(rshsdepot) Film explores Pennsylvania's restored train stations

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From today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 
 
Film explores Pa.'s restored train stations
Thursday, December 27, 2007
By Gretchen McKay, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 
Few structures shout "Americana" as loudly as the one-room schoolhouse. Yet  
to some, the local train station is arguably just as iconic. While they 
differed  in size, style and location, railroad depots in the early 1900s served as 
both a  social and commercial center for many communities. It was from their 
platforms  that presidential candidates gave stump speeches, soldiers kissed 
their  sweethearts before heading off to war and friends and relatives got their 
first  impression of town when they came to visit. 
As narrator Chuck Bierlein points out in the opening of "Pennsylvania Train  
Stations -- Restored and Revitalized," a recently released DVD produced by 
Penn  State Public Broadcasting, train stations were a key element in any rail  
journey. 
Designed as "portals of entry to the great iron horses that carried the  
mail," they served as a front door of sorts to towns and cities across the U.S.  
But because their function of moving passengers and freight was so utilitarian, 
 and people used them so often, these beautiful symbols of "welcome and 
success"  were often completely overlooked. 
Not only that, but as automobiles and planes replaced trains as the preferred 
 mode of travel, many of the thousands of train stations that dotted the  
landscape either fell into disrepair or were abandoned. And many were  
demolished; the Railroad Station Historical Society estimates that only about  half of 
the 40,000 or so train depots originally built in the U.S. still  exist. 
As this 56-minute film demonstrates, railroad stations in the commonwealth  
are once again emerging as community centerpieces. Contemporary interest in  
historic preservation, coupled with America's nostalgia for the warmth and  
community feel of the whistle-stop depot has inspired people to breathe new life  
into these old buildings in exciting and/or unusual ways. 
Architecturally, train stations have a lot going for them. Because the  
railroad companies were flush with money, noted Mark Bussler, production manager  
for Inecom Entertainment, which is distributing the DVD, their stations were  
made with incredible care and detail. 
For instance, the cement walls in the former Pennsylvania Railroad station in 
 California (Chapter 3), which was turned into a public library in 1958, are  
almost a foot thick. The old Union Station in Pittsburgh (Chapter 16) -- now 
an  apartment and condo complex known as The Pennsylvanian -- features a grand 
 concourse with arched openings, marble floors, ornately decorated walls, and 
a  vaulted ceiling topped by a 40 foot high translucent skylight. 
The video was produced and first aired on Penn State public TV in 2002. Each  
of the 16 train stations showcased in the film has its own particular story 
to  tell, having been converted into everything from a family restaurant and a  
private home to a world-class engineering research laboratory. Yet what 
really  sparked Mr. Bussler's imagination were the stories of the people who saved  
them. 
"Repurposing" an old building to a new use always requires a certain amount  
of imagination. Still, it's fair to say that all eight of the Western  
Pennsylvania train stations featured in the video push creativity to a new  level. 
For instance, the DiSalvo family turned the 1903 Pennsylvania Railroad  station 
in Latrobe, Westmoreland County, into a 16,000 square-foot dining and  
entertaining complex known as DiSalvo's Station. 
The former Youghiogheny Station in Connellsville, Fayette County, constructed 
 in 1850, today houses Youghiogheny Glass, one of only seven stained-glass  
manufacturers left in the U.S. 
In Beaver, viewers learn how a 90-year-old freight station formerly owned by  
the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad was reborn as the Beaver Area Historical  
Museum. And what a resurrection: A recipient of the "Best Local History 
Museum"  Award from the American Association of State and Local History, it hosted 
a  campaign visit by President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney 
in  2000. 
Washington County serves as the backdrop for two of the film's stops: the  
aforementioned California Area Public Library on Wood Street, and the former  
B&O Railroad Station on South Main Street in Washington, which in 2001  
underwent a $1 million renovation to become offices for the Washington County  Tourist 
Promotion Agency. 
