Buttaro Tapped to Market Colebrookdale Railroad

Frank Buttaro

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust.

Nathaniel C Guest, Executive Director of the Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust, has announced that Frank Buttaro, Jr., of Pottstown joined the staff of the Colebrookdale Railroad as Director of Marketing and Business Development on July 1.

Frank is well known in the Tri-County Area and brings a unique blend of for-profit and not-for- profit experience. He has served as Director of Business Development for BerksAmericana, National Sales Manager for Pro-Tool Industries, and worked for the American Heart Association among other affiliations. He brings more than 25 years of experience in sales and marketing to the Colebrookdale Railroad.

His community work spans local government and a variety of non-profit involvements. Frank serves on the Development Committee of the Bethany Children’s Home, Advisory Board of Olivet Boys and Girls Club (Pottstown location), and the Events Committee of the Reading Symphony.

“Frank brings a wealth of experience in sales and building relationships” according to Guest.

Frank’s appointment signals another milestone of the development for the railroad. Charged with developing new partnerships with area businesses and securing new ridership, Buttaro will interface with business and community groups to build continuing support for economic growth.

In the coming months, 118,000 paving bricks manufactured in the early 1900s, salvaged from a scrap pile in Western Pennsylvania, will be installed as walkways that will provide paths from Philadelphia Avenue into the railyard at third and Washington Street in Boyertown. 

In Pottstown, plans are progressing to build a station in Memorial Park where the railroad crosses King Street.

According to Building a Better Boyertown (BBB) more than 12 new businesses have located to Boyertown as a result of the railroad’s development.

Serving Montgomery and Berks County, the Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust is a 503(c)(3) dedicated to restoring rail service to Eastern Berks County and developing the Civil War-era Colebrookdale Railroad into a tourist destination which will drive economic development in the Tri-County Area. 

Since carrying its first passengers in 2014, the railroad has carried over 50,000 passengers from 48 states and five foreign countries through the Secret Valley where iron helped forge a nation.