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| Junior Woman’s Club current president Anita Zuber and past president Jane Prutzman presenting Nathaniel Guest with donation surrounded by dedicated volunteer. |
Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Colebrookdale Railroad.
The Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust recently received a boost from two local community organizations.
The First Presbyterian Church of Pottstown presented a check for $5,000 and the Junior Woman’s Club presented a check for $500 to Executive Director Nathaniel Guest recently.
The donations will help fund the conversion of the railroad’s Café Car to be accessible to persons with mobility concerns.
Additionally, the Junior Woman’s Club donation will also go towards offering free Santa Clause train rides to Multi-Service families and Pottstown Cluster clients.
According to sources at the First Presbyterian Church the donation was made possible by the Mary N. Porter Designated Fund of the Community Foundation of Broward County, which awarded a grant to the First Presbyterian Church.
“This generous donation supports our efforts of becoming more accessible to a diverse group of passengers,” said Nathaniel Guest, Executive Director of the non-profit Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust.
“This generous donation supports our efforts of becoming more accessible to a diverse group of passengers,” said Nathaniel Guest, Executive Director of the non-profit Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust.
Coupled with a nearly-completed ADA-compliant boarding platform, and the construction of a similar platform and station in Pottstown early next year, the improvements to the Café Car, when complete, will make the Colebrookdale Railroad the only ADA-accessible tourist railroad serving both Berks and Montgomery Counties.
Persons with mobility concerns will find it much easier to access the restored historic cars. “This has been a priority for the Trust from the very beginning,” said Guest.
According to Guest the work has only just begun. “We still have a way to go as the restoration costs for this project are expected to top $150,000,” he said.
According to Guest the work has only just begun. “We still have a way to go as the restoration costs for this project are expected to top $150,000,” he said.
“Addressing these barriers will help us to fulfill our vision of making the country’s best tourist railroad from the Golden Age of Railroading an experience to be enjoyed by all persons, regardless of mobility.”
The Trust is seeking support to continue the conversion of the Café Car and ADA-compliance.
Donations can be to the Trust at its Boyertown office or online at www.colebrookdalerailroad.com.
The Trust is seeking support to continue the conversion of the Café Car and ADA-compliance.
Donations can be to the Trust at its Boyertown office or online at www.colebrookdalerailroad.com.
Here we go again, throwing good money into a bottomless pit. This railroad has no idea of how to handle money, so they beg the public to keep giving them more. They are not hauling anywhere near the passengers that they predicted, so they keep begging for more donations. They only hauled about 436 passengers for the whole month of July with only 26 of them riding in the over glorified parlor car.
ReplyDeleteHere again I ask where is that economic benefit to Boyertown and Pottstown that has been promised by their $70,000 a year
(2014 tax return) president. No one from Boyertown or
Pottstown seems to comment on here about how their business has grown & prospered because of this money pit venture. It seems that this railroad wants everything, but gives back nothing, but a closed street.