They say we never really own anything.

This is especially true with buildings. We take care of them and pay taxes on them. But we can’t take them with us. At most, they’re on loan and we’re temporary custodians.

But what happens during our custodianship matters greatly.

When Lansford natives Kenny and Jeanie Hill turned over ownership of their machine-shop building at 1 Dock St., it amounted to a gift that keeps on giving to Lansford.

The Hills purchased the place in 1976 to expand their operation, moving it from East Kline Avenue.

The building needed work but was otherwise ideally suited to host heavy lathes, mills, boring machines, presses and inventory used by a machine shop.

That’s because it was built heavy-duty style as the town’s railroad depot and freight station.

The exact date of construction is unclear, likely early 1900s.

Records indicate that the station originally was built by the Panther Creek Railroad Company, which, in 1913, was absorbed by Lehigh and New England Railroad.

It was built to be a fortress, reinforced to accommodate shipments of heavy equipment used in coal mining and nearby engine shops.

The walls are thick. Windows are heavy duty and all elements are industrial strength.

“I don’t know what they used in the concrete floor, but we had trouble drilling into it. Whatever it was, they’re not using it today,” Kenny said.

Jokingly, I said the floors might be made of kryptonite.

Kenny and Jeanie, Hometown residents, are graduates of Lansford High School. They’ve always been aware of the special role the depot played in Lansford history.

Kenny’s mother boarded the train at that location to go on trips to New York.

As youngsters, they played on the grounds surrounding the building.

So all along, Kenny was careful to protect its historical integrity. This means the building, as it stands today, is largely original.

So when the time came to sell the place, Kenny, 80, knew what was best and Jeanie agreed.

“I told him, you really only got this building on loan from history,” she said.

“Now it’s come full circle, and it’s time to give it back to its rightful owner, and the rightful owner is history.”

The depot is a strong contributing resource among 1,498 others in the nearby Lansford Historic District.

But the fact that it served as the train depot puts it in a special category.

Train stations were the heartbeat of a community in days before the automobile.

As such, depots have unique significance and their own special allure.

This development positions Lansford among an elite group of coal and railroad towns, such as Jim Thorpe and Tamaqua, that can capitalize on a restored train station to attract visitors.

The potential of what that building might mean to Lansford’s future is off charts. It’s something that should never be taken for granted because many other towns aren’t so lucky.

Places like Hazleton and Pottsville destroyed their train stations and regret it greatly.

Once a depot is gone, it never returns.

The story of the railroad in the growth of our country captivates the imagination. And so it’s not just rail fans who like trains.

It seems everyone respects the legend and mystique of rail travel, train tunnels, steam engines, hobo culture like Boxcar Willie and all things railroadiana.

Of course, it’s still too early to know exactly what will happen. But the important thing is that the building has been preserved and is now protected.

Much credit goes to the generosity of the Hills, the wisdom of Bruce Markovich and others on Lansford Borough Council, Lansford Alive, and an energetic Lansford Historical Society.

The Lansford train station is a jewel of the anthracite region.

It holds great promise to recapture a pivotal role in connecting the historic town to the outside world.