Blog

It was a small town.  Mark was taking his young son, Timmy, to watch trains at the old train depot.  It was what they enjoyed doing.  They would sit on one of the old benches and watch the trains as they rolled on by.  No matter what time of the day they got out there whenever they could.  It was the same thing every time, and they never got tired of it.

One day would change them forever.

It was morning on a very sunny day.  Mark and Timmy were approaching the old depot as they normally did, and they saw an elderly couple sitting on the same bench that they normally sat on.

“Do you think they are here to watch the trains with us?”  Timmy was very excited.

“I don’t know,” Mark said.  “We’ll just sit on the next bench.”

They came upon the couple.

“Good morning,” the man bellowed out.

“Hi.”  Timmy waved at them.  “Are you here to watch the trains with us?”

“Trains!”  The man was very excited.  “I love trains.  Do you love trains?”

“I love trains too,” Timmy said with much glee.

“Oh,” Mark giggled, “he really loves trains.  I have a hard time getting him to leave.”

“You must not be from around here,” Mark said to them.  “We know everyone in town.”

“Oh,” said the woman.  “We are from Varsburg.”

“Varsburg?”  Mark was curious.  “That’s fifty miles away.  You must be a traveling couple.”

She looked at Timmy and then at Mark.  “This old depot is as special to us as it is to you and your boy.”

“I am glad to hear that,” Mark said.  “There is so much history to this place.  I hope that it can be restored somehow.”

“I use to bring my boy here to watch trains,” the man said.  “He was always sad that we did not have trains in Varsburg.  He always looked forward to coming here.  He was about as old as your boy is now.  Every few weeks we came to this town.  We did not sit on the bench.  We stood up and watched the trains.”

“So do you still get together to watch trains?”  Mark asked.

The woman began to cry.

“I’m sorry,” Mark was very concerned.  “I didn’t …”

“Don’t be,” the man interrupted.  “It is just that this is an anniversary for us.”

“How long have you been married?”

“Fifty two years,” the woman said as she wept, “but our wedding anniversary was three months ago.  We did come here from time to time to watch the trains with our son, Fred, but forty years ago today, we saw him for the last time.”

Mark became very shaky.  “What happened to him?”

“We brought our son here for the last time,” the man continued on.  “He was going off to fight a war.  We never saw him again.”

Mark was overcome with sadness.  He looked at Timmy and began to be concerned.

“I am very grateful for your son,” he shivered out.

“We will always be proud of him,” the woman said.  “He was a great soldier who served his country well.”

“Would you like to watch trains with us?”  Timmy asked.

They looked at each other.  “We would love to sit and watch trains with you.”

Mark and Timmy sat on the bench next to the couple.  The sound of the bells of the nearby crossing gates were ringing loud as the gates went down.

“Here it comes,” Timmy shouted.

They all sat together as the train rolled by.

This article is a tribute to the men and women who gave their lives so that we could live ours and to the loved ones who must continue on without them.  May we remember those sacrifices this Memorial Day?  They sacrificed their lives to protect our land and, most important of all, our favorite spot to watch those trains roll by.

Garrett County in the U.S. state of Maryland is the westernmost county in the state.  It is often overshadowed by the Chesapeake Bay region where the Star Spangled Banner, the world’s oldest operating airport, the first railroad in the nation, and many wars took place.  Garrett County has its own share of history as well as natural areas to include the state’s highest point and the state’s only ski resort.  In case you are wondering, the National Road, present day U.S. Route 40, does pass through the northern part of the county.  The only interstate is Interstate 68 which goes between Hancock, Maryland and Morgantown, West Virginia.  The only other major routes are U.S. Route 50 which crossed at the point of the panhandle and U.S. Route 219.  On U.S. Route 219 is where you will find the town of Oakland, the county seat of Garrett County.  It is here where you will find the Garrett County Historical Museum.  The museum tells the entire history of Garrett County.  Housed in the old Deer Park Hotel, you will see the whole history of the county.

