The winter season is normally a time when work outside of the passenger depot is not possible, i.e. the freight house, the railroad cars. The cold temperatures and the snow accumulation usually prohibit anything being done. This year was different. There were days when there was no snow and the temperature was warmer than expected. On Saturday January the 11th the depot crew managed to hold a decent morning work party in the freight house and in the baggage car. Our goal has been to open both locations to the public but a major clean up must be done in order to do that. |
The depot was closed during the Toy & Train Show February 15th and 16th, so that the depot crew could assist with the show and to also raise funds for work at the depot. |
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Beginning Tuesday, March 17th 2020, The Orchard Park Depot will be closed until further notice. This closure is a proactive measure to protect the health of the Depot Crew and all Visitors in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and in accordance with the mandates of Erie County and our national state of emergency. The WNYRHS Board of Trustees will consider the decision on when to open based on guidance from state and local government officials in keeping the safety of our staff and friends first and foremost. |
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The new retaining curb has been poured along the trackside of the depot. The removal of the old curbing back in 1982 by the "Chessie System" was the main cause of the erosion and damage to the brick platform. The railroad was changing out ties and didn't want to turn the tie machine around, so they brought in a backhoe to bust up all the original curbs to facilitate the tie removal and the insertion of new ties. The problem was that the curb acted as a retaining wall that held the platform bricks in place and over time water intrusion caused significant damage. |
By the end of the week, there was new curbing all around the Depot complex. The construction crew is doing a top notch job with all of this part of the project as seen in the great photos by Depot Co-Chairman Robert Snyder below. |
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By the end of the week, new curbing was up to the Freight House. | ![]() |
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While all the new construction was taking place on the outside, a new eight seat bench was being built for the ladies waiting room on the inside. This bench was one of the two benches that were missing for many, many years, long before the WNYRHS had anything to do with the depot. I've been at the depot for 27 years and I thought I would never see either of those benches. The men’s waiting room bench was given to the Society by Open Road Films, LLC. in July of 2016 during the filming of the movie "Marshall" |
We can now report that the Depot got its last remaining piece of the interior delivered and installed on Saturday the 25th. It was a momentous occasion. The interior of the depot now looks as it did when the depot opened 108 years ago. The Ladies Waiting Room bench was built by master craftsman Craig Vogel of "Lost Pond Looms Inc."  in Eden, New York. I met Craig through a mutual friend. Craig built the bench out of solid oak to match all of the other benches in the depot. He used the original blueprints we have to construct the bench. It was paid for with a very generous donation by “Depot Crew” emeritus Bob Reynders. Bob asked that the bench be dedicated to the memory of his late wife Jean. Gary Ludwig and Dave Mallory installed, stained and put two coats of polyurethane sealer on it and the results are stunning! |
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of the other depots on the line. His extra pay was due to the large amount of freight that came to Orchard Park. Bill lived in Colden and after working at OP moved on to an even better paying job with a railroad in Buffalo. One of Bill’s talents was working the telegraph which he said was still in use when he worked at the depot up until 1969. |
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Monday August 3rd, Jeff Rosser of Lemur Construction Company and his crew finished the subgrade for the replacement of the paving bricks. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our brick layer. The area to the far side of the tracks was graded to level it out and remove the larger shrubs and debris as part of the overall drainage plan and to provide level ground for the new "Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail. |
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We were saddened to learn of the passing of actor Chadwick Boseman on August 28th, 2020 after a long battle with cancer. During his short stay here in Western New York he said he enjoyed every minute of it. We were fortunate that "Chestnut Ridge Productions"  chose the Orchard Park Depot as one of their local sets. It was by pure coincidence the production company had the same name as our park. | ![]() |
While the work outside continued, Jim and I tried to relight the pilot light on the station's furnace with the help of Fran Hogenkamp. It wouldn't stay lit no matter how long we held the starter button down. We had a new thermocouple and installed it only to see it had a fire in the wrong place. We thought it was a leak so I called Armor heating and the tech was there in about 20 minutes (must have been a slow Saturday). Turns out the pilot was so dirty that it was directing the pilot in the wrong direction. The tech shooed me and Jimmy out while Fran watched. We went outside and Jimmy helped install the last two downspouts. Ain't this a fun railroad hobby! |
The brick laying continued right up until Thanksgiving. Light snow and freezing temperatures did not help the process, but the workers were able to finish all the brickwork up to the south end of the waiting platform. Then a problem was discovered with the supposedly cleaned original bricks and that caused a delay in the brick lying. The solution was a load of bricks from an offsite location at an extra expense. |
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Two housekeeping problems arose. One of the electronic timers that controls our outside lights needed replacing, so a professional electrician was called to install another timer and then came back to install lights on a sign hanging on the street side of the depot. The other problem was a small leak in a copper heating pipe in the basement and that had to be repaired by a professional from Armor Heating. Both problems have been resolved. |
Work sessions will continue every Wednesday morning from 9 to noon. Anyone interested in spending some time at the depot please call our number, 662-7002, and let us know you are coming. |
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The WNYRHS, Inc. P.O. Box 416, Buffalo, NY. 14231-0416 is an independent organization and has no affiliation with any other local or national group.
The Society is a fully qualified organization under 501 (C) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and all donations to the Society are tax deductible.
©Copyright 1999 , WNYRHS Inc. all rights reserved