Not again!

I received a call from my neighbor Gary Clark on March 30, who was reluctant to tell me there had been some vandalism or a break in at the Atlanta Depot the evening before. His wife had noticed there were several broken windows on the west end of the building. She felt they must have been broken on Tuesday evening because she had been around the building during the day on Tuesday and everything had looked fine. After speaking with Gary on the phone, I contacted the Cohocton Police department and spoke with officer Barnhart. He asked if I could meet him at the depot and we could get a look inside/around and determine if there had been anyone inside or other damage indoors. I met him at the depot and together we looked over the damage.

Well, once again I was blessed with another batch of broken windows ;( last time it was 54 broken panes of glass) This time it appears there were fewer broken panes of glass, just 10 this time, but in addition there was a pretty badly damaged sash with broken muntin bars. We summarized someone had punched out the window panes, part due to some fresh blood on broken pieces of glass and also on the window sill, inside we found much broken glass but no signs of rocks. With the exception of a couple of ladders and a tool box with simple hand tools ( the kind used to replace glass and re-glaze windows) there is little inside the depot. It's sparse interior is not much different than it has ever been. There was nothing disturbed inside. Just more work, mess and expense for me, as usual.

One of the reasons I began this blog was to respond to those out there who have commented on the current status of my Railroad station. Like "John 56" at http://www.railroad.net/forums. who had commented on the depots deterioration and how it is not far behind the depot in Perkinsville.

Many of whom say things like " why doesn't someone show more pride" or "why don't they restore or repair this historic old building?"

To those with the easy ideas and comments I say this: I have been blessed with wonderful neighbors who have helped me keep an eye on this old building. I am also blessed that my neighbor Gary mows the lawn for me when I am unable. Gary and his wife have a tremendous amount of community pride, they like others do not like to see the urban decay, but they remember a better time when the town was a much nicer looking and busier community.

Maybe what makes an old building like this so awesome is the way the years have made it look.Much like the cool old t-shirt you like, you know the one, that is so worn out and tattered your wife is eager to throw it away, but you save it if just for the sake of the memories it invokes or how you feel when you put it on. The Atlanta station has seen better times. However, the character of this old structure cannot be duplicated. You can walk inside and see things that date back to its construction. Some things have been added or removed over the years, like the pot bellied stove or electricity and the additions to the building having been chronicled by those who were there, as indicated by their names, hometowns and the dates written on the walls inside the freight house.

You could study the exterior and see the many layers of paint on its walls and wonder if the white was a color or just a primer before the unique green color which seems to adorn most of the DL&W depots along this “fastest line in the east” These days there is a lot of talk about "patina". If you are a modern day auto enthusiast, you may desire to keep that old rusty car just the way it is.If you are a rat rod builder you search for just the right old car body and then go out of your way to keep it rusty and original, dents and all. I have replicated the siding and look of the architecture on another building I own, and while it looks very nice, it may never have the character that the Atlanta Depot has.

The above photo is from the first round of broken windows before I had to board up the old station. I found about 100 rocks inside.

This year 2016, I had planned to finish repairing the first batch of broken windows caused by two rock throwing 8 year olds several years ago. The promise of restitution or at least repairing the broken windows was never made good by either the 8 year olds or their fathers, who assured me things would be taken care of. I gave up waiting and over the last two summers, I had repaired all but 16 panes out of the 54 that had been broken: as you can tell by the fresh white glazing putty showing in the most recent photos.

Well, all of that wonderful progress has been set back a bit,and as of the 15th of May I have repaired all of the broken windows in the waiting room, I needed to relocate a sash from the office due to extensive damage to the munton bars during the most recent vandalism.

I have 12 panes of glass still to repair in the Bay windows track side, and I will need to send the damaged sash to a mil-work company for new munton bars.

One of the transom windows from the freight house also received damage to it's munton bars when the 8 year olds did their handiwork.

I have done my best to get the old Depot looking well for memorial day 2016.