Almost 10 years after the historic Virginian Railway station at Williamson Road and South Jefferson Street was nearly destroyed by fire, the restoration project that is underway received a major gift of ,000 from the Roanoke Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. The chapter expects to issue an invitation for bids on Phase I of the reconstruction in February.
Jeffry Sanders, chapter president, said his organization is able “to make this contribution because of the support the public has given for our excursion train rides and other fund-raising projects.” The public also supports the chapter’s contribution to the recovery of the “Lost Engines of Roanoke” project in cooperation with the Virginia Museum of Transportation and others, he said.
In addition to more than $900,000 in public grants received for the restoration project, James Cosby chapter treasurer and chairman of the Virginian Railway Restoration Committee, said the chapter has also pledged over $100,000 in contributed services and over $100,000 in Virginian Railway artifacts. The chapter has also raised over $50,000 in private and corporate contributions bringing the total of grants and contributions for the station project to more than $1.2 million.
Cosby also acknowledged the contribution of the chapter’s restoration partner, the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation, in joint work for the past decade. “The public should know that,” he said. Sanders, chapter president, said the preservation group “has helped this project tremendously. Without their consistent support and expertise, particularly in dealing with grant applications and other technical information, it would have been more difficult to achieve our goal.”
Another group, the Friends of the Virginian Railway, made up of Virginian veterans and other interested people, has also contributed significantly toward the project, Sanders said.
For more information visit: http://www.roanokenrhs.org
