2011 Road Trip – Railroad Depots (Group #1)

As we headed out on our late summer road trip, one of ‘our’ goals was to locate and photograph as many old/surviving railroad depots…and any rolling stock that we could locate.  I’d done a bit of research and I had many more depots marked on our trip maps than we’d ever have time to seek out. 

What follows are photos and a little information on the first two depots that we 'found'…plus some information on a couple other nearby historical structures.

This deserted old Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Passenger Station is located in Fort Defiance Virginia.  It’s obviously been restored at some point in the distant past.  Unfortunately, I was unable to find anything else about this depot on the internet.

But I don’t like a void… What else could we find in town that might prove interesting?  Have you ever driven through a town and spotted an old imposing structure that was just sitting there unused and abandoned?  Here’s what we spotted in Fort Defiance…

Now, we didn’t take a photo of this old gothic style building… I pulled it off the Internet.  This was Augusta Military Academy, one of the 8 military academies that used to flourish in the state.  It sits right on US Highway 11 in Fort Defiance, just west of I-81.  The school operated from 1865, (or 1879 depending on your interpretation), and it closed in 1984.

If you have a little cash, the buildings and the campus are for sale… The property is now owned by the United Pentecostal Church and the price is in the neighborhood of $3.8 million.

FYI…The Augusta Military Academy alumni association has a museum on the grounds, that’s open to the public.  Graduates have served in every conflict that the USA had been involved in for at least the last 150 years.  For more information, go to http://www.amaalumni.org/history_1.htm.

This is the former Pennsylvania Railroad Passenger Station in Marysville PA.  It has been repurposed, (a good thing), or morphed into a barely recognizable shadow of its former self. (a sad thing).  At least the building has been put to good use and the Blue Mountain Outfitters operation is a retail success…

Again…no history regarding this station could be found on the Internet.  But, the structure that I did find was a little upsetting, especially given my penchant for railroading history! 

How in the heck did I miss this historic landmark!?  This is the Rockville Railroad Bridge which crosses the Susquehanna River at Marysville PA.  (Yet another borrowed photo…) At 3,823 feet, it’s the longest stone masonry arch railroad bridge in the world!  It’s also 109 years old!  It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

The bridge was built by Italian stonemasons and Irish laborers.  It’s constructed from native sandstone…220,000 tons of it…that’s 440,000,000 million pounds of rock!  There are 48 individual arches, each 70’ wide.  The bridge is still being used today by Amtrak and Norfolk Southern. 

For more information on this bridge as well as other photos, check it out at http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-1B3 and http://davecathell.tripod.com/rock.html.

Click on any photo to enlarge it.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit…

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave