hustle of the lunch rush, Reva, the

matriarch of the kitchen, supports Dean with the

appropriate meats and sandwich middles. Daughters run through

the aisles and attend to the customers. A never-ending

coffeepot seems to pour forever.

For the last 15 years, the Dalmans have virtually

lived in, and raised five daughters in, the restaurant. Two

sons have spent little or no time in the family business,

opting instead to develop in careers of their own.

“It’s been hard work,” says Dean. “It’s been

harder than the construction and logging.”

Reva, who has been in the restaurant trade for

30 years, agrees that it is a tough business.

“We get along really well,” says Dean. “When

we first moved in here there was only the front room.

There was a church next door. They used to make a lot of

noise, shaking the concrete wall between us. We got that

space because we saw people had nowhere to sit when

they came in.”

The Darius Kinsey historical photographs that

line the walls were there when they bought the place.

Old railroad lanterns used to signal track usage hang

above every booth.

Daughter Tracey has worked in the business for

15 years and daughter Deanna works there, too. Three

more Dalman daughters, Cindy, Gloria and Debbie, used

to work in the restaurant and out of the Dalmans’ 14

grandchildren, grandson Jarrod Busby is working there

before he graduates (this week) and goes into the

Army. Reva’s sister, Marla Touhy, works there. And outside

of the family, Ginger Turner and Lou McCarty have

worked there for a decade apiece.

Some people rave about the burgers, some people swear by the breakfasts, but my money is with the

french dip san.