In the video, retired librarian Wyona Coleman, who died in 2005, recounted  
how the library came to be. She noted -- only half jokingly -- that nothing has 
 more perseverance "than a group of women with a goal." Unhappy with the  
library's then-temporary home on the second floor of the borough building, a  
group of volunteers persuaded the Pennsylvania Railroad to not only let them use  
their abandoned station house, but to do it almost for free. Railroad execs  
wanted $3,000 a year for rent; the ladies ended up paying $10 a month. 
Or as Mrs. Coleman remembered, "We said we don't have any money; couldn't you 
 do it for nothing as a public service?" 
The idea for the caboose that sits on the library's lawn and houses a  
children's library program came from a news story Mrs. Coleman and her assistant  
read about how railroads were doing away with their cabooses. Thinking it might  
be nice to have one of their own, the assistant sent 18 letters to 18 
different  railroad companies. Six months later, the library got a call from Norfolk  
Southern informing them one would be delivered in just a few weeks. 
The film ends with a look at the former Union Station at the corner of  
Liberty Avenue and Grant Street in Pittsburgh. During its heyday, this majestic  
14-story station designed by Daniel Burnham & Co. of Chicago, the same  creative 
talent behind the Frick and Oliver buildings Downtown, saw nearly  10,000 
travelers a day. Today, it houses more than 250 apartments known as The  
Pennsylvanian. 
So revered is this building, that people come every day, almost on a  
pilgrimage, just to see the rotunda. 
Yet even the most humble train station, Mr. Bussler noted, can't help but  
evoke the same reaction. 
"All kids grow up with books about railroads or trains," he said. "It's a  
piece of American history that everyone is familiar with." 
"Pennsylvania Train Stations - Restored and Revitalized" ($14.95) can be  
ordered at any local bookstore, and at _Amazon.com_ (http://amazon.com/)  and 
_BestBuy.com_ (http://bestbuy.com/) . For more information, visit 
_trainstationsfilm.com_ (http://trainstationsfilm.com/) .  
Gretchen McKay can be reached at _gmckay_@_post-gazette.com_ 
(mailto:gmckay_@_post-gazette.com)  or  412-263-1419.
First published on December 27, 2007 at 12:16  pm


 
Thursday, December 27, 2007
By Gretchen McKay, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 
Few structures shout "Americana" as loudly as the one-room schoolhouse. Yet  
to some, the local train station is arguably just as iconic. While they 
differed  in size, style and location, railroad depots in the early 1900s served as 
both a  social and commercial center for many communities. It was from their 
platforms  that presidential candidates gave stump speeches, soldiers kissed 
their  sweethearts before heading off to war and friends and relatives got their 
first  impression of town when they came to visit. 
As narrator Chuck Bierlein points out in the opening of "Pennsylvania Train  
Stations -- Restored and Revitalized," a recently released DVD produced by 
Penn  State Public Broadcasting, train stations were a key element in any rail  
journey. 
Designed as "portals of entry to the great iron horses that carried the  
mail," they served as a front door of sorts to towns and cities across the U.S.  
But because their function of moving passengers and freight was so utilitarian, 
 and people used them so often, these beautiful symbols of "welcome and 
success"  were often completely overlooked. 
Not only that, but as automobiles and planes replaced trains as the preferred 
 mode of travel, many of the thousands of train stations that dotted the  
landscape either fell into disrepair or were abandoned. And many were  
demolished; the Railroad Station Historical Society estimates that only about  half of 
the 40,000 or so train depots originally built in the U.S. still  exist. 
As this 56-minute film demonstrates, railroad stations in the commonwealth  
are once again emerging as community centerpieces. Contemporary interest in  
historic preservation, coupled with America's nostalgia for the warmth and  
community feel of the whistle-stop depot has inspired people to breathe new life  
into these old buildings in exciting and/or unusual ways. 
Architecturally, train stations have a lot going for them. Because the  
railroad companies were flush with money, noted Mark Bussler, production manager  
for Inecom Entertainment, which is distributing the DVD, their stations were  
made with incredible care and detail. 
