Tag: travel

Lewes, Delaware

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

How many of you have ever heard of the beach town of Lewes in the U.S. state of Delaware?  It is a very popular town to many in the eastern United States of America particularly to those in the mid-Atlantic states.  It is a town located where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean.  Originally settled by Dutch settlers it is a popular vacation town with visitors from New York City, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Maryland, Washington D.C. and many other cities in the region.  Along with a charming downtown, the town is famous for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry that takes travelers between Lewes and the famous town of Cape May in the U.S. state of New Jersey across the Delaware Bay.  It is also where you will find Cape Henlopen.  What is special about Cape Henlopen?  It was where Fort Miles was erected to defend the entrance to Delaware Bay from a sea attack.  Today, it is a park with hiking trails with views of the Atlantic Ocean, and it has great beaches too.  It is also where you can see the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse.  Why visit Lewes, Delaware?  It is a nice charming historic town that you will fall in love with.

Some of you are saying, “This is cool.  This is great.  You have a nice town settled by the Dutch that is at the point where the Delaware Bay goes into the Atlantic Ocean.  This is probably a very beautiful town.  There is a very big problem.  It is not a railroad town.  Therefore, I will not be taking a vacation in this town.”

Why visit Lewes, Delaware?  It is not a railroad town.  The only railroad line today is a spur line that runs from the main line that runs along the Delmarva Peninsula.  In the early part of the twentieth century, it was… a railroad hub.

As you stroll through the town of Lewes, Delaware, you see charming historic structures.  You see the Lightship Overalls, which is a floating lighthouse, and it is open for tours.  You have the canal.  Then you see the Junction and Breakwater Trail.

Some of you are saying, “Interesting.  You have a trail at a junction that breaks water.  How do you break water?”

What is the Junction and Breakwater Trail?  It is a rail trail that gets it name from the Junction and Breakwater Railroad that ran south to the beach town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.  It was later taken over by the Pennsylvania Railroad and, later, the Penn Central Railroad who abandoned the railroad line in the 1970’s.

Some of you are saying, “Well.  Is that it?”

Nope.

This brings us to the public library.  What is special about the Lewes Public Library?  This will give you a reason to ‘book’ a trip to Lewes, Delaware.

The Lewes Public Library was built on the site of the old train station.  Yes, Lewes was once a passenger railroad hub with a train station with passengers arriving from Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, and Baltimore.  A replica train station was built in its place.  Along with the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Delaware Coast Line Railroad and the Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware Railroad served the station.  The old railroad bed is now the Georgetown-Lewes Trail.  (There are plans to extend the trail to Georgetown, Delaware and connect to a rail trail that goes to Love Point, Maryland, a point just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on the east coast of the Chesapeake Bay where passengers from Baltimore, Maryland and Washington D.C. arrived by ferry to ride the train to Lewes.  If you need another reason to visit the Lewes Public Library, you can see an old, refurbished caboose and coal car from the Pennsylvania Railroad next to the trail.

Lewes, Delaware is located on the Delaware Coast where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean.  U.S. Route 9 is the only major route in the town and crosses the Delaware Bay by way of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.  The main route is Delaware Route 1 which runs north to Interstate 95 in Wilmington.  Delaware Route 404 runs west to U.S. Routes 13 and 50.

Lewes, Delaware may no longer be a railroad town, but it has not forgotten its railroad heritage.  When you stroll around, you will see why many make their journey here.

Watkins Park, Mount Airy, Maryland

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of Maryland is the state where the Star Spangled Banner was written.  It was the state that donated the land that would become the District of Columbia and the capital of the United States of America.  It was where the first railroad in the Western Hemisphere began.  There is so much to this state.  It is where you will find the small town of Mount Airy.  Located in the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan region, it is a town that pales in comparison to the more famous towns of nearby Frederick, Annapolis, Baltimore, Hagerstown, Ocean City, and Cumberland.  In this town, you will find Watkins Park.  Watkins Park?  Some of the D.C. area locals will confuse this park with Watkins Park located in the historic town of Upper Marlboro, but this is a different park with the same name.  What is special about Watkins Park in Mount Airy, Maryland?  It is a park with picnic tables with shelters and grills, softball and baseball fields plus soccer fields, a playground, and courts for basketball, tennis, and volleyball.  It is a park for the neighborhood.  Watkins Park in Mount Airy, Maryland is a place where you can relax and enjoy.

Some of you are saying, “This is very interesting.  You have two parks in Maryland with the same name.  There is a big problem with this park.  What is the problem?  There is no railroad here.  Therefore, I will not be ‘parked’ here.”

