It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 6:51 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Martinsburg roundhouses
PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 1999 9:04 am 

Erik Ledbetter's posting in the Briefs yesterday notes that the two Martinsburg, WV roundhouses are now in less danger of destruction, but that future plans include their conversion into a performing arts center (perhaps a real-life version of the cable TV show "Roundhouse"?)<p>I've never been there, but it still seems incredible that no one sees and speaks up for such places as historic sites, to be preserved in somewhat of a form as they once were. Anyone care to elaborate on why Martinsburg can't be preserved as a historic site? Forgive me for sounding sarcastic, but I can't wait to hear why "it can't be done". <p><br>



ryarger1@nycap.rr.com


  
 
 Post subject: Re: Martinsburg roundhouses
PostPosted: Sun Apr 04, 1999 10:29 am 

OK Bob, I'll bite. This is more of less in my backyard (I live in Rockville, MD and am active in rail preservation around here). Sharpen your knives, and prepare to skewer me!<p>The Martinsburg people face a basic dilemma in preserving the complex as a railroad museum: they are late arrivals in a very crowded "preservation market" if you will. <p>The potential players with the resources to make a serious museum complex happen in Martinsburg would be: the State of West Virginia, the Feds, and CSX. The problem is that each of these entities has longstanding committments to other, preexisting projects within pretty much exactly the same region and market. <p>West Virginia already supports Cass Scenic Railrad as a major State park dealing railroad preservation. It'd be tough to go to the legislature and explain why they need a second railroad museum/park in the state system. The Feds have a huge amount of work to do in acrheology, preservation and interpreting industrial history right down the road in Harper's Ferry. Again, to them Martinsburg would represent a dilution of resources. CSX has long viewed the B&O Museum in Baltimore as more or less their "museum of record", especially for anything and everything B&O-related. The Museum already exerts a huge "sucking" influence on surviving B&O rolling stock and equipment, especially items of a period appropriate to Martinsburg. Neither CSX nor I would candidly argue the B&O Museum itself has much of an interest in diuting their efforts with a second major project in the region. The state of Maryland has a major investment in supporting the B&O Museum in Baltimore as well as the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad and the WM depot-C&O canal complex in Cumberland-- they don't need to see attention syphoned off by another nearby project.<p>And finally, if you want to cast a braoder net, you could argue that a Martinsburg Museum would be entering the market for the same pool of tourists as all the insitutions mentioned above, plus Strasburg, RRM of PA, East Broad Top, Altoona Railroader's Memorial and so forth.<p>As a preservationist and a die-hard B&O loyalist I would love to see a RR Museum in the Martinsburg roundhouses. But I am also a public policy realist, or fancy muself to be such, and from that point of view I would have to submit the market for railroad preservation in the mid-Atlantic is saturated, if not oversaturated, and the last thing we need is further dilution of resources and attention.<p>These are more or less the same factors, moreover, which led to the demise of the Hargerstown Roundhouse Museum project just up the road. The Martinsburg people watched the Hagerstown experience closely, and have drawn their conclusion: rather than wage a quixotic struggle for a RR museum and perhaps see the Roundhouses demolished at the end of the day, they will strike out in a new direction and for adaptive reuse. And truthfully, I agree with them.<p>OK, have at me!<br><br>



eledbetter@rypn.org


  
 
 Post subject: Re: Martinsburg roundhouses
PostPosted: Sun Apr 04, 1999 10:54 pm 

In a way, I have to concur with Eric. My roundhouse project in Nebraska City, Nebraska is somewhat similar. We are faced with a deteriorating building in an area that really isn't too suitable for a railroad operation. With this in mind, we were faced with the decision of what to do to the building that will firstoff preserve the building, and secondly contribute to the well-being of the public. Our plan is to use the building as a trailhead for the Steamboat Trace (which is a railbanked corridor). Part of the building will be used for storage, while the rest will house interpretive railroad displays and possibly some type of restaurant. The situation is win-win. My organization gets to save a historic railroad structure, and some local entities will also benefit due to their utilization. In closing, while I personally would love to see a CB&Q 4-6-0 steaming away in one of the stalls, resources just simply prohibit from that occuring, for now. The moral of the story is one has to do what one has to do. <p>Cordially,<br>Gerald Kopiasz<br>Heartland Railroad Historical Society<br>



HRRHS@aol.com


  
 
 Post subject: Re: Martinsburg roundhouses
PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 1999 4:14 pm 

While I can appreciate some of the ramifications and problems of "too many rail museums", I believe there's a clear difference between a rail attraction and a historic site. A bunch of old equipment sitting in what used to be a cornfield may turn into a nice attraction, but it is not a historic site. As a group, we preservationists, we have been wont to convert cornfields in our eagerness to play with trains, but too quick to<br>write off historic structures as hopeless. The chamber-of-commerce types and politicians typically do not care about the difference; they're only interested in income derived from increased tourism. Thus, it is up to us to make enough noise to try to guide things in the right direction, whether it earns us praise or condemnation. And we must do it very early on in the project.<p>Any railroad roundhouse still standing in 1999 is an extremely rare structure. This is different than say, the old mills of New England. There are simply too many to save as textile museums; some must remain as cold storage or be converted to malls just to survive. Being unique in construction and the site of the first place where rail workers stood up for their rights makes Martinsburg more historic yet. The labor connection might scare away corporate donations, but probably not government funding.<p>It would seem that if the funds to acquire, stabilize and restore a roundhouse can be obtained, then outfitting it in an appropriate fashion should be the easy part. There are thousands of tons of rusting rail hardware out there, we have to just be creative and get it to the proper places. Some sites have more potential for historic accuracy than others, of course, but at least accuracy should be the goal. <p>What I'd really be interested in hearing instead of "it can't be done" is "how it might be done, given the proper political climate and enough funding". With enough committment and support, those things can be changed to the positive, but first someone has to have the dream and light the first spark.<br>



ryarger1@nycap.rr.com


  
 
 Post subject: Re: Martinsburg roundhouses
PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 1999 6:26 pm 

First, there is only one left. The second was destroyed by arson several years ago. There are also a couple of other related buildings still standing. Second, saving the remaining one for any purpose was a near thing. Strangely, the city, which uses a roundhouse image as an icon, was not interested in saving it. (To give the city credit, it did support saving the existing rail station, which dated to the 1840s. A new station structure has been added to it, which serves five MARC runs and two AMTRAK runs five days/week, plus two AMTRAK runs Sa and Su.) Finally an effort by the Berkeley County government was successful. Earlier there had been an effort to preserve the buildings as an outlet mall, but the promoter (owner of several other local outlet malls in the city) has been hard hit by competition, so that died. Better to save in some form than to have CSX tear it down. I live 12 miles from Martinsburg, so have some familiarity with what is going on.<p><br><br>



wilkins@intrepid.net


  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


 Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 150 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: