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The southern region of the U.S. state of Virginia has a rich railroad heritage.  Many small towns benefitted from the railroad as trains transported coal from the mountains of West Virginia to the ports of Norfolk, Virginia.  Among those small towns was the small town of Crewe.  It is here where you will find the Crewe Railroad Museum.

The town of Crewe, Virginia was once a major railroad town on the Norfolk and Western Railway that once had a roundhouse.  Today, the roundhouse is long gone, but the yard does remain and is under the ownership of the Norfolk Southern Railway.  The Crewe Railroad Museum tells the railroad history of this small town.  As you drive by, you see rolling stock on display to include a steam locomotive and a diesel locomotive from the Norfolk and Western Railway, and what is a railroad museum without a caboose?  You also have a Pullman car on display.

Then you have the inside of the museum housed in an old train station.  Here, you will find many artifacts on display from the Norfolk and Western Railway, and what is a museum without a model train display.  The one display is a display of the roundhouse in Crewe.

The Crewe Railroad Museum is located at 100 Virginia Avenue (U.S. Route 460 and Virginia Route 49) in the heart of Crewe Virginia.  It is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10:00am to 4:00pm.  Admission is free, but they gladly accept donations.  Parking is on site.  Although the museum is wheelchair accessible, not all the rolling stock is.

The Crewe Railroad Museum is a small museum that has a lot of history.  If you are in the area, it is worth the trip.

The U.S. state of North Carolina is one of the largest states on the Atlantic Coast.  What is the state famous for?  The Hunger Games movies were filmed there.  The most visited national park, the Smoky Mountains Nation Park, is partially located in the state.  (The other part is in Tennessee.)  You have the beaches on what is called the Outer Banks, and it was in the town of Kitty Hawk where the first flight of an airplane took place by two brothers.  The state has some of the most popular universities in the nation to include the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, and Duke University which have had some of the best basketball teams in the country.  With so many things in the state, you also have numerous railroad sites as well.  One of the sites is in the small town of Sanford.

Welcome to the Depot Park in Sanford, North Carolina.  What is Depot Park?

Some of you are saying, “Well, duh!  It is a park built around a depot.”

That is true, but what is special about the Depot Park in Sanford?  Yes, it is the centerpiece of the town, but it is more special than that.  The town was designed at the crossing of two railroad lines.  The man who engineered the crossroads was a man named O. C. Sanford, and the town is named after him.  The Depot Park is located at the crossroads of these two rail lines.  Yes, it features an old train station, but it also features the Railroad House, a fountain, the Depot Park Walk of Fame, Steam Locomotive Number 12 of the Atlantic and Western Railroad, and a concert pavilion and event space.  The park pays tribute to the town’s railroad heritage.

The Sanford Depot Park is located at 601 North Fifth Street in Sanford, North Carolina.  The park is free to visit, and parking is on site.  The park is entirely wheelchair accessible.  You can get more information at https://www.sanfordnc.net/697/Depot-Park.

Throughout the forty eight of the states that make up the United States of America, you have big cities, and you have small towns.  In the heydays of passengers railroading, many of these cities and small towns were served by the railroad with freight and passenger service.  In each of these towns was a train station.  As service to the small towns declined, many of those small train stations were abandoned.  Some were demolished.  Some were spared from demolition.  They were made into visitor centers, stores, houses, and then you have those that were made into restaurants.

Welcome to the Tamaqua Station Restaurant in the town of Tamaqua in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.  The state of Pennsylvania is home to many railroad sites.  The Tamaqua Station is among those sites.  Built in 1874 by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, it was to be demolished after passenger service ceased just like many other train stations, but an effort was made to save the station, and the effort was successful.  When you come to eat at the Tamaqua Station Restaurant, you will be glad that it was spared.  With the Reading, Blue Mountain, and Northern Railroad making stops here on its excursions to Jim Thorpe, you can say that it is an active train station again.  Along with the restaurant, there are also cabooses, a locomotive, and an old yard tower on display.

Some of you are saying, “This is nice that they saved this train station from being destroyed, but many train stations were spared and made into restaurants.  There is nothing special about this station.”

You say that there is nothing special about this train station.  What is special about this train station?  In its recent release of postage stamps, the United States Postal Service released a set of stamps featuring old train stations.  One of those stations was the train station in Tamaqua, the home of the Tamaqua Station Restaurant and a stop on the Reading, Blue Mountain, and Northern Railroad.

