Train-station project stays right on track

By D.a. Wilkinson

Even model-train buffs are interested in the renovation.

LISBON — The Pittsburgh, Lisbon and Western train station will again be a thing of beauty.

Workers are just a few days behind schedule to have the former train station turned into a meeting place and a stopping point for bicyclists, hikers and tourists.

The project is expected to be completed in early November.

When completed, the building will help serve as the southern end of the Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail. The paved walking and biking trail runs north from Lisbon to Washingtonville.

The former station building is across South Market Street from Columbiana County Engineer Bert Dawson’s office.

The station is on land that continues east to a nearby area that Dawson helped turn into a livery for canoeists on the Middle Fork of Little Beaver Creek.

“We’ve had a lot of interest from a lot of people,” Dawson said Monday.

Model-railroad buffs already have shown an interest in having a model-train show in the renovated building, Dawson added.

The engineer began looking for grant funds and finally obtained a total of $678,961. The last $100,000 was from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Most of the money was from the federal government. No county money is involved in the project, but the county will own the property when the building is completed.

Dawson said the building was erected in 1893. The station closed about 50 years ago.

The building is 34 feet wide by 40 feet long and includes two floors and a full basement.

Jim Santini Builder Inc. of Washingtontonville is the general contractor. The rebuilding included using old bricks from the long-closed county home that matched the station.

Like in other old buildings left to rot, the roof began to leak. Because of the damage, part of the wooden framing had to be fixed. The roof, when done, will be slate with copper flashing.

Another problem is that the ground right behind the station was loose soil 8 feet deep. The soil had to be dug out and filled with compacted dirt 6 inches at a time. The area was once part of the long-gone baggage and passenger area that will be rebuilt.

The building and the baggage area also will have restrooms.

Durbin said that a rolled-up 48-star American flag was found in the building. Yuhanick’s Cleaners cleaned it. Durbin said it will go into a display case.

Gary Merrick is the field man on the project for Strollo Architects Inc. in Columbiana.

He spends three days a week photographing the progress for the company. “It’s a neat plan,” he said.

When the boarded-up windows were opened, “It was pretty dirty and dusty.”

The second floor includes what was office space as well as a large walk-in vault to hold the valuables of the travelers.

wilkinson@vindy.com