The diner car story
Built in Wichita. Loved in Fort Wayne.
Before the neon and the donuts, this was a prefab steel diner car shipped from Kansas, the kind of compact, counter-only diner that fed mid-century America. It started life as Noah’s Ark, and has changed names, owners and street corners since, but never the counter.
- 1952
Noah’s Ark rolls in from Wichita
Valentine Manufacturing of Wichita, Kansas builds the prefab steel diner car. Noah Clauss buys it for about $6,000, names it Noah’s Ark and opens at the northwest corner of Clinton and Jefferson, one of the city’s first fast-food counters.
- 1960
Paul’s Diner
New owners, new name. The little car keeps feeding downtown.
- 1966
Marge’s Diner
The car is hauled to Clay and Berry streets and becomes a favorite hangout for local police officers.
- 1990
Cindy’s Diner
John Scheele, then working construction, buys it for his wife Cindy. They restore it and give it the name it still carries. As John put it: “Now she’s at home, and I’m here.”
- 1997
The donut machine arrives
The donut machine from Murphy’s Dime Store (a downtown landmark of its own) moves in. “Home of Murphy’s Donuts” has been painted on the side of the car ever since.
- 2014
One more move
A new downtown office tower needs the corner, so the diner car is lifted and rolled to its current home at Berry Street and Maiden Lane.
- 2016
Angie takes the keys
Angie Rowedda, who started at the counter washing dishes and then waiting on it, buys the diner from the Scheeles. John had long since nicknamed her “Brat,” and regulars still call her that (or just “Cindy”).
- 2026
Seventy-five years of service
21Alive News marks three-quarters of a century of breakfasts, with Angie on the grill, her daughter Destiny on dishes and the register, and Sheila working the counter.
Behind the counter
Run by the woman who started on dishes
Angie Rowedda has worked at Cindy’s for most of her adult life: first at the sink, then taking orders, and since 2016 as the owner. “At this point, it’s the only thing I’ve ever done as an adult,” she told 21Alive. Former owner John Scheele nicknamed her “Brat”; plenty of regulars simply call her Cindy.
- Angie RoweddaOwner & cookStarted as the dishwasher, then a server; owner since 2016.
- DestinyDishes, register & carry-outAngie’s daughter.
- SheilaServerWorks the counter.