Yes, the train station is special as it is the hub of the town.  If you are hungry, you can get a great meal here.  It is located on U.S. Route 309.  It is open from Wednesday to Saturday.  Parking is available across the tracks with easy access to the restaurant.  You can get more information on the restaurant at http://www.tamaquastation.com/tamaquastationrestaurant.html.  Just to let you know, the restaurant has great reviews.

So, if you are in Pennsylvania and come upon the town of Tamaqua, make a trip to the train station.  Eat at the Tamaqua Station Restaurant that has many ‘stamps’ of approval.

It is the day when people arrived at the New World.  They had very little, and they had little to eat.  They encountered a few Indians who taught them how to plow the land and to provide for themselves.  They later had a huge feast.  This was called the First Thanksgiving as they were thankful for the great feast.

Thanksgiving is a day that is set aside to be thankful for the things we have.  When it comes to the railroad, we have many things we need to be thankful for.

We have the many track workers who look over and repair the tracks to keep the trains rolling.  We have the engineers who operate the trains to and from their destinations hauling freight and passengers across the country.  We have the mechanics and repair men who make sure everything is in working order.  We have the porters and conductors who make the passengers feel comfortable as the trains roll on.  We have the baggage handlers who make sure your luggage arrives at the station when you do.  For those who are traveling on Thanksgiving, think of those who are sacrificing their Thanksgiving so that you can get to yours.  Their work will not be in vain on this very day.

So, let us take the time to be thankful to those who keep the trains running not only on Thanksgiving and but all year round.  To everyone else, I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.  May you have plenty, and may you thank the freight trains that brought your meals to you.

The Declaration of Independence has been signed in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia in the colony of Pennsylvania declaring independence for the thirteen colonies from Great Britain.  The American Revolutionary War was still being fought.  Great Britain had captured the city of Philadelphia.  In December of 1777, the Continental Army under the command of General George Washington established an encampment west of the city in an area called Valley Forge.  Most of you have heard the stories of the brutal cold winter in December of 1777 in Valley Forge that made many of the roads impassable, which also disrupted supplies to the army.  Today, when you visit the Valley Forge National Historical Park, you can visit the sites when the men were encamped.  You can visit replica cabins and see replica cannons.  By the way, if you do not enjoy cold weather, it is good to know that you can visit the park in the summer as it is open year round.

Some of you are saying, “I remember hearing about Valley Forge.  Those conditions must have been very bad.  Those soldiers had to be very brave.  There are numerous big problems with Valley Forge.  First, there was no railroad in Valley Forge when the men were here.  George Washington died before the railroad began.  Because Valley Forge, the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Army, and George Washington have no history with the railroad, I will not be making my brutal visit here.”

Let us take a look at this.  The encampment at Valley Forge was established in December of 1777, and it lasted until the summer of 1778.  The American Revolutionary War ended in 1783, and that was also the end of the Continental Army.  General George Washington who later was elected the first President of the United States of America died in 1799.  The railroad did not begin in North America until February of 1827.  So, you do have a point when you say that the Valley Forge National Historic Park has no connection to the railroad.  Ladies and gentlemen, there is more to the story of Valley Forge.

As mentioned, the railroad did not begin in North America until February of 1827.  The first railroad line was built in the city of Baltimore in the U.S. state of Maryland by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.  As with many other industries, other railroad companies began.  Among them was the Reading Railroad who built a railroad to bring the coal from the coal mines of the northern and central regions of the state of Pennsylvania to the ships docked at the ports of Philadelphia.  In the year 1842, they built a rail line along the Schuylkill River.  This brought the line to pass by Valley Forge.  (The Schuylkill River runs on the northwest side of the park.  It is not accessible from the park itself.)  The Valley Forge National Historical Park was established in 1893.  A small train station was built allowing visitors to travel by train to the park.  At the time, the train was the only way to get to and from the park.  As more visitors came to visit, a larger train station was needed.

In 1911, a grander train station was built.  The train station was built in a Colonial Revival style.  It was built in the same style as George Washington’s Valley Forge Headquarters was built using the same materials.  The station was also the visitor center for the historical park.  As the passengers stepped off the train, they looked down into a valley overseeing the historical park.  When the current visitor center was built in the 1960’s, the train station ceased as the only entrance to the park, but train service continued until the 1980’s.

Now some of you are saying, “I know.  The train station was demolished, and the train tracks were taken up.  It is the same old story.”

Wrong!  The elegant train station remains.  It may no longer be an active train station, but it has been preserved as a museum.  You can walk the old train platforms.  The ticket office and waiting rooms are exhibit space showing the story of not just the train station but the happenings at Valley Forge.  As for the train tracks, the Reading Railroad no longer runs along here, but, if you are fortunate enough, Norfolk Southern Railway may reward you with a passing train.