For instance, the cement walls in the former Pennsylvania Railroad station in 
 California (Chapter 3), which was turned into a public library in 1958, are  
almost a foot thick. The old Union Station in Pittsburgh (Chapter 16) -- now 
an  apartment and condo complex known as The Pennsylvanian -- features a grand 
 concourse with arched openings, marble floors, ornately decorated walls, and 
a  vaulted ceiling topped by a 40 foot high translucent skylight. 
The video was produced and first aired on Penn State public TV in 2002. Each  
of the 16 train stations showcased in the film has its own particular story 
to  tell, having been converted into everything from a family restaurant and a  
private home to a world-class engineering research laboratory. Yet what 
really  sparked Mr. Bussler's imagination were the stories of the people who saved  
them. 
"Repurposing" an old building to a new use always requires a certain amount  
of imagination. Still, it's fair to say that all eight of the Western  
Pennsylvania train stations featured in the video push creativity to a new  level. 
For instance, the DiSalvo family turned the 1903 Pennsylvania Railroad  station 
in Latrobe, Westmoreland County, into a 16,000 square-foot dining and  
entertaining complex known as DiSalvo's Station. 
The former Youghiogheny Station in Connellsville, Fayette County, constructed 
 in 1850, today houses Youghiogheny Glass, one of only seven stained-glass  
manufacturers left in the U.S. 
In Beaver, viewers learn how a 90-year-old freight station formerly owned by  
the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad was reborn as the Beaver Area Historical  
Museum. And what a resurrection: A recipient of the "Best Local History 
Museum"  Award from the American Association of State and Local History, it hosted 
a  campaign visit by President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney 
in  2000. 
Washington County serves as the backdrop for two of the film's stops: the  
aforementioned California Area Public Library on Wood Street, and the former  
B&O Railroad Station on South Main Street in Washington, which in 2001  
underwent a $1 million renovation to become offices for the Washington County  Tourist 
Promotion Agency. 
In the video, retired librarian Wyona Coleman, who died in 2005, recounted  
how the library came to be. She noted -- only half jokingly -- that nothing has 
 more perseverance "than a group of women with a goal." Unhappy with the  
library's then-temporary home on the second floor of the borough building, a  
group of volunteers persuaded the Pennsylvania Railroad to not only let them use  
their abandoned station house, but to do it almost for free. Railroad execs  
wanted $3,000 a year for rent; the ladies ended up paying $10 a month. 
Or as Mrs. Coleman remembered, "We said we don't have any money; couldn't you 
 do it for nothing as a public service?" 
The idea for the caboose that sits on the library's lawn and houses a  
children's library program came from a news story Mrs. Coleman and her assistant  
read about how railroads were doing away with their cabooses. Thinking it might  
be nice to have one of their own, the assistant sent 18 letters to 18 
different  railroad companies. Six months later, the library got a call from Norfolk  
Southern informing them one would be delivered in just a few weeks. 
The film ends with a look at the former Union Station at the corner of  
Liberty Avenue and Grant Street in Pittsburgh. During its heyday, this majestic  
14-story station designed by Daniel Burnham & Co. of Chicago, the same  creative 
talent behind the Frick and Oliver buildings Downtown, saw nearly  10,000 
travelers a day. Today, it houses more than 250 apartments known as The  
Pennsylvanian. 
So revered is this building, that people come every day, almost on a  
pilgrimage, just to see the rotunda. 
Yet even the most humble train station, Mr. Bussler noted, can't help but  
evoke the same reaction. 
"All kids grow up with books about railroads or trains," he said. "It's a  
piece of American history that everyone is familiar with." 
"Pennsylvania Train Stations - Restored and Revitalized" ($14.95) can be  
ordered at any local bookstore, and at _Amazon.com_ (http://amazon.com/)  and 
_BestBuy.com_ (http://bestbuy.com/) . For more information, visit 
_trainstationsfilm.com_ (http://trainstationsfilm.com/) .  
Gretchen McKay can be reached at _gmckay_@_post-gazette.com_ 
(mailto:gmckay_@_post-gazette.com)  or  412-263-1419.
First published on December 27, 2007 at 12:16  pm





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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
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