You're probably wondering.....What is up with this tribute to Howard Johnson's?

As it turns out, railroaders and railroading have many connections to "HOJO's" and the great orange roof!

Besides that, I have my own connections with the "Orange Roof."
I spent the first seven years of my life living directly across the street from the Howard Johnson's Restaurant in Jamaica Plain section of Boston.

Shortly there after, I found myself intertwined with Hojo's, spending summer vacations with my Family at Hojo Hotels, eating at many of the Hojo restaurants throughout the East Coast.

When I first hired onto the railroad I found my way to Howard Johnson's restaurants that were always conveniently located to places such as New Haven Station and Southampton Street Railroad Yard.

The original design for Howard Johnson's restaurant was based on the design of the old Norfolk Downs Railroad Station on the Old Colony Rail Line in Quincy, Massachusetts. Howard wanted his restaurants to have the same "welcoming and warm feeling of a local community's train station."

Boston Conductor Moe Burke managed the Howard Johnson's in Leominster, Massachusetts. He was later hired by the railroad after being referred by train crews who ate at his restaurant.

Whether it be going for a late turkey dinner with my Southampton Street Yard switcher crew at the former Howard Johnson's across from South Bay....Or heading over to the waterfront New Haven, CT HOJO's on a Sunday morning for a hearty breakfast before returning to Boston on Amtrak #190, no matter where you went, HOJO's had an impact on the lives of many a railroader.

HOWARD JOHNSON'S - WOLLASTON BEACH - QUINCY MASSACHUSETTS