Yes, the Valley Forge National Historical Park has a history with the railroad, but that is not the only reason to visit.  It is a place where freedom loving patriots endured great hardship to fight a war to make the United States of America the Land of the Free.

The Valley Forge National Historical Park is open year round.  It is located near U.S. Route 422 and Interstate 76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike).  You can get information on the hours and get directions and how to get to the park by public transportation at https://www.nps.gov/vafo/index.htm.

The next time you hear or think about Valley Forge, think about the harsh conditions the soldiers and families lived under.  Think about the man, George Washington.  Think about how the railroad brought visitors to see American history.

What is special about the Carrahee Military Museum?  Well, it tells the history of the nearby Camp Toccoa where paratroopers were trained.  The camp was opened during World War II to train the new type of soldier known as the paratrooper.  A visit to the museum tells the history of the camp and the uniforms and weapons they used.  What is special about Camp Toccoa?  It was the original home of the ‘Band of Brothers’,  a group of soldiers who fought during World War II.  If you are in the northern region of the U.S. state of Georgia, you must make your way to the town of Toccoa to visit the Carrahee Military Museum.

Some of you are saying, “Well is this something?  Here is a museum that is specifically about paratroopers, and I do remember the HBO series on the Band of Brothers.  I love the military and have great respect for them, but being a military museum, it is about the military and not about the railroad.  Therefore, I will not be jumping in to visit this place.”

Yes.  It is a military museum.  Yes.  It is about Camp Toccoa.  Yes, you will see military history on display here.  Yes, this was the home of the ‘Band of Brothers’.  However, you are wrong when you say that this place has no railroad history.

What does the Carrahee Military Museum have to do with the railroad?  Well, you will notice this as soon as you arrive.  How will you notice?  First of all, the Carrahee Military Museum is housed in the old train station.  You arrive at the old train station, and you notice the train platform.  Amtrak does make stops here.

Now you are saying, “That is nice, but many museums are housed in old train stations.  The museum itself has nothing to do with the railroad nor does it have any railroad history.”

Ladies and gentlemen, you are wrong again.

As soldiers came to Camp Toccoa to train as paratroopers during World War II, they arrived by train.  Yes, the railroad played a great role in the training by bringing the soon to be paratroopers to their training.

If you still need another reason to visit the Carrahee Military Museum, the old train station is also the home of the Stephens County Historical Museum of which the town of Toccoa is located in.  The museum tells the history of the county to include the history of the railroad.  There is a scale from the Southern Railroad and a small model of a Southern Railroad Train on display.  You can read the speech made by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, former President of the United States of America from the platform on the rear of a train in Toccoa.

Now you have many reasons to visit the Carrahee Military Museum.  It is one of many great reasons to visit the great state of Georgia.

The Carrahee Military Museum is located inside the old train station in Toccoa, Georgia along with the Stephens County Historical Museum and the town visitor center.  It is located at 160 Alexander Street.  The museum is wheelchair accessible.  You can get more information about admission, get directions to the museum, and read more into the history of Camp Toccoa and how you can get a tour at https://www.toccoahistory.com/.

Visit the Carrahee Military Museum.  Come and see how the railroad played a major role in helping soldiers jump out of planes.

The town of Hamlet in the south central region of the U.S. state of North Carolina was once the hub of the Seaboard Airline Railroad.  Today, CSX has a small yard in the town, and you can see the trains pass through town.  The old train station, built in a Victorian Queen Anne style, is still an active train station, but it sees fewer passenger trains at only two Amtrak train pass through here each day.  The old train station is now the home of the Hamlet Depot Museum.

The Hamlet Depot sits at the crossing of two tracks, one running north and south and the other running east and west.  A railroad hotel once stood across the tracks north of the depot, but it was destroyed by a fire.  The waiting area in the depot remains a waiting area for Amtrak passengers today, but the rest of the depot houses artifacts from the heydays of the railroad in Hamlet.

Some of you are saying, “This is nice, but many town depot museums do this.”

This is true, but the Depot Museum in Hamlet, North Carolina is much more.

As you walk around inside the old depot, you will walk through the old ticket office and baggage room, but then you go downstairs.  Here, you will see a model train display set up in the way that the town looked in the heyday of the Seaboard Airline Railroad.  You see where the many tracks once were that are no longer there.

Now you are saying, “And that is the end of the visit.  You have seen everything.”

Not exactly.

