The P&WV Hi-Line

[Longview Station]

A few days ago, I stopped at Bruceton Station awaiting passage of Wheelings 391 crew enroute to Clairton.
As I waited, it dawned on me there are just 3 P&WV stations remaining.
Smithfield, Avella and Bruceton.
Avella Station is in the process of being restored which hopefully will preserve the structure for a very long time.
Smithfield and Bruceton Station are abandoned and neglected.
Can this Special Intererst group dedicated to the Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway do anything to preserve these remaining 2 stations?
Bruceton Station is geographically located only a few miles from many of us.
The exterior paint is peeling and fading.
Some of the windows are broken out and covered by plywood.
The grounds are littered with dirt, trash, spikes, tie plates and pieces of rail.
Trees and brush are growing everywhere and are out of control.
Should we as a group approach the Wheeling about obtaining permission to clean the grounds and repaint the structure?
I have the station signs from Longview and Smithfield.
Should we as a group replicate the station signs and ...with W&LE permission, replace them?
If we could secure railroad permission, all donate some $$$$$ to finance paint, throw in some volunteer hours for clean up of trash and brush removal, we can atleast externally put Bruceton back into respectable condition.

IDEAS...SUGGESTION...COMMENTS???

[PWV101]

I for one think this would be a good and worthwhile project to take on. Sounds like a we need an organizer and a few weekends of work.

[Trackwalkers]

The web- masters will lend their full support for this worth-while project. Just look what a Small Community and a few highly motivated and interested fans did in Avella Pa. There is no reason P&WV fans on the East-end of the line can-do the same. It's time to " step-up to the plate" and get involved. We know that 50% of active participants on our site and the "WE" are living with-in 20 miles of this station. It could be a nice clean and secure and safe place to start your rail-fan East tours. When these Stations go away they are lost forever! This web- site could be the starting-point for this project. Organizational updates, news and work crew dates etc. could be posted. In the immortal words of the late Mr. Bluto Bluetarski......" LETS...DO It !!!! " It could be two down, and one to go...Smithfield Oh. for our good friends and fans to the West. What are YOUR thoughts?

[Fla. Mike]

Well one good way to support and renovate an old depot is with a model railroad club/historical society. The Pgh. chapter of the NRHS had a "outside" chance of getting the ex B&O Bruceton station, but it was torn down not long after that! I would say that the ex P&WV Bruceton station has more potential than the old B&O one ever did! The Pgh. NRHS chapter has never been a "great ball of fire", but who knows it only takes a few active members to get a project like that rolling! The Beaver Valley Chapter, NRHS just got the old stone P&LE West Pittsburgh station, and they only bargained on that one for about a year. The South Hills has never had a model rr club build any type of a layout that I know of, so I think that is one of the best ways to go, a cooperation between a historical society and a model rr group. One of the longest ex station ownership that I know of is the NRHS chapter that I have belonged to for about 27 years, the Lake Shore Chapter in North East Pa. (near Erie) That ex NYC main line station has been well preserved along with a museum and lots of preserved passenger and freight cars and a few locos. I think the chapter has had that station for better than 35 years now!