freeagent
Six-man pro
http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/art ... 427984.php
(Front page of the SA paper on Wednesday; some nice photos online as well).
Railroad station nears the end of the line
Repeated tries to save the depot in Sanderson have fallen short.
By John MacCormack/[email protected]
San Antonio Express News
Published 12:37 a.m., Wednesday, December 28, 2011
SANDERSON — With Chinese crews laying track from the west and mostly Irish working from the east, the two rail gangs met about 50 miles east of here in 1883, with a silver spike marking completion of the California-to-Louisiana line.
Shortly afterward, Sanderson, about 280 miles west of San Antonio, was established as the switching point for Southern Pacific train crews working between Del Rio and El Paso.
A large stone roundhouse and a modern station complete with cafe were built, and for the next century this was a bustling railroad town.
In the early days, train holdups always were a threat. In 1912, locals posed outside the station for photographs with the pale bodies of two failed train robbers, Ben Kilpatrick and Ole Hobek.
But the last of the Southern Pacific train crews left about 15 years back, triggering a long-term economic and population decline in Terrell County.
About all that remains are the ruins of the once-magnificent depot with its 12-foot ceilings, where locals once dined with passengers.
Mostly abandoned by the Union Pacific, which took over the Southern Pacific, the old station now awaits demolition, despite sporadic local efforts over the past decade to save it.
“To me, this depot represents the heart of Sanderson, our beginnings. It represents the Wild West, where people carved an existence here out of nothing. They started coming here before the Indians moved out. There were still lodge poles and buffalo skulls on the ground,” said Bill Smith, 63, a local historian who was born in nearby Marathon.
“It just amazes me that we have quite a few people in town who are in favor of not saving it. I do not understand that attitude,” he added.
A spokesman for Union Pacific said demolition could come early next year, and that the contractor will work with preservationists to salvage important elements.
“We’ve worked for the possible donation of the depot over the past 10 years,” Raquel Espinoza said.
“We’ve really tried to make this work, but unfortunately at this point, we have to move forward,” she said.
No one faults the railroad, which about nine years ago was willing to give the depot to a local group that had secured a $500,000 grant to create a railroad museum. That effort crashed on the rocks of local politics and uncertainty over the county’s potential financial exposure.
More recently, the railroad has given Smith and other preservationists repeated extensions of demolition deadlines.
Another recent short-lived scheme, to save the depot by moving it 110 miles west to Marfa, died a quick death because of logistics.
“It’s a moot issue. We tried every which way to get it through Alpine. Cost-effectively, it can’t be done,” said Tex Toler, the Marfa director of tourism, who years ago worked in Sanderson and was involved with the failed museum plan.
And now, since fundraising efforts have fallen woefully short, Smith said the best the preservationists can hope for is to salvage some doors, windows and lumber from the wreckage to construct a smaller replica structure.
The plight of the Sanderson depot has come to the attention to Henry Bender, 74, of San Jose, Calif., who recently completed a book about Southern Pacific Railroad train stations.
“My thought is that $100,000 would save it, and that is not a lot of money. Someone somewhere must have the wherewithal. It’s finding that person,” Bender said.
“I believe the Sanderson depot was built in Oakland in kit form, and shipped there. Of that particular style, with the lunch room, there were only five or six built,” he added.
While structurally intact, the 180-foot-long building has been vandalized. The roof tin and paint are peeling, and windows are broken.
These days, the only occupants are occasional illegal immigrants, hiding out in hopes of jumping a passing train. In bad weather, the rare Amtrak passengers wait in the nearby post office.
Some in town would be glad to see it turned to ashes.
“Most people would say it’s too bad someone hasn’t gone by there with a match,” remarked one prominent local resident who asked not to be identified.
“We don’t have the money. There is no public support whatsoever to save it,” the resident added.
Still, the station evokes fond sentiments among some old-timers.
“It’s sad. It was here when I was born, in 1927. I remember when they had a restaurant there, the Brown News. There’s about two or three of us left who remember it,” said Mary Nell Hinkle. Blain Chriesman, 52, the local school business manager and tax appraiser, echoed what’s probably the prevailing local sentiment.
“I’ve got mixed feelings. Yes, it’s probably the cornerstone of this county and I’m gonna hate to see it go,” he said.
“But I’m doubtful there will ever be enough support to save it. It was a very divisive thing when they got that big grant years ago,” he said.
County Commissioner Ken Norris, who years ago favored accepting the $500,000 grant, only to be out-voted, finds the attitude of the old railroaders to be odd.
“You’d think the old hands would step forward and say, ‘Here’s $100 or $200’ but as far as I know, that hasn’t happened,” he said.
“Bill Smith has the most love in the world for this thing, and he did everything he possibly could have done, but in my opinion, the general public doesn’t care either way,” he added.
