The track is clear ahead now for the future of the Augusta County Railroad Museum, which has purchased a permanent home at 413 W. Main Street in downtown Waynesboro.
The purchase was made possible by a more than $100,000 donation from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous.
“We bought it. We are not at the whim of an owner [or landlord],” David Colton, ACRR club vice president, said of the purchase.
Colton referred to Black Friday 2020, when tenants of the former Staunton Mall, including the museum which had occupied the mall for seven years, received word that they were to vacate the building within 30 days.
After occupying space at the Shenandoah Heritage Market in Harrisonburg for two years, which they will continue, the former site of Avenue Realty became available in downtown Waynesboro.
“The stars aligned this summer,” Colton said. Railroad displays and layouts that were previously built to be moved can now be on permanent display in the 5,000-square-feet space upstairs and with basement space for storage. Colton said the hope is to make some of the basement space open to the public later. “Now we can have permanent layouts like most museums do.”
In January, the club will begin to plan for 2025 what they want for the space and exhibits. One of the club’s 43 members collects dining ware from passenger train cars, which could become an exhibit. Colton collects model Victorian train stations which could be another exhibit.
For now, the museum must prepare for Christmas 2024 with opening day on Friday, November 29, 2024, from 1 to 5 p.m. Regular hours through 2024 will be Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m.
Club Treasurer Brian Day said a Christmas tree will decorate the storefront of the museum as well as a vintage luggage cart, which was on display in the museum when it was in Staunton Mall.
“Yeah, we’ll be decorating for holidays,” Day said of holidays throughout the year, including Christmas and Halloween.
Colton said the new space will allow members to conduct classes and workshops on railroad and train topics, such as how to do model-train scenery. One room in the new space will be devoted to a movie theater that plays railroad-themed documentaries.
The Club, which began in 1992, lost approximately 10 members since losing space at the mall, including several members who died. The club has never charged admission to its museum and will continue not to charge admission.
“For over 30 years, we’ve been free and we’re still going to be,” Day said.
Donations are always welcome, however, and fundraisers will be planned.
“We live off of those donations,” Colton said.
The club will participate in the Waynesboro Christmas Parade on Saturday, December 7, 2024, with a trailer that resembles a caboose, which will later be used at locations to represent the museum.
According to Day, individuals still love trains and railroads.
“We were here at the Fall Foliage Festival. Over 900 people came in and all we had [on display] was [the 1880s model],” he said.
Augusta County Railroad Museum is at 413 W. Main Street, Waynesboro.
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Rebecca Barnabi
