Model Railroad Club buying its building
The structure behind the YMCA, which has housed the club for 82 years, is changing hands for $45,000.
The Kingston Model Railroad Club is on track to buy the building it’s called home for 82 years.
Club Vice President Kurt Fuxjager said the building, on about 0.3 acres behind the YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County, is being sold by Eleven Main Group for $45,000.
“Our plan is to continue operations just the way they are, but then we will have to start a drive to attract new members,” Fuxjager said. “We’ll also start thinking about making improvements to the building . ...
“The most important thing we’ve got to do is connect to running water and sewer,” he said. “There is no water or bathroom facilities in the building right now.”
The building’s entrance is on Susan Street, off Pine Grove Avenue, though it has an address of 587 Broadway. The building is adjacent to the CSX railroad tracks that carry freight trains through Kingston, and it is believed to once have been a warehouse for freight that came to the city by train.
“It was part of New York Central Railroad 100 years ago as either a freight depot or a storage building,” Fuxjager said.
History is a large part of the club’s mission, which makes some of the building’s contents appropriate for members who strive for authenticity.
“There is some railroad memorabilia,” Fuxjager said. “There’s a crossing gates sign. I don’t know if it came from the New York Central, but it is an authentic sign. There’s a mile stone there, and there are several pieces of original railroad equipment inside the building.”
The mile stone apparently was one of the first markers used, but Fuxjager didn’t know where it had been placed.
“It was close enough to the distance from New York City that I originally thought it was the mile mark from New York, but somebody said it was from another line,” he said.
The Kingston Model Railroad Club has about 25 members. It uses the building to design track layouts and take care of mechanized collectibles.
The group opens the building to the public as a museum every November and early December.