Why visit Watkins Park in Mount Airy, Maryland?  Let us begin in the year 1827.

What happened in 1827?  Well, a whole lot of things.  Let us go to the city of Baltimore.  The day was February 27.  The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was born.  The first leg of the railroad ran east from the Mount Clare Station to the town of Ellicott Mills.  (The town is called Ellicott City today, and the oldest surviving train station in the United States of America is here.  It is no longer an active train station, but it is open as a museum.)  The railroad went west from here.  It went to the town of Mount Airy, Maryland.  Many years later, the railroad line was relocated south, and the railroad no longer served the town of Mount Airy.

This brings us to Watkins Park.

Yes, it is a park that has picnic tables, ball fields, and a playground just like any other neighborhood park.  What is special about this park?  Another feature of this park is that it has a nature trail.

Some of you are saying, “Big deal!  Many parks have nature trails.”

That is true, but this one is very special.  How special?  It is only a mile long.  Most of it is paved with a boardwalk.  It begins at Watkins Park.  You walk the trail to the end, and you see something amazing.  What do you see that is amazing?  You see the old Mount Airy Train Station.  (The train station is now a museum.)

Some of you are saying, “That is nice that you see an old train station on the trail, but that is nothing special.”

Well, as you walk along the trail, you notice something that looks like a railroad cut.  Ladies and gentlemen, the trail was part of the original Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Line that ran between Baltimore and the small town of Point of Rocks.  (The old train station at Point of Rocks was on a postal stamp, and it still stands today.)

As you can see, Watkins Park in Mount Airy, Maryland is a local park that holds a piece of railroad history.

Watkins Park in Mount Airy, Maryland is located at 615 Center Street in, of course, Mount Airy, Maryland.  It is right off of Maryland Route 27 and north of Interstate 70 and U.S. Route 40.  The park is open from sunrise to sunset, and the trail is accessible to wheelchairs.

The next time you hear about Watkins Park in Mount Airy, Maryland, please do not confuse it with the park in Upper Marlboro.  Think of it as a simple neighborhood park with a railroad past.

Winchester and Western Railroad Caboose Number C207, Winchester, Virginia

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of Virginia is a state that is rich in history.  From the American Revolutionary War to the American Civil War, a great amount of history happened in the city of Winchester.  Located in the northwest region of the state, the town is at the junction of four U.S. Routes (routes 11, 17 which has its northern terminus here, 50, and 522) with Interstate 81 passing east of the town center.

Winchester is not known as a railroad town, but the railroad has a great presence here with Chessie Seaboard Transportation (CSX) having a railroad yard here.  Winchester is also at the eastern end of the Winchester and Western Railroad, a short line railroad that runs west from Winchester to the small town of Gore.

As you drive around in Winchester, you see monuments and historic structures, and then you come upon a caboose.  What is it about this caboose?

In the old days of railroading, cabooses were found at the end of freight trains.  When the caboose became obsolete, some were scraped, but some where sparred.  This particular caboose was spared from being scraped, and it was put on display in a small park next to the police station.  The caboose was originally built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.  It was later sold to the Winchester and Western Railroad.  When the caboose was decommissioned, it was donated to the Northern Shenandoah Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society who put it on display.

The caboose is open for tours certain days of the year.  It is located at 231 E. Piccadilly Street just east of the Old Town Mall and near all of the U.S. Routes.  Please note that the caboose is not wheelchair accessible.  You can contact the Northern Shenandoah Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society at Home | Winchester Chapter for more information.

The Railroad and Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

Many people have heard of the small scenic town of Harpers Ferry in the U.S. state of West Virginia.  Originally established as an independent town where the Shenandoah River flows into the Potomac River, it is today a suburb of Washington D.C. at the easternmost point meeting with the U.S. states of Virginia on the south side of the Potomac River and Maryland on the north side.  It is a town full of history with old structures like John Brown’s Fort.  The town is also surrounded by mountains to include Maryland Heights that holds the ruins of an old fort and where you get great views of the town and the rivers.

As you walk around the historic town and hike the trails, there is one thing you notice.  What do you notice?

You cannot visit the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park without noticing the railroad.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad first came to the town in 1833 and was the site of the first railroad junction in the United States of America as the Winchester and Potomac Railroad ran from Harpers Ferry to the town of Charles Town.  Through the years, the trains have been rerouted through the town.  A section of the original track route is near the old train station.