(Front page of the SA paper on Wednesday; some nice photos online as well).
Railroad station nears the end of the line
Repeated tries to save the depot in Sanderson have fallen short.
By John MacCormack/[email protected]
San Antonio Express News
Published 12:37 a.m., Wednesday, December 28, 2011
SANDERSON — With Chinese crews laying track from the west and mostly Irish working from the east, the two rail gangs met about 50 miles east of here in 1883, with a silver spike marking completion of the California-to-Louisiana line.
Shortly afterward, Sanderson, about 280 miles west of San Antonio, was established as the switching point for Southern Pacific train crews working between Del Rio and El Paso.
A large stone roundhouse and a modern station complete with cafe were built, and for the next century this was a bustling railroad town.
In the early days, train holdups always were a threat. In 1912, locals posed outside the station for photographs with the pale bodies of two failed train robbers, Ben Kilpatrick and Ole Hobek.
But the last of the Southern Pacific train crews left about 15 years back, triggering a long-term economic and population decline in Terrell County.
About all that remains are the ruins of the once-magnificent depot with its 12-foot ceilings, where locals once dined with passengers.
Mostly abandoned by the Union Pacific, which took over the Southern Pacific, the old station now awaits demolition, despite sporadic local efforts over the past decade to save it.
“To me, this depot represents the heart of Sanderson, our beginnings. It represents the Wild West, where people carved an existence here out of nothing. They started coming here before the Indians moved out. There were still lodge poles and buffalo skulls on the ground,” said Bill Smith, 63, a local historian who was born in nearby Marathon.
“It just amazes me that we have quite a few people in town who are in favor of not saving it. I do not understand that attitude,” he added.
A spokesman for Union Pacific said demolition could come early next year, and that the contractor will work with preservationists to salvage important elements.
“We’ve worked for the possible donation of the depot over the past 10 years,” Raquel Espinoza said.
“We’ve really tried to make this work, but unfortunately at this point, we have to move forward,” she said.
No one faults the railroad, which about nine years ago was willing to give the depot to a local group that had secured a $500,000 grant to create a railroad museum. That effort crashed on the rocks of local politics and uncertainty over the county’s potential financial exposure.
More recently, the railroad has given Smith and other preservationists repeated extensions of demolition deadlines.
Another recent short-lived scheme, to save the depot by moving it 110 miles west to Marfa, died a quick death because of logistics.
“It’s a moot issue. We tried every which way to get it through Alpine. Cost-effectively, it can’t be done,” said Tex Toler, the Marfa director of tourism, who years ago worked in Sanderson and was involved with the failed museum plan.
And now, since fundraising efforts have fallen woefully short, Smith said the best the preservationists can hope for is to salvage some doors, windows and lumber from the wreckage to construct a smaller replica structure.
The plight of the Sanderson depot has come to the attention to Henry Bender, 74, of San Jose, Calif., who recently completed a book about Southern Pacific Railroad train stations.
“My thought is that $100,000 would save it, and that is not a lot of money. Someone somewhere must have the wherewithal. It’s finding that person,” Bender said.
“I believe the Sanderson depot was built in Oakland in kit form, and shipped there. Of that particular style, with the lunch room, there were only five or six built,” he added.
While structurally intact, the 180-foot-long building has been vandalized. The roof tin and paint are peeling, and windows are broken.
These days, the only occupants are occasional illegal immigrants, hiding out in hopes of jumping a passing train. In bad weather, the rare Amtrak passengers wait in the nearby post office.
Some in town would be glad to see it turned to ashes.
“Most people would say it’s too bad someone hasn’t gone by there with a match,” remarked one prominent local resident who asked not to be identified.
“We don’t have the money. There is no public support whatsoever to save it,” the resident added.
Still, the station evokes fond sentiments among some old-timers.
“It’s sad. It was here when I was born, in 1927. I remember when they had a restaurant there, the Brown News. There’s about two or three of us left who remember it,” said Mary Nell Hinkle. Blain Chriesman, 52, the local school business manager and tax appraiser, echoed what’s probably the prevailing local sentiment.
“I’ve got mixed feelings. Yes, it’s probably the cornerstone of this county and I’m gonna hate to see it go,” he said.
“But I’m doubtful there will ever be enough support to save it. It was a very divisive thing when they got that big grant years ago,” he said.
County Commissioner Ken Norris, who years ago favored accepting the $500,000 grant, only to be out-voted, finds the attitude of the old railroaders to be odd.
“You’d think the old hands would step forward and say, ‘Here’s $100 or $200’ but as far as I know, that hasn’t happened,” he said.
“Bill Smith has the most love in the world for this thing, and he did everything he possibly could have done, but in my opinion, the general public doesn’t care either way,” he added.
