(rshsdepot) Amarillo, TX

[Jim Dent <jdent1_@_optonline.net>]

From the Amarillo Globe-News...

All aboard! Construction starts on railroad museum

By MARLENE FEDURIS
mfeduris_@_amarillonet.com


The lonely wail of a whistle, the clicketyclack of a train on the track,
railroading played a key role in Texas Panhandle history. And local railroad
buffs say it will draw new people to Amarillo in the future.

On Wednesday, the Amarillo Railroad Museum Inc. began construction on a
commemorative railroad museum, a 50-by-100-foot building, to recognize the
industry and its impact on area history and business.

Located at 13000 U.S. Highway 60, former Texas State Technical College
property, the facility will include a metal-construction building that will
mimic the look of an old Santa Fe Depot, said Tom Jones, member of the
Amarillo Railroad Museum, a nonprofit group.

"It has a red roof, Santa Fe gold walls, and the trim is kind of a dark ivy
green," Jones said.

The building will be on 12 acres of museum-owned land. Long-term plans for
the building include train cars on display and a commemorative plaza area
where people can purchase memorial bricks to commemorate the industry's
affect on the area.

"Without railroading, there wouldn't be an Amarillo," Jones said.

The building will include a 4,000-foot interpretive model railroad that will
model the track from Canadian to Clovis, N.M. The permanent 1950s-era
installation will focus on Amarillo as a primary interchange for railroads.

Don Cardiff, professional model railroad layout designer and builder, will
design the track, said Jerry Michels, railroad museum president. Railroad
modelers, who formed the club as the Amarillo Model Railroad Association in
1990, will construct the track.

The Bureau of Mines donated an old helium car to the museum. The group also
has commitments for a carbon black train car from The Sid Richardson Co.,
Michels said.

Eric Miller, director of communications for the Amarillo Convention and
Visitor Council, said that railroad fans are very loyal, and he expects the
museum to draw visitors to the community.

Officials hope to move into the building by early summer and start the
layout, Jones said.



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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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