Today, many railroad fans come to see Chessie Seaboard Transportation Trains (CSX) and Amtrak pass through the famous Harpers Ferry Tunnel on the Maryland side of the Potomac River.  The old train station that was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad remains an active train station today serving Amtrak passengers.

Wherever you go in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, the sounds of the railroad sounds loud as ever.  With every passing train, it awakens the history of this historic town.

Antietam Station, Sharpsburg, Maryland

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

Many people have heard of the Battle of Antietam.  Also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, it was one of the largest battles in the American Civil War.  Unlike the other major battles of Manassas and Gettysburg, the Battle of Antietam, named after Antietam Creek, was the largest battle of the American Civil War where the railroad did not play a role in the battle.  After the war, family members who came to reclaim the bodies of their loved ones had to either travel to Hagerstown or to Keedysville and then traveled by horse and buggy to Sharpsburg.  In 1877, the Shenandoah Valley Railroad came to Sharpsburg bringing railroad service to the town.  The town grew around the railroad as people travel by train to visit the battlefield.  A small train station was built west of the town along the Shepherdstown Pike (present day Maryland Route 34), but it was destroyed by fire in 1910.

In 1911, Antietam Station was built to accommodate the many visitors to the battlefield as well as accommodate farmers who wanted to ship their produce by the train.  When to automobile became a more common way to travel, the station played less of a role to the town.  The station was sold to a private person.  It was going to be demolished, but it was saved by local foundations.  In 1997, it became to home of the Hagerstown Model Railroad Museum.

Some of you are saying, “Wait a minute.  This is Sharpsburg.  How can it be the home of a model railroad from Hagerstown?”

That is a very good question.

It is called the Hagerstown Model Railroad Museum because it was originally in Hagerstown, Maryland and was originally called the Hagerstown Model Engineering Society in 1937.  Oh, it is the fourth oldest model railroad club in the United States of America.  They first met in a local hobby shop.  They met in other locations before they accepted an offer to be housed in the old Antietam Station.

Today, as you drive along Maryland Route 34 between Sharpsburg towards Shepherdstown, West Virginia, you can see the old Antietam Station with the old railroad line with Norfolk Southern Railway trains passing by… but not stopping.  What looks like a lonely train holds model train displays and lots of history.  It is located at 17230 Shepherdstown Pike (Maryland Route 34) west of the town.  You can go to https://antietamstation.com/ to get information about their open houses and to read more about the history of the station and about the Hagerstown Model Railroad Club.

Seymour, Indiana

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

How many of you have ever heard of the small town of Seymour in the U.S. state of Indiana?  Very few people have.  The state has more famous cities and towns like the state capital Indianapolis, the home of the Indianapolis 500, and South Bend, the home of the University of Notre Dame, and Bloomington, the home of the University of Indiana.  What about Seymour?  It is where John Cougar Mellencamp, a famous rock-n-roll musician was born.  (His boyhood home remains but is not   It was the home of Katie Stam.  Who is Katie Stam?  She just happened to be Miss Indiana in 2008 and Miss America in 2009.  Then you have Colonel Harland Sanders.  Who is Colonel Harland Sanders?  He was not born here, but he had family in town making him a frequent visitor.  His claim to fame was the fact that he happened to be the man where the phrase ‘finger lickin’ good’ came about.  Yep!  He is famous for his Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Seymour was also the home of Freeman Army Airfield, the first helicopter airfield in the United States of America.  (It is a civilian airport today.)  For many, Seymour, Indiana is a very special town.

Some of you are saying, “Wow!  John Cougar Mellencamp was born here.  I wonder if he met Jack and Diane here.  It is probably a great town.  The problem is that it is not a railroad town.  Therefore, I will not be ‘crumblin’ down at the wall’ here.”

Ladies and gentlemen, you are absolutely wrong.  How are you wrong?

As you drive into the town along U.S. Route 50, the very first thing you will see are railroads.  The railroad played a big role in the town’s history.  It is called the ‘Crossroads of Southern Indiana’ because of the railroad as an east west route, originally built by the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad connecting Cincinnati, Ohio and Saint Louis, Missouri, and a south north route, originally built by the Jefferson, Madison, and Indianapolis Railroad connecting Louisville, Kentucky with the Indiana capital of Indianapolis, passes through this town.  The railroad lines were later taken over by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.  Today, you will see Chessie Seaboard Transportation trains (CSX for short) roll along these railroad lines.

Being the ‘Crossroads of Southern Indiana’, the railroad played a big role in the American Civil War.  Due to the access the two big cities in the region, the Union Army set up a camp here, and the camp sent supplies by the railroad to regiments in the region.

