State chugs ahead with Palmer rail stop but spurned eatery owner questions motives

PALMER — MassDOT plans to produce, by the end of this year, a conceptual design for the long-sought Palmer passenger rail station, detailing not only a building but the economic development spurred by the expected $30 million return of passenger service to the “town of seven railroads.”

But Blake Lamothe and his family — owners of the Steaming Tender Restaurant in a restored 103-year-old station dropped from consideration — are demanding answers from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and documents from the site selection process.