Oak Hill, WV - VGN station

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Former Virginian Railway depot restored in WV 
Posted by: "Joe Bartolini" jbart at sc.rr.com   joedbart 
Sun Aug 24, 2008 3:10 am (PDT) 

From: rlhsgroup at yahoogrou ps.com [mailto:rlhsgroup at yahoogrou ps.com] On Behalf Of neill herring
Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2008 1:00 PM

Years of hard work lead to grand opening By Susan M. Stover For The Tribune

August 23, 2008 12:24 am

After eight long years of work, the White Oak Chapter of the National
Railroad Historical Society is proud to announce the opening of the White
Oak Railway Depot, located at the corner of Virginia Street and Central
Avenue, Oak Hill, as a permanent railroad museum dedicated to the
preservation of the heyday of freight moving on the high iron. A grand
opening ceremony will be held Saturday, Aug. 23 at 11 a.m. in conjunction
with the Oak Leaf Festival Depot Days Train Show held in the nearby Lewis
Community Foundation's Christian Community Center.

One of the highlights of the open house will be a fully-functional railway
handcar that will be available for rides during the weekend. Chapter
President Anthony Cole and Vice President W. Ray Murdock III would like to
challenge Oak Hill Mayor Bill Hannabass, City Manager Tom Oxley and members
of the town council to a handcar race on Saturday morning following the
ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The Victorian-style depot was built by the White Oak Railway Co. in 1903 as
a freight and passenger station serving Oak Hill and the surrounding area.
The building, a typical example of small town, turn-of-the- century railroad station architecture, has a large freight room, as well as a small passenger area which also doubles as the office of the station manager.

Many area businesses, including Southern States, Mankin Lumber Co. and
Lowe's of Oak Hill, have received freight at this location through the years of the depot's operation. Herbert and Charlie Jones of Lundale Farm remember an early airplane once coming in on rail to the depot that was then unloaded and pulled up Virginia Street and Jones Avenue to their farm, before it was flown off the top of their highest hill to view the town of Oak Hill.

All manners of freight, including grain, boxes, trunks and explosives, has
been unloaded and housed in the freight room over the many years of
operation. Late chapter member Carolyn Hill wrote in an article in The
Fayette Tribune on Dec. 2, 2002: "Immense fortunes (of coal) rolled over
those tracks for nearly six decades. Cars were heavily laden with tons of
sought-after bituminous coal of the highest quality. Every car was listed at the depot by the station dispatcher as they lumbered through town on their way to worldwide markets."

The depot, along with the entire rail system of the White Oak Railway Co.,
was leased in 1912 by the Virginian and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railways and then bought by the Virginian in 1917, with joint operation rights going to the C&O Railway as well. In 1959, the Virginian was merged with the forerunner of the Norfolk Southern, the Norfolk Western Railway.
On April 12, 1983, Norfolk Southern Corp. closed a long chapter in the
history of the City of Oak Hill when they locked the doors on the oldest
public building still standing in the city and the last remaining Virginian
Railway depot left in West Virginia. Norfolk Southern did redeem itself in
1995, however, by donating the depot property to the city.

The White Oak Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society was
chartered April 14, 1996, as a non-profit West Virginia corporation and
obtained a lease for the depot and surrounding property from the city with
the objectives which include:
- Preserving historical materials of railway transportation;
- Acquiring the depot as a museum; and
- Raising funds for the restoration of the depot structure while seeking
donations and items related to railway history.

After countless hours of labor by members past and present, these goals will become a reality during the 10th Annual Oak Leaf Festival.

As part of the Depot Days, the depot will be open Saturday, Aug. 23, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Sunday, 1 until 5 p.m. The White Oak Chapter is making arrangements for the membership to have the museum open at least one weekend per month, but private tours may be arranged anytime by calling any of the chapter officers: President Anthony Cole at 304-741-5737; Vice President W. Ray Murdock III at 304-574-8309; Secretary Susan Stover at 304-469-6994; Treasurer Paula Murdock at 304-465-3182; or National Director W. Ray Murdock IV at 304-465-3182. Chapter meetings are also held at the depot on the second Monday night of each month at 7 p.m. Everyone is invited to either come join the organization or just look at the fruits of their labors.

The chapter also is actively seeking more railroad and depot freight-related items to add to the displays. Anyone having any such items that they would like to loan to the museum can contact one of the officers above or drop an e-mail to www.whiteoaknrhs@ yahoo.com.

Cole would like to thank Oak Hill City Manager Tom Oxley for his work with
this project over the past several years, as well as Mayors Barbara Hickman
and Bill Hannabass, along with city council members past and present. He
also wishes to thank all the past and present members of the White Oak
Chapter for all they have done to make this grand opening a reality. 

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