CLIFTON FORGE, Va. — Volunteers from the Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society have completed restoration of one of the railroad’s phone boxes at the C&O Railway Heritage Center in Clifton Forge.
The box, saved in the 1970s by historical society member David Powell as it was being disposed of near Charlottesville, Va., was donated for display at the museum in 2008. It was part of a company phone grid across the rail system allowing workers to reach telegraph offices, yardmasters, and dispatchers.
Society members Marvin Plumley, Scott Greathouse, and Doug Andre began restoration box, with CSX engineer and society member Lee Baumgarten using his Bobcat Skid-Steer loader to lift the box, post, and concrete foundation into a prepared hole. The restored box, which still contains its 1950s-era phone, will eventually be connected to the phone in the Heritage Center’s replica “JD Cabin” signal tower.
The Heritage Center, at 705 Main Street in Clifton Forge, is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. More information is available at the Heritage Center page of the society website, and on the Heritage Center Facebook page.
Good job!! So many items like this have been lost along the way.