WILTON – The Farmington Diner, a fixture on Main Street in Farmington for about 50 years, was moved to its temporary home in Wilton Monday morning.

The entourage accompanying the diner as it was hauled on a flatbed trailer by Nickerson House Movers of Kingfield included several utility trucks equipped with cherry-pickers to move the lines out of the way, a police escort and a contingent of media.

Traffic in both directions on Wilton Road, or U. S. Route 2, was snarled for much of the morning as the building slowly lumbered along, taking up two lanes on the highway and often shutting the road down completely to avoid low-hanging wires.

Verizon, Central Maine Power and JD Electric had crews lifting wires and traffic signals so the 19-foot tall load could skim by below. The two tense moments were rounding a sharp corner off Route 2 onto the diner's new home on Cemetery Road and backing the trailer into the property where it will temporarily reside. The land is owned by Rachel Jackson Hodsdon, the diner’s new proprietor.

Along the way, people came out of homes and businesses to take photos and wave as a piece of history passed by.

"It is a real shame. I would have breakfast there every morning. The people there were like family," said Randy Marchetti, who was watching the diner get prepared for the move.

The diner was on the site for the new Farmington Rite Aid that is under construction. It was one of three commercial properties bought up by the developer to make way for the new giant pharmacy and the last piece to be moved.

The diner’s new owner is Rachel Jackson-Hodsdon of Wilton. Her plans are to restore it and open a small restaurant, probably at other location, and serve homemade, Maine-grown food.