(rshsdepot) Clayton, Del.

["Alexander D. Mitchell IV" <LNER4472_@_bcpl.net>]

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070418/MIDSTATE03/70416010/-1/NEWS01

Scott Ballard leaned back in his office chair in the old building that once was the center of town commerce, a haven for gossips and a good place to just lounge around on a lazy summer afternoon back when high-button shoes and stiff collars were all the rage.

"My grandfather was the track superintendent for this station for the Pennsylvania Railroad," said Ballard, 39. "He worked here from 1942 until he retired in 1965."

Ballard leaned forward a little and called to his wife Renee in the outer office. He asked if she knew just when it was that he and brother Dennis bought the old train station where their grandfather had spent so many hours for so many years.

"May 19, 2005," said Renee Ballard, who keeps the books for the two companies she and her husband run - All Phase Heating & Cooling and Energized Electric Inc.

The Ballard family has spent hundreds of hours and about $100,000 renovating the old Clayton railroad station at 101 S. Bassett St. during the past two years. They've torn up the floor, gutted the inside and even replaced two large mahogany doors.

It was hard work, but the results have people all over Clayton smiling.

"They did a great job," said Clayton Town Foreman Jeff Hurlock. "It's a beautiful renovation, and it really adds something special to the overall appearance of the town."

The old station - built in 1885 - had stood vacant once the previous owners moved their business. Already weather-beaten, the building was in danger of decaying before the Ballard family bought it and began the renovation project.


(More at the link.)

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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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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1533
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org