crash219
April 27th, 2000, 04:57 AM
I was in Staunton, VA on Monday and stopped in for lunch at the Depot Grill which is located in the renovated C&O Station. If you're a C&O / Chessie fan and are in or near Staunton, it is worth dropping by. The passenger station, freight office, freight depot, signal tower, water tank and water standpipe are all there along with a couple of ex-WM Chessie System cabooses built circa 1940 and a Chessie System boxcar. There are two restaurants and some shops in the old station buildings. The railroad structures all date from late 19th century. There is also a chance to see the CSX in action and passenger trains 3 times a week (the passenger waiting room is now the lower floor of the signal cabin). And if you get thirsty, The Depot Grill has a forty-plus foot solid oak bar which came out of a hotel in Albany, NY. It is the first time I have had a chance to visit there. I live in Lynchburg, VA which is not much more than an hour away.
Lynchburg is also getting a railroad station renovation. Ribbon cutting for the renovation of the Lynchburg Kemper Street Railroad Station was yesterday. It will continue to have the AmTrak passenger station (lower floor) and will have the Greyhound Bus station on the upper floor. The layout of that station is interesting. The track runs through a cut and the station is built into a hillside so that you enter the "upper" floor at ground level in front and exit the "lower" floor at track level in back. This is the old N&W / Southern railroad station. Renovation is scheduled to take about a year. For train watching, the freight action there will be Norfolk Southern, but CSX also comes through Lynchburg, too. The CSX runs along the James River. NS crosses over the CSX at the river.
Lynchburg is also getting a railroad station renovation. Ribbon cutting for the renovation of the Lynchburg Kemper Street Railroad Station was yesterday. It will continue to have the AmTrak passenger station (lower floor) and will have the Greyhound Bus station on the upper floor. The layout of that station is interesting. The track runs through a cut and the station is built into a hillside so that you enter the "upper" floor at ground level in front and exit the "lower" floor at track level in back. This is the old N&W / Southern railroad station. Renovation is scheduled to take about a year. For train watching, the freight action there will be Norfolk Southern, but CSX also comes through Lynchburg, too. The CSX runs along the James River. NS crosses over the CSX at the river.