(rshsdepot) N.C. Railroad aiming to spruce up stations, towns

["Bernie Wagenblast" <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

A story from the Associated Press.

Bernie Wagenblast
Transportation Communications Newsletter
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/messages

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N.C. Railroad aiming to spruce up stations, towns
Renovation, relocations seek to boost rail line as well as communities

Associated Press

MOREHEAD CITY - The N.C. Railroad plans to transform battered train stations 
into vibrant facilities that improve communities and the railroad's bottom 
line.

The company has tentatively budgeted $8 million over the next four years for 
the renovation, relocation or redevelopment of 13 railroad-owned buildings 
along the tracks between Kannapolis and Morehead City.

Money generated by the projects will pay for upkeep and upgrading of the 
lines, railroad President Scott Saylor said.

N.C. Railroad, whose stock is controlled by the state of North Carolina, 
owns and manages the tracks and other properties along 317 miles of tracks 
that stretch across the eastern half of the state.

"What is key to us is doing what is best for the building in those 
communities we're in," he said.

"We want them to be viable income-producing properties in those communities.

"We think they should more than recover their cost, as well as spur economic 
development in those areas."

Some of the planned projects have already gotten under way.

The Havelock Historical Preservation Society, for example, has raised money 
for renovation of the old Havelock Station and plans to move it down the 
street.

New Bern got $100,000 from the N.C. Department of Transportation to help 
renovate a station that the city may sublease to a retail market or another 
tenant.

Ideas for the Kinston depot have ranged from a restaurant or a beer brewery 
to a community center or farmers' market, said B.J. Murphy, executive 
director of Pride of Kinston.

The railroad would like to move an old baggage depot in Morehead City that 
sits on prime real estate in the downtown waterfront area.

The land could be used for a retail outlet or a hotel.

There has been some informal discussion of using the building for a train 
museum and to house an old wooden baggage car now in a warehouse in Spencer, 
but Morehead City Manager Randy Martin said that plan could be expensive.

"It may coast a quarter of a million just to get the car here, and then 
you've got to renovate the building," Martin said. "Obviously, that would be 
difficult for the city to swallow and do on its own."

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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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