John M. Wolfe; Founded Carney’s Restaurants

John M. Wolfe, radio advertising executive who established the Carney’s hamburger shops in railroad cars, has died. He was 72.

Wolfe died of cancer Monday at his Laguna Beach home, said his brother Doug Wolfe.

After working with several advertising agencies, particularly in radio and television advertising, Wolfe helped create and market Los Angeles’ KIIS radio (102.7-FM) in the 1960s.

He gravitated to radio naturally, after growing up with the desire--but without the voice, he once told an interviewer--to be a disc jockey.

But he had another dream, and in 1973 left radio and advertising to turn that one into reality: owning a restaurant in a railroad car. He carted an old Pullman car on a convoy of trucks along Sunset Boulevard and opened Carney’s.

The popular Hollywood hamburger joint in the train car soon became a landmark. Wolfe opened two more just like it, in Studio City and Glendale, and brought his sons into the business. Wolfe’s dream was financially in the black from opening day.

There were advantages, he often said, in his choice of the railroad cars to house his diners. When a site was threatened by development, he told The Times in 1990, “you can pick it up and move it.”

Asked last year for his advice about starting a new business, Wolfe said: “Rely on quality. You’ll stand out like a sore thumb.”

Wolfe was educated at USC and served in the Navy during World War II.

In addition to his brother, he is survived by his mother, Elsie; wife, Lynn; sons, Bill and John; a sister, Susan O’Donnell, and four grandsons.

A memorial reception is scheduled Saturday at Marino’s restaurant in Hollywood.