[Date Prev][Date Next]
[Chronological]
[Thread]
[Top]
(rshsdepot) Tunnelton, WV
Links:
http://www.pentrex.com/lib/pentrex/csxm-199.jpg
http://www.prestoncounty.com/images/TDepot.jpg
Tunnelton train depot needs another new roof
Restoration delayed, funds channeled from other work
BY KATHY PLUM
The Dominion Post
TUNNELTON -- Five years after it began restoring the historic Tunnelton
Depot, the local historical society is back to square one -- or, in this
case, tile one.
"We need to get the roof done, so we can finish the inside," Tunnelton
Historical Society President Bob Shaffer said. "If we didn't have this
problem, we'd have had it finished and open on Sundays like we planned."
The Tunnelton Historical Society bought the brick depot with the sweeping
terra cotta tile roof, now nearing 90 years old, from CSX for $10,000 in
1994. The project was off like a rabbit, with the purchase money raised and
the deed changing hands in 20 days, and a $120,000 federal grant to begin
renovations in 1996.
But work has slowed to a snail's pace. The major renovation, replacement of
the orange-tinted roof tiles, has to be redone. THS has argued throughout
the project that contractor Allegheny Restoration didn't do the job right,
but an arbitrator disagreed and said Allegheny was not at fault.
Now the tiles must be replaced again, using grant money intended for
interior renovations. The first replacement roof used old tiles that exactly
matched the original roof. The next roof will use new tiles.
"What makes it so bad is we've got to get a new type of roof," Shaffer said.
"When you redo an old building, you want to keep the same look, but the
look's going to be gone. It's a bigger tile, and it looks different, and it
will be new."
Two bids have been received on the new roof, for $70,400 and $75,430. THS
has 180 days to award the contract.
Tunnelton's depot is the only brick train station left in Preston County
since Terra Alta's was demolished recently. Some of the original glass
remains in the large windows, and looking through, the well-preserved
woodwork, ticket counter and ceramic tile floor hint at the bustle that once
filled the building.
THS has three of the original light fixtures, and members are looking for
the chandelier that once graced the cathedral ceiling.
Shaffer recalls that folk used to put on their best clothes to come to the
train station Sunday afternoon to see passengers board and depart. A hotel
stood across the street from the station then, and the town, rich with the
profits of coal and railroad, had more attractions.
The historical society hopes to make the depot itself an attraction now, but
plans for a museum and tours are on hold for now.
"This is a setback, and people are getting discouraged," Shaffer conceded as
he picked up loose pieces of tile from along the fence that separates the
depot from the railroad track that still bears freight trains.
But he and the few steadfast volunteers will forge on.
"This is the history of the old transportation system. This is how
everything came to the county," Shaffer said.
The Tunnelton Historical Society meets 7:30 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each
month at the Tunnelton Depot.
=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
------------------------------