If that is not enough, the town was the site of a railroad robbery.  There have been many railroad robberies in the early years of railroading, but in Seymour, it was the site of the first robbery of a moving train.  The Reno Gang robbed the Adams Express on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad.  Some of the gang members were caught and hanged.

Is that it?  No.  It was the site of a railroad strike in 1876.  On October 22, 1908, William Howard Taft campaigned in his running for the United Stated President from the rear of a train.  Weeks later, he was elected as the President of the United States of America.

The town of Seymour, Indiana is located in the southern region of Indiana east of Interstate 65 and U.S. Route 31 on U.S. Route 50.  The town may not be famous, but the railroad played a famous role in the town.  You may not meet Jack and Diane, but you may see a CSX train roll through.

Canal Basin Park, Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The town of Hollidaysburg in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania is a suburb of Altoona, the city famous for the World Famous Horseshoe Curve.  Hollidaysburg is also the home of the Everett Railroad.  Not far from the Everett Railroad is a park called the Canal Basin Park.  What is the Canal Basin Park?

Some of you are saying, “Well, it is a park designed around a canal basin.”

You are correct.  Well, you are mostly correct.  The park was designed around an old canal basin of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal.  Canal basins was an area where boats would wait until the canal channel was cleared, and then they continued on.  The canal, like many of the old canals, was destroyed by flooding.  Today, the Canal Basin Park consists of the remains of the basin, a replica canal lock, and a museum housed in an old Victorian home.  The Canal Basin Park is a site that preserves American history.

Some of you are saying, “This is great.  They take an old canal basin and build a park around it.  There is a problem.  This is not a railroad site.  Therefore, you will not see me here.”

So why visit the Canal Basin Park in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania?

The Pennsylvania Main Line Canal was one of many canals built to allow boats to bring goods from the ocean port cities to the inland cities and towns.  Each canal was built with a channel wide enough for a boat that was pulled by either mules or horses through the channels and the canal locks which allowed the boats to climb different elevations along the landscape.  The Pennsylvania Main Line Canal was built connect the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.  Along these canals, small towns were erected.

Then they came to the Allegheny Mountains.  How in the world are you going to build a canal over the high mountain range.

This brings us to Canal Basin Park.  Yes, it was a basin where boats waited.  It was not for the channel to be clear of boat.  It was for the boats to be placed on a flatcar on a train.  It was here in Hollidaysburg where the canal boats were put on the Allegheny Portage Railroad.  The Pennsylvania Main Line Canal used the Allegheny Portage Railroad to carry the canal cars over the mountain range and then placed back into another canal basin where it continued along its way.

You see.  You think that Canal Basin Park is about boats.  It is, but it is boats combined with the railroad.

Canal Basin Park is located at 101 Canal Street in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.  It is a short drive from U.S. Route 22 and the Everett Railroad.  The park is open from sunrise to sunset.

Next time you are in Hollidaysburg and riding the Everett Railroad, take a little time to visit Canal Basin Park.  The boats and the railroad are long gone, but you can see a place where American history took place.

The Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, Gallitzin, Pennsylvania

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The Declaration of Independence has been signed, and the United States of America is a new nation.  People come on ships across the Atlantic Ocean to arrive in the port cities to live in the new nation, but when they arrive, some stay along the Atlantic Coast, but some decide to go farther inland.  They first travel by the famous horse and wagon, but then came the canals allowing boats to go farther inland.  Then came the railroad.  It was a race between the railroad and the canals to bring people west from the coast.  The kept building west… but then they came to the Allegheny Mountains.  Part of the Appalachian Mountain Range, the Allegheny Mountains became a big barrier to transportation.  The railroad and the canals did have some success building tunnels and curves.  In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, they came up with a unique idea, and there was nothing like it anywhere in the world.

The Allegheny Portage Railroad was born.  What was the Allegheny Portage Railroad?

The Allegheny Portage Railroad was not the first railroad in the United States of America, but it was the first railroad to do something that the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad were not the first to do.  It was the first railroad to cross the Allegheny Mountains.  Yes, it was the very first railroad to take goods from the ports of the Atlantic Ocean to the inland of the United States.

Some of you are saying, “Wait a minute.  We have heard about the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.  We have heard of the Pennsylvania Railroad.  We have heard of the New York Central System Railroad.  We have never heard of the Allegheny Portage Railroad.”