As mentioned, the Depot Museum in Hamlet, North Carolina is not just inside the old depot.  The visit also includes a visit to the Hamlet Visitors Center.  This is not your ordinary visitors center, but it is a museum telling the story of the town of Hamlet and how the railroad was a major factor to the town’s growth.

If you think that this is all, there is more.

You then have the Tornado Building.  No.  There is not an actual tornado inside.  It is an old railroad warehouse that houses a replica of a steam locomotive called the ‘Tornado’.  It also has a model train displays, old cars, and an old fire engine.

If that is not enough, you have the Main Street Park.  The first thing you notice in the park is the Seaboard Airline Railroad Number 1114 of which the locomotive and Seaboard Airline Railroad Caboose Number 5241 are the centerpieces of the part.  The park was built where railroad lines once were.  There is also an old railroad crossing light and an old railroad bridge over a creek.

The Hamlet Depot Museum is located at 2 Main Street in Hamlet, North Carolina.  Admission is free, and the buildings are wheelchair accessible.  Parking is on site.  You can learn more about the history of Hamlet, North Carolina at https://hamlethistoricdepot.org/.

Visit Hamlet, North Carolina.  See a town engulfed with the history of the railroad.

The rail trail is a trail where trains once ran.  Today, the rail trail no longer sees trains, but it sees hikers, walkers, runners, bicyclists, and the occasional horse rider.

As you travel on the trail, you may just see the scenery.  You may feel the spirits of the trains that once were on this trail.  What is blacktop or dirt was where wooden railroad ties and steel rails once where.  If you walk or hike, you feel the old railroad bed with your feet.  You feel the ground where people travel on, but then you feel the trains roll along.

Although the trains no longer run on the tracks that were once on the trail, if you are a railroad person, you will feel the trains that were once on the rail trail that you tread upon today.

The Sautee Nacoochee Center is a community located in a very small town called Sautee Nacoochee in the northern mountainous region of the U.S. state of Georgia.  How famous is this place?  Well, it is not really famous as it is overshadowed by a more famous town known as Helen which is a few miles west of here.  However, you can visit the Sautee Nacoochee Center and see the artwork of local artists as well as the Folk Pottery Museum and the Valley Heritage and History Museum.  If that is not enough, they event have a theater where performing arts take place, and there are also classes you can take.  If you are in the northern region of Georgia, you will enjoy a visit to the Sautee Nacoochee Center.

Some of you are saying, “This is interesting.  When you hear about Georgia, you rarely hear about its mountains and its mountain towns.  This could be a great place to visit.  There is one very big problem.  What is the very big problem?  This place has nothing to do with the railroad.  Therefore, I will not make an art of visiting this place.”

You do have a good point.  Why visit the Sautee Nacoochee Center?

As you arrive, you see the Sautee Nacoochee Center.  What you do not see any sign of the railroad here.  Neither the property nor the structure has any connection to railroad history.  You enter and you notice the numerous galleries.  Unless you see a picture of a train, you will see nothing about the railroad here.  You then enter the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia.  You see how pottery is made, and you see the great works of pottery on display.  What does this have to do with railroad history?  Well, absolutely nothing.  You can also tour an old African American Heritage site which also has no history with the railroad.

So why visit the Sautee Nacoochee Center?

This brings us to the Valley Heritage and History Museum which is also located inside the center.  What is significant about this museum?  Well, as most of you have figured out, it tells the history of the region in northern Georgia to include the nearby town of Helen.  If you were to visit the town of Helen, you would feel as if you were in Germany.  Well, they try to make you feel as if you were in Germany.  What will you not see in the town of Helen?  You will not see a railroad.  You will not see an old train station.  You will not see a rail trail.

So why see the Valley Heritage and History Museum?

The town of Helen, Georgia was founded as a saw mill town in 1914, and it had one of the largest saw mills in the eastern United States of America.  At the Valley Heritage and History Center, you will see how the railroad was used to transport lumber as well as gold from the mills and the mines to the town of Gainesville, a major town south of here where it connected to other railroads.  The town of Helen as a railroad town was short lived as mining for gold ceased.  Through the years, the town would eventually be transformed into what it is today.

The Sautee Nacoochee Center is owned and operated by the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association.  It is located at 283 Highway 255 North in Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia.  It is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00am to 5:00pm and on Sunday from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.  Parking is on site.  Admission is free to visit the museums and galleries, but admission may be required to attend the shows.  The facility is wheelchair accessible.  You can get more information and directions at https://www.snca.org/snc/home.php.

As you enjoy the mountains of northern Georgia, make a trip to the Sautee Nacoochee Heritage Center.  Visit the Valley Heritage and History Museum.  See how the railroad once transformed this region.