We are slowly building the content of the Chesapeake Western Railroad History collection that will be on permanent display at The Depot. This display is to honor the history of this railway that gave us this beautiful building we get to call our office. Each day people stop by to enjoy the building and tell us stories about their experience with the railway. I often get to give tours and tell them the history of the renovation. In addition we have many folks that have experience with the building and railway stopping by the office to add to our display. I have a stack of burnt documents in my office that a retired engineer from Winchester is letting us copy and display. I am not sure yet how we are getting this done (budget or technology) in a way that preserves the history. He was an intern in the building early in his career and was able to pull some drawings and ledgers out after the fire. Neil Menefee has loaned us photos and negatives of the trains from the railroad that we are getting scanned so we can display them. Again, this is a labor of love and budget will determine how much we can display. Also, the grandson, Charles Byers, of Tinky (Walter P. Bryan), has sent me items to honor his grandfather who was superintendent of track maintenance. Tinky loved the rail line and worked until he passed away on July 3, 1973 (three days after I was born, just as an interesting connection).
If you have pictures that we can scan, stories to tell about the railway, or any other artifacts you want to share, let me know. If you want to help support this effort in any way, please let me know. Over time we will keep adding items, come by and visit to see what we have so far.
