2021 year in review: Passenger platform great addition for Tamaqua station
Editor’s note: Today through Friday we will be reviewing some of the highlights from 2021.
By Justin Carlucci
After many years of group efforts and revitalization, the Tamaqua Train Station is once again a beautiful, historic landmark of downtown Tamaqua, with special excursions running throughout the year.
In 2021, its passenger platform was completed, which gave the station final touches of both accessibility and elegance.
At a ribbon cutting in July, state Sen. David Argall, R-Schuylkill, said the station was once a symbol of blight in the community, not a symbol of pride. The walls were caving in, the doors were boarded up and the roof leaked.
“We saved the station by working together,” Argall said. “Brick by brick, window by window, door by door. Since the restaurants have been open again, since 2004, this has been a very busy place. It only happened because people came together.”
The platform wouldn’t exist without Andy Muller, president and owner of Reading and Blue Mountain Northern Railroad, whose dedication and contributions were instrumental throughout the project.
The partnership between the Tamaqua borough council and railroad began in 2019, said Brian Connely, council vice president.
“We had heard for years - the big bad railroad - nobody can work with the railroad. We said, look, we have a new generation in here. Why not? Let’s have these conversations, so we started having these conversations,” Connely added.
“And we sat down, drew it out, and we said how could we get it done? It was no nonsense, let’s just do it. Here it is, and it’s just fantastic.”
The platform, finished earlier this year, extends up to the main tracks for easy access on and off. The railroad installed Victorian-style gooseneck lamps, benches and vintage railroad signs.
“We were limited in what we could do because of the unsuitable conditions of the train platform,” Connely said. “We found not only a partner who shared our concerns, but a vision to the project that would exceed anything that the borough thought we could do in our hometown.”
Not only was the platform masterfully done, Muller decided to give back to the community. The railroad donated back Tamaqua borough’s portion of the money it originally put up to make the project possible.
“It’s hard to believe what this looked like when we bought the railroad,” Muller said. “This was nothing but coal dirt through here.
“It’s unbelievable to imagine what this looked like. The station was burned and every time it rained, the water came off the mountain and would come down to the middle of town and wash coal dirt into the street. It’s hard to imagine, we’ve really come a long way.”