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Follow the Hopewell Junction Station restoration project on Railroad.netand on FACEBOOK
See my blog about the new video showing off the restored Hopewll Junction Railroad Station.
Penney
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| December 30, 2010: The recent snowstorm has slowed our progress on the depot roof construction. Of course we have to clean out any remaining snow and maybe shovel some paths. The next Hopewell Depot work session will be on Monday morning, 3 January, 2011. The plan is to continue finishing the tops of the walls and add metal staging for the new trusses. There is still some clean up around the scrap wood pile to be loaded into the dumpster. Around 10:00 AM there will be a reporter there from the Poughkeepsie Journal to take pictures for an article. We need a few good volunteers for the pictures.
We have started getting donations for the roof materials. So far we are managing to cover the bills but there will be more needed to finish the roof work. Help Save the Hopewell Depot With the cold weather nipping at our heels and 2010 coming to a close, so is Phase I of the Hopewell Depot Restoration’s effort to restore the RR Depot located at the south end of the Dutchess Rail Trail. Phase I consisted of replacing damaged sections of the frame work of the building built in 1873. We have replaced the floor & rim joist, sections of exterior & interior walls and to complete Phase I, we need to replace the complete roof structure due to the damage from a fire by vandals in 1986. This final step in this restoration project has become the most challenging as to cost and volunteer help. We are challenging the public, businesses and municipalities to get involved with saving the last historic building that paints the history of Hopewell Junction and the development of the railroad industry. Our goal is to raise $118,000.00 to complete restoration and furnishing of the Depot and open it to the public in August 2012. We feel this building will become a hub for rail trail users and history buffs and will benefit the surrounding community just as the Walkway Over the Hudson did for Poughkeepsie. If you are interested in preserving history for future generations, we encourage you to make a generous donation or sponsor a section of the Depot to help save this valuable piece of Americana. Those that give $500 or more will have their names engraved on a plaque in gathering room Station Master 1 @ $50,000 ( will receive free life membership, framed engraved slate of Depot, RR Book by Bernie Rudberg) $50,000 Conductor 4 @ $10,000 (will receive engraved slate of Depot and RR book by Bernie Rudberg) $40,000 Train Engineer 4 @$5,000 (will receive RR book by Bernie Rudberg) $20,000 Fireman 6 @$1,000 $6,000 Brakeman 4 @ $500 $2,000 Fundraising goal $118,000 A brief history of the Depot: Built in 1873,it has been relocated twice and has remained in the same location since 1910, the Depot was closed in 1974 after the fire on the Poughkeepsie RR Bridge, The tracks were torn up in 1983. The Depot was set on fire by vandals in 1986 which caused considerable damage to the roof structure and some interior walls. In 1996, Rich Taylor challenged a small group of RR buffs and concerned citizens to come together and save the Depot for future generations. Hopewell Depot Restoration Corp. is an all volunteer tax exempt group under sections 501 (C) (03) of the Internal Revenue Code. Thank you for all your support and generous donations which are greatly appreciated. |
| December 23, 2010: It is cold today with snow flurries but we got some work done anyway. The 2 X 12 headers are in place on top of the walls and the humps in the old walls trimmed off.
Most of the scrap wood is now in the dumpster but there is still some raking to be done. By the way, The county has installed orange snow fencing along the rail trail parking lot. This is the same kind of fencing that they would not let us install a couple months ago. For those of you who can’t help with the construction work, you can help by “sponsoring” the project. We are asking for sponsorships as follows: |
| December 22, 2010: Today’s depot work was in two parts. The construction crew worked on the tops of the walls measuring and notching for the trusses.
Meanwhile four volunteers were loading scrap wood into the dumpster. One volunteer came all the way from Houston, Texas. When you have some free time, stop around the depot and stack a few scrap boards in the dumpster. We are working on a time/date to have a “roof Raising”. We will let you know when we get things worked out. |
| December 21, 2010: Royal Carting donated a large size dumpster. It arrived today and we started filling it. If you have any free time, stop at the depot and stack some more of the scrap lumber in the dumpster.
Also, we plan to do some work on the top of the walls in preparation for installing the new trusses. We will start work around 8:30 on Wednesday morning December 22. The job will be measuring, marking and notching the top edge of the walls for placement of the trusses. As usual we need volunteers for the job. We still do not have a crane or cherry picker for lifting the trusses. If you know anybody who has that kind of equipment, tell them we need help. We need all the help we can get. Some of our volunteers are getting very tired. Come on down and join us. We will be watching the weather reports for work during Christmas week. We have started getting donations for the roof materials. So far we are managing to cover the bills but there will be more needed to finish the roof work. |
Penney Vanderbilt and KC Jones: All About Railroads 
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