The Allegheny Portage Railroad had a unique purpose.  What was its purpose?  The Allegheny Portage Railroad was actually part of a canal system.

Some of you are saying, “Wait a minute.  It is called the Allegheny Portage Railroad.  How can it be part of a canal?”

That is a great question.  As mentioned, it was a unique railroad.  How?  Unlike the major railroads that focused on getting passengers and goods from the coast to the midland, the Allegheny Portage Railroad had a special kind of cargo.

The Allegheny Portage Railroad was only thirty-six miles long.  It began in the canal town of Hollidaysburg on the east side of the mountains and went up a steep grade over the ridge and then continued on the west side of the mountain range to the city of Johnstown.

Some of you are saying, “Well, that is not very far.  The big railroads went from Boston, Massachusetts, New York City, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Baltimore, Maryland to Buffalo, New York, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio.”

That is true, but, in 1834, the Allegheny Portage Railroad was a unique railroad.  There were many canals still in service.  The state of Pennsylvania had its own canal system that would transport goods from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.  The canals were operable on hills and flat land, but they were not operable over mountain ranges.

A canal boat would arrive in Hollidaysburg.  From there, it was loaded onto the Allegheny Portage Railroad.  The train, which consisted of two or three flatbed railroad cars, were they pulled along the rails by a pulley system that was built at the top on the mountain ridge.  It was then lowered on the other side of the mountain ridge by the same pulley system to Johnstown.  In Johnstown, the boats were taken off of the railroad cars and put into a canal, and the boats continued to Pittsburgh and points west.  For canal boats going from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, the reverse process was done.

Sadly, the Allegheny Railroad only ran from 1834 to 1854.

Some of you are saying, “I bet that the railroad is long gone to history and that the railroad bed is long gone and overgrown.”

Nope.

Welcome to the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site.  The Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site preserves the history and the site of the pulley railroad system.  The site, owned and operated by the National Park Service, consists of the Visitor Center which houses a museum that shows the working of the railroad and how the railroad was built and how it operated.  There is also a replica of the Number 6 Engine House where the pulley system pulled the train up the mountainside and lowered the trains on the other side.  You can also visit the Lemon House.  No, it is not made from actual lemons.  It served as a tavern for those using the railroad.  There are also hiking trails along the old railroad bed.

The Allegheny Portage Railroad Historic Site is located at 110 Federal Park Road in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania just off of U.S. Route 22.  It is open year round from 9:00am to 5:00pm.  (Closed on Wednesday and Thursday.)  Parking is on site.  The Visitor Center, the Engine House, and the Lemon House are wheelchair accessible, but the hiking trails are not.  The great part is that there is no admission fee to visit the site.  You can get more information about at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service).

The next time you are in Altoona, Pennsylvania, you can see the World-Famous Horseshoe Curve.  You can see the National Railroaders Memorial Museum.  You can ride the Everett Railroad.  You can see the Gallitzin Tunnels.  The Allegheny Portage Railroad Historic Site is another great reason to visit Altoona.  It is truly a railroad site unlike any other in the world.

The World Famous Horseshoe Curve, Altoona, Pennsylvania

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of Pennsylvania is a state with so many historic sites.  From the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution in Philadelphia to the discovery of oil in Titusville, everywhere you step in Pennsylvania, history took place.  When it comes to the railroad, one of the great railroad sites in the World Famous Horseshoe Curve in the city of Altoona.

Yes, there are other horseshoe curves.  What makes this one so famous?

In the early years of the United States of America, settlers arrived on the beaches of the Atlantic Coast.  As they came, there was a desire to go west from the Atlantic Ocean.  The first attempt was the famous horse and buggy.  Then they arrived at the Appalachian Mountains.  Building roads over the mountains were very difficult.  Then came canals.  However, the canals were hard to build over mountains.  Then came the railroad.  The railroad then had a run-in with the mountain.  Then an idea came.  Instead on building the tracks straight up the mountainside, why not build the railroad bed along the side of the mountain going up the mountainside gradually.  The railroad bed was built gradually going up the mountain into a cove where it made a U-turn on the mountainside.  The World Famous Horseshoe Curve was complete.  Trains were able to get up the mountain with a little help of the Gallitzin Tunnels allowing trains to from the cities of the Atlantic Ocean to the interior of the United States of America.

Today, the World Famous Horseshoe Curve is designated as a National Engineering Landmark.  An engineer can drive his locomotive through the curve, and he could see the back of his train.  Train watchers come and spend a day watching the trains roll through the curve.  Along with the passing trains, there is also a small museum showing how the curve was built and the great efforts that were made to build the curve.

