816-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 20, 2003
The Meyersdale Area Historical Society’s newest project is restoring a CSX Wide-Vi
sion Caboose, which has been moved to the society’s headquarters at the restored
Western Maryland Railway Station on the Allegheny Highlands Trail.
Railroad Landmark Restored
SANDRA LEPLEY
Somerset Co. Correspondent
MEYERSDALE (Somerset
Co.) The Western Maryland
Railway Station in Meyersdale
serves not only as a restored, his
toric landmark on the Allegheny
Highlands Trail but also its com
pletion has led to more recent
projects, including the revival of
a caboose.
Ironically, the impressive rail
way station, open on weekends
for travelers on the Allegheny
Highlands (hiking and biking)
Trail and other tourists, was once
on the brink of demolition before
1993, when the restoration began.
“I thought to myself when I
first came up here and looked
A conflict between the Western Maryland Railway and
the Meyersdale Borough Council resulted in a unique
twist of fate back in 1912. The council didn’t want to
allow the railroad to cross through the town, and the rail
road wanted to avoid any expensive right-of-way. The al
ternative ended up being an agreement that the railroad
would be allowed to build if it constructed one of the fin
est depots along the entire route and it did.
Lancaster
around ‘there’s no way this is
going to work,’ but with a lot of
volunteer help we just kept going
and this is the result,” said Mary
Neimiller, one of the original
members of the Meyersdale Area
Historical Society, the organiza
tion formed to restore the station.
The once-obsolete and dis
carded station is now the home of
the society as well as many com
munity activities.
The historical society was
formed as a non-profit in 1994 to
preserve historic structures and
encourage awareness of the cul
tural heritage of southern Somer
set County, explained Neimiller.
The station now stands as a shin
ing example of local history.
Constructed in 1912 by the
Meyersdale Planing Mill for
$lO,OOO, the Meyersdale Train
Depot was one of several stations
along the Western Maryland
Railroad. The mill also had con
tracts to construct depots for the
Western Maryland Railway at
Rockwood and Confluence in
Somerset County, both of which
have been demolished, and Ohi
opyle in Fayette County, and
Garrett in Somerset County,
which was dismantled and
moved to Listie in Somerset
Township.
Although the CSX caboose is
not from the original Western
Maryland line, its lure is no less
significant than that of the sta
tion.
According to Ken Snelson, a
committee member for the resto
ration of the caboose, it was built
in April 1969 by the International
Car Company in Kenton, Ohio,
and is numbered No. 3235. It was
among the first acquired by the
C&O (Chesapeake and Ohio)
since 1949. The Chessie System
acquired and painted it in their
colors in 1978. However, it was
originally painted dark blue with
silver window frames, roof and
running boards. The letters, num
bers, roof ends, stripe along the
bottom edge of the car body and
grab irons were yellow.
It is the intention of the society
to restore the caboose to its origi
nal glory and a future fundraiser
is currently under consideration
as well as the obtaining any pos
sible grant money.
The caboose, much like the
railway station, allows the gener
al public to see a part of Ameri
can history in an area steeped
with an industrial heritage.
“Without the railroads, neither
industry nor prosperity would
have come to Meyersdale or Som
erset County for that matter,” ex
plained Dennis Stahl, president
of the historical society and a re
tired history teacher.
The Western Maryland line
was the second main line through
Meyersdale. The need for an ad
ditional rail line was apparent
due to the extreme amounts of
csifes*
Lester and Barbara Breininger, ninth generation
Pennsylvania Germans, show a photo of Katie Fox
who originally owned the Early American cookie cut
ters. A traveling tinsmith fashioned the cookie cut
ters from scrapes leftover from making pots and
pans for early Americans. At the holiday workshop
sponsored recently by Berks County Extension, the
Breiningers shared their collection of items relating
to Christmas observances among 18th century Penn
sylvania Germans.
After the discontinued use of the Western Maryland
railroad line in the 19705, the Western Maryland Railway
Station built in 1912 became an eyesore by the 19905.
After much volunteer effort, the structure has been re
stored to its original glory.
production from local coal mines.
The route was popular because it
offered a lower grade route from
Pittsburgh to Baltimore, Mary
land.
The first freight trains, for
which the line was most noted,
came through in August 1912.
The passenger trains followed in
October of the same year.
“This station has quite an im
pressive history and it has had a
second life because of the people
who worked hard to make it hap
pen,” said Stahl.
Ironically, a conflict between
the Western Maryland Railway
and the Meyersdale Borough
Council actually resulted in a
unique twist of fate back in 1912.
The council didn’t want to allow
the railroad to cross through the
town, and the railroad wanted to
avoid any expensive right-of-way.
The alternative ended up being
an agreement that the railroad
would be allowed to build if it
constructed one of the finest de
pots along the entire route and it
did.
The brick passenger and
freight depot with wide, over
hanging eaves and a hipped roof
with several small gabled dor
mers were first restored on the
outside. The interior with original
wooden walls was restored. The
society is in the third phase of the
restoration process by con-
strutting an exhibit in the interior
rooms for the public to enjoy.
“Right now, the society is com
pleting exhibits in the interior
rooms of the station, and we are
looking forward to the restora
tion of the caboose as well to add
to the historical significance here
in this area,” said Neimiller. “I
can see the potential of this sta
tion as a major draw from D.C.
and Pittsburgh.”
According to Stahl, the sta
tion’s guest book had 1,500 signa
tures this year alone and that
doesn’t count the Christmas sea
son.
The station is situated on the
biking trail between two historic
viaducts incorporated into the
recreational pathway of the Alle
gheny Highlands Trail. In addi
tion, the Big Savage Tunnel, lo
cated outside of Meyersdale on
the trail, will serve as a major
draw and will be completed next
year. Because of the attraction of
these structures it is anticipated
by the Rails to Trails Association
that this region will experience
the most activity of the Great Al
legheny Passage.
“We’ve come a long way,” said
Stahl, “but we anticipate an ac
tive future as the exhibit is in
stalled, the trail nears completion
and the caboose is restored. It’s
an exciting time for the society as
well as the community and Som
erset County.”