Some of you are saying, “This is wonderful.  It is sad that not too many people know about this part of Maryland.  As I see the town on the map, I notice that this town is in the middle of nowhere.  Another problem I see is that this museum is not about railroads.  Therefore, I am not making any visit to this museum.”

The Garrett County Historical Museum is about the history of the county going back two hundred years.  The county itself does not have must history with the railroad, but the town of Oakland was once a big railroad town.

As you approach the old Deer Park Hotel, you are not going to notice the old hotel.  Your eyes will be on the old train station, locomotive and caboose, and it is not your typical train station.  It is a Gothic style train station built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad which regularly served the town of Oakland.  (It is now a museum.)  The town was home to some very majestic hotels to include a large hotel built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (now gone), the Glades Hotel (also gone), and the Deer Park Hotel, the home of the museum.

Some of you are saying, “That is very nice, but what does that have to do with this museum?”

As mentioned, the Garrett County Historical Museum tells the story of the county.  The museum is divided into different rooms.  Among those rooms is the B&O Room.  (B&O is the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.)  When you enter, you will see artifacts from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Garrett County.  You will see a model train display.  You will see a model of the Oakland Train Station.  You will see a replica of a locomotive known as ‘The Little Maryland’.  What is special about ‘The Little Maryland’?  It was built by a sixteen year old named Stephen Pagenhart, and it took him three years to finish.  Although it is enclosed in glass, it is still operational.  Before it was displayed at this museum, it was displayed at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, Illinois.

You may not be from Garrett County, Maryland, but you will appreciate what you will see here.  It is owned and operated by the Garrett County Historical Society which also operates the Garrett County of Transportation which is across the street and the Grantsville Museum in Grantsville, Maryland.  It is located at 107 South Second Street two blocks west of U.S. Route 219 and three blocks north of Maryland Route 39.  It is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00am to 3:00pm.  Admission is free, but donations are gladly accepted.  Parking is on the street, and you can stay parked as you visit the Garrett County Museum of Transportation and the Old Train Station.  You can learn more about the museum, and you can read more into the Garrett County Historical Society at https://garrettcountymuseums.com/historicalmuseum/.

You now have a reason to visit Oakland, Maryland.  You will not see the Oakland Athletics or the San Francisco Bay or Alcatraz, but you will see a great town with a great history and great museums.

You have arrived.  You have put your hard hat on.  Now you must get into the transport that will take you into the coal mine that is three hundred feet into the ground.  The tracks that the transport runs on is on a nine percent grade.  The transport is controlled by a steel cable that lowers you into the mine.  After a lone ride, you arrive at the bottom.  You step out, and you find yourself inside the coal mine.

“Where do we start?”  You ask.

“Right here.”

“Where are the explosives, the tools?  How are we getting the coal out?”  You ask.

“Sir, the mine is decommissioned.  This is the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour.  Coal is no longer mined here.”  The tour guide informs you.

Be warned that a visit to the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour in the city of Scranton in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania may make you think that you are going to work.  You are in an actual coal mine.  Well, you are in a decommissioned coal mine, but the tour guide, a former coal miner, will take you to all of the places where the miners worked, and he will show you the tools used.  As you walk through the mine, you will see the tracks the mine cars used to transport the coal.  As you walk around, you will be tempted to get to work.

The Lackawanna Coal Mine is an award-winning historic attraction.  It is located on Bald Mountain Road inside Dade Park in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  It is open from April 1 to November 28 from Friday to Monday 10:00am to 4:00pm.  (Last admission at 2:45pm.)  Parking is free and on site.  Admission is $10.00 for adults, $9.50 for seniors, $9.00 for military, $7.50 for those 3 to 12, and children under three free.  Please note that the tour is about an hour and that you will be underground the entire tour. The tour is also not wheelchair accessible.  You can get more information and read more into the history of the mine at https://coalminetournepa.com/. Time to get to work.  Not really.  You will feel that way in the Lackawanna Coal Mine.