Vandals spray-paint railroad station
Vandals sprayed white paint on the parking lot and platform area of the Colebrookdale Railroad in downtown Boyertown, the owner of the tourist train said Monday.
Nathaniel C. Guest, executive director of the railroad, said the station was vandalized on Thursday and Friday nights.
Guest said thankfully there were no hate messages, just random paint splattering and a squiggly line on the wooden platform of the renovated train.
“This sends a bad message to the community,” Guest said. “The people who did this are crying out for help.
“This is just a bump in the road. There is a lot of anxiety going on right now, and I think this is just how it gets manifested.”
Guest said the train closed to the public on March 18 following Gov. Tom Wolf’s order to close non-essential businesses due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
He said the silver lining is the outpouring of support from the community about the vandalism.
He said neighbors notified him early Saturday morning about the graffiti.
“This is bringing the community together,” Guest said. “The community is strong.”
Local and county officials are among those who notified Guest on his Facebook page, expressing support to prevent future problems.
Some offered to clean up the area and provide security.
Guest said Boyertown residents have a great deal of pride in the tourist train, which provides scenic train rides between Boyertown and Pottstown.
Guest said he anticipates that volunteers will fix up the train when normality returns.
He said there are security cameras at the station, but this incident sparked a need for additional security.
Guest said that his heart goes out to all of the folks who are struggling with more serious problems.
He said he hopes to provide an outing on the tourist train for employees at the local hospitals when the coronavirus pandemic is declared over.
Boyertown police said neighbors reported the incident to police over the weekend.