Roanoke VGN passenger station status?

[NW Mailing List]

I have been involved in the restoration since Day 1, in fact, I am the person who started the whole project.

The station was completed last year for its restoration and dedicated in November. The plan is to have the passenger station side as an income producing rental property, to cover the costs of operation, and hopefully put a little in the bank to continue maintenance and repairs. To date, no one has committed to a rental.

The baggage and express building (eastern side) has restrooms, a small office and small board room for Roanoke Chapter NRHS and others to meet in. The N&WHS Board met there in February. The other remaining portion of the building, the baggage room, approximately 20x30 will be a display of the significance of the Virginian Railway.

I prepared a variety of plans for the display, but with my many other commitments, felt I could not properly lead the display design and construction part of the project in a timely manner, and so informed the heads of the station committee, Skip Salmon and Jim Cosby of that in a meeting in March. I said I would be glad to be a participant in design and production, but simply cannot be the "on-site" person needed during display construction.

Shortly after that meeting, Skip Salmon, suffered an accident which slowed him dramatically, and then contracted shingles. Skip is one of the current leaders on the project, and he has been out of commission since spring. This has obviously slowed the planning and execution dramatically. At this time, there is a very rudimentary display in the building, but it is only open by appointment.

One of our group of volunteers would be glad to escort people through the building by appointment, but since we are all volunteer, it will depend on availability. Just a week ago last Saturday, I showed an N&WHS member from England, Bob Gallantly (not sure of the spelling) and his lovely wife around the place.

if someone wants to contact me you can reach me at miller at nwhs.org

Ken Miller
On Aug 29, 2017, at 9:05 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:

> 
> I am forwarding over a question asked elsewhere.
> 
> -Lynn-
> 
> I'm taking a trip in October, and I'm going to stop in Roanoke to see the O Winston Link and the VMT. From RYPN, I'm aware of the restored Virginian Passenger Station, and I thought I take a look at that too. However, I can't find info on the web about what might be there, and when it might be open. 
> 
> Google maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Virginian+Station/@37.2596748,-79.9431338,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x884d0d9890aa2d05:0x17f13b8d41577a0c!8m2!3d37.2596706!4d-79.9409451 has an entry, but the business is waiting to be claimed, and info like hours, contact and web page filled in. There are two local reviews, one of which praises the museum, which implies that there is one.
> 
> The Roanoke Chapter NRHS http://www.roanokenrhs.org/VGNStation.html page talks a little about the restoration, but there's no further info.
> 
> There's a Wikipedia article, and an unofficial Facebook page.
> 
> Can anyone please let me know whether there's more to see than the just the building, and the days & hours, if it's open?
> 
> Thanks, Mark
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