The World Famous Horseshoe Curve is located at 2400 Veterans Memorial Highway outside of the city of Altoona.  (Please note that there is a tunnel north of the site with a height limit not suitable for busses and large recreational vehicles.  Busses and large vehicles must approach the curve from the city of Altoona and not from U.S. Route 22.)  Access to the viewing area is accessible to wheelchairs by way of funicular that operates during open hours.  You can get more information, admission, and of hours at https://www.railroadcity.org/horseshoecurve.

When in Altoona, visit the World Famous Horseshoe Curve.  No, you will not find horseshoes, but you will see trains pass through a major engineering marvel.

Quarry Gardens, Schuyler, Virginia

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The state of Virginia is one of the original states of what would become the United States of America.  The state has produced more U.S. Presidents that any other state to include George Washington, the first president, and Thomas Jefferson, the third president and the one who drafted the Declaration of Independence.  The state has many famous historic sites like the Manassas National Battlefield, Mount Vernon, and Monticello.  The state has many cities and small towns.  In the central region of the state between the famous college cities of Charlottesville and Lynchburg is a small town known as Schuyler.  What is famous about Schuyler?  The town’s claim to fame is that it is the home of Earl Hamner.  Who is Earl Hamner?  He is famed for being the writer of the true stories that inspired the television show The Waltons, a television series that took place in that small town.  In this town, you will find the Waltons Museum where you can learn about Earl Hamner and the television show.  A few miles from the museum is where you will find another great place.

Welcome to Piedmont Discovery Center’s Quarry Gardens.  What is the Piedmont Discovery Center’s Quarry Gardens?

Some of you are saying, “Well, duh, it is a garden that is in a quarry.”

Well, you are exactly right.  It is a garden that was formed in an old quarry.  Well, there are two quarries.  In its heyday, Schuyler was the soapstone capital of the world.  The soapstone was cut out of the quarries, and it was shipped around the world.  Soapstone was quarried on the land now owned by the Piedmont Discovery Center mainly between the 1950’s and the 1970’s, and then it became a dumping site.  A couple named Bernice and Armand Thieblot came up with the idea of making the two quarries into a garden and opening it to the public.  With help from the Piedmont Discovery Center, the idea became a reality.  Today, you can hike the trails around the old quarries.  As you walk around this peaceful place, you will never know that this was once a very active and messy place.

Some of you are saying, “Wow!  I loved the Waltons, and I love gardens.  It is amazing that they were able to make a garden out of this place.  There is a big problem.  This is an old quarry.  This is not a railroad site.  Therefore, you will not see me visiting here.”

Why visit the Quarry Gardens?  It is not a railroad site.  Why visit here?

You arrive at the Quarry Gardens.  You park your car, and you enter the Visitor Center to check in.  The Visitor Center contains a small museum telling the history of the quarry and the soapstone industry.  You can also learn about the different plants that have grown in the quarries.  You then see a model train.  I know.  Some places have model trains, but this once is very special.  How special?  It is a model train display of the Nelson and Albemarle Railroad.  What does the Nelson and Albemarle Railroad have to do with the quarry?

As soapstone was mined out of the quarries, it was shipped around the world.  How was it shipped?  You can use big trucks, but the mode of shipping the soapstone from the quarries was the Nelson and Albemarle Railroad.

The Nelson and Albemarle Railroad was a short line railroad that was only 17 miles of total track connecting the quarry to the nearby Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and the Southern Railway, which then took the soapstone to the rest of the world.  The model train display tells the story of how the soapstone was taken from the quarries to the other railroads.  When the quarries were decommissioned, the Nelson and Albemarle Railroad was no more.

Many of the old railroad beds are on private property, but you can see one of the old railroad beds in the nearby town of Esmont.  The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway line is now owned by Chessie Seaboard Transportation, and the Southern Railway line is now owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway.

What about the gardens?  There is great scenery everywhere you walk.  You get great views of the quarries that are now filled with water.  (The water is not safe to drink.)  Please note that the pathways are dirt and gravel and not accessible to wheelchairs, and there are stairs to climb.

The Quarry Gardens are located at 1643 Salem Road in Schuyler, Virginia.  Please note that you must make an appointment to visit the gardens and that you cannot simply enter on your own.  You can go to https://quarrygardensatschuyler.org/ to purchase admission, get directions, and to learn more about the history of the garden.

Schuyler, Virginia was once the biggest supplier of soapstone in the world.  It was the railroad that made it possible.