Luray station

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Coming Soon 
Restoration Of Luray Train Depot Nears Completion

By Benjamin Weathers

LURAY — It’s been nearly 30 years since the last train stopped here. But soon, the Luray Train Depot will be functional once again.

The third phase in the effort to restore the historic train depot is just weeks away from completion.

“Right now, we're about 30 to 40 days away from being completed,” said Town Manager Rick Black.

By the middle of June, the depot could be the new headquaters of the Luray-Page County Chamber of Commerce.

“How exciting is it that? We're getting a new home,” said Chamber of Commerce President Karen Riddle. “I'm just so amazed.”

Once restored, the depot will also serve as a local railroad museum, including a large-scale model of the county's railways. However due to lack of funds, the exhibits in the museum will have to be installed in the fourth and final phase of the restoration project.

The town is currently seeking funding for the next phase and will have a better idea of when it can be completed within the next few  weeks.

In addition to the museum, the depot will also have a conference room that various community groups will be allowed to use.

The effort to restore the former train station began a decade ago, when, after much haggling, the Town of Luray purchased the depot from Norfolk Southern for $110,000.

Since then, about $4 million has been spent to restore the depot to the condition it was in when Norfolk and Western ran passenger steam engines through the region. Inside, the interior and lighting are made to resemble that of the 1930's and 1940's.

“One of the things you do with these kinds of projects is to pick a period of significance,” said architect David Puckett.

Puckett has worked on roughly a dozen similar projects throughout the region. He pointed out the many different periods of history that the former station had remained functional through.

During both World War I and II, local men leaving to and returning from service would have made use of the train station, Puckett pointed out.

“All of those arrivals and departures would have taken place at that station,” he said.

Puckett went on to say that once the restoration is complete, the depot would serve as a valuable commodity to the community, able to accommodate school groups and other tourists.

“Luray is already a popular destination for history and tourism,” Puckett said. “It could take all of that into account and contribute to the community at the same time.”

The depot's history, as that of the railroad in Page County, is both long and complex dating back to the later half of the 19th Century. In 1866, it was then Commonwealth Attorney for Page County, Peter Borst, who first introduced a bill for the creation of a rail line in the region.

Fifteen years later, the first train traveled from Hagerstown, Md. to Waynesboro Junction on the railway. That same year, the train station was built in Luray, just south of Main Street.

The building had to be rebuilt after a fire destroyed the station in 1906. Luray officials negotiated the construction of a more permanent brick structure in its place.

Yet, tragedy struck once again, when a fire (thought to be caused by a lightning strike), partially destroyed the building in June 1908. The damage not quite as extensive as the first fire, the building was fully restored by September.

The depot remained operational as a passenger steam line until 1952 and was later converted to a freight service.

However, with the merger of Norfolk and Western and Norfolk Southern in mid-1980, the facility was no longer needed and became used only for storage.

While the facility laid dormant for 20 years, the public's interest in the subject seemed unabated. A number of local businesses and individuals have donated thousands of dollars to the cause and many are excited to see the depot once again open its doors to the community.

Luray Train Station Restoration Inc., a non-profit organization created to collect local contributions, recently announced that it had collected $17,500 in its brick paver program, in which local businesses and residents made donations in exchange for their names to appear in the bricks near the depot's entrance.

“We're getting closer,” the organization's president, David Lispcomb, said enthusiastically. “Now, it's just a matter of clearing up loose ends.”


Caption:  Luray's train depot should be ready by June to become the new home of the Luray-Page County Chamber of Commerce, as well as serving as a visitor's center and a railroad museum. [Photograph by Ben Weathers]

Source:  http://www.rocktownweekly.com/pnc_details.php?AID=37642&CHID=42

As of:  May 8, 2009


P.S. Thanks, Ned, for the referral!