Amtrak's new stop: Castleton
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Shown from left, among a crowd of about 200 residents, Valentine and Mary Ann Jakubowski, greeted the Amtrak train Saturday (National Train Day) as it arrived at their historic train depot in Castleton. The Vermont Agency of Transportation is working on a plan to have Amtrak’s Ethan Allen train from Albany, N.Y. to Rutland stop in Castleton rather than Fair Haven in the future. “It was a fun thing to do,” Mary Ann Jakubowksi said of Saturday’s reception. Another ceremony will be held when the stop is final, she said. Tom Mitchell/ Rutland Herald. |
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By STEPHANIE M. PETERS STAFF WRITER - Published: May 9, 2009
When Amtrak pulls into the Castleton Depot this morning, it will mark the first time in more than half a century the station has accommodated passenger rail service.
In the coming months, however, the Vermont Agency of Transportation hopes the 159-year-old station will once again become a well-trafficked facility, as it replaces the Fair Haven stop on the Ethan Allen's daily route between Rutland and Albany.
Gov. James Douglas and a host of other rail supporters will ride the train from Rutland to Castleton this morning to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly revamped, Main Street station, according to John Zicconi, a spokesman for AOT.
Part of the reason for the switch is the increase in ridership that the Castleton State College community and Lake Bomoseen are expected to generate, Zicconi said.
Yet, the impetus for the change came not from the state, but from Castleton Depot's longtime owners, Mary Ann and Val Jakubowski.
"They've done a wonderful job of taking an historic structure that was allowed to slip and bringing it back to its full glory," Zicconi said.
Mary Ann Jakubowski's family purchased the station from the railway in 1966, about 20 years after passenger service stopped running through Castleton. For much of that time it remained unused and when Amtrak approached Jakubowski's parents about 10 years ago asking to use Castleton Depot as a stop, they declined.
In the time since, her father, mother and brother have all died, leaving Jakubowski and her husband owners of the station. About four years ago, they decided it was time to refurbish the station to its original state.
"We wanted to renovate everything and keep the sense of historic being it had right from the beginning," she said in a phone interview Friday.
For those who used to ride the train so many years ago, the recently restored depot is likely to inspire a sense of nostalgia.
Over the years, the building remained intact, including its exterior and natural hardwood floors. It did, however, "need a lot of TLC," Jakubowski said.
Additionally, the Jakubowskis rewired and reinsulated the entire building and installed a new heating and lighting system.
Last year, a tenant moved in — the Green Mountain Country Bakery — which has thrived in the locale, she said.
Still, despite the successful restoration of the building and AOT's enthusiasm for the switch, Jakubowski said she will remains only cautiously optimistic about the depot becoming an active Amtrak station, given recent questions of funding.
"It's not final until they're here," she said.
In Fair Haven, news of what appears to be an all-but-definite switch came as a surprise to officials in Town Hall on Friday, who said it was the first they'd heard of it.
"I really don't know how many people use that stop down there, so they must have taken a count and figured it would be better to stop in Castleton," Town Manager Serena Williams said. Fair Haven Select Board Chairman Ron Adams couldn't be reached for comment.
According to Amtrak's ridership statistics, in 2008 the Fair Haven stop, which consists of a small, outdoor waiting area at Depot and Water Streets, saw a total of 2,582 passengers board or disembark. That figure has been on the rise since at least 2004, but still represents a small percentage of the ridership on the Ethan Allen.
stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com
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