END OF THE LINE?
After more than 40 years on the second floor of the Souderton train station, the final whistle could soon be sounded for Logan Southern Model Railroad Club.
Club members say they’re still hoping that doesn’t happen.
“We want to continue operations here. We don’t understand why we’re being evicted,” club President Terry Horst said.
Work on a planned $1.5 million redevelopment project for the station, its accompanying buildings and parking lot ar- eas, is expected to start within the next few months. Souderton has begun leasing the site from SEPTA and will use federal and state grants to pay for the building renovations, then sublease to businesses.
The steep, narrow stairs now leading to the second floor of the train station do not meet building codes, Borough Manager Mike Coll said.
“You have to comply with codes, especially when you’re dealing with public spaces,” he said.
The initial plans for the train station were to put on an addition including a new set of stairs, he said.
A review by the Pennsylva-
nia Historical & Museum Commission, though, ruled out that part of the plan because of what it would have done to the existing second floor window in that area.
“That window has to be visible and has to remain as part of the historic,” Coll said.
“We had to redesign the project,” he said. “If we did not do that, we would not get the funding.”
A revised plan was created moving the stairway into the existing building area, but the only way to do that was by taking space away from the first floor Local restaurant, Coll said.
“The Local had issues with that and felt giving up that dining space wasn’t in their best interest,” Coll said.
“It would also remove space the train club’s using
on the second floor,” Coll said. “It would almost render that second floor useless.”
The model train layout now takes up most of the second floor, and, because everything is connected, it would be difficult to reduce the size.
The work on the building also includes window repairs, some of which would be difficult to get to without removing the train layout, he said.
“The second floor just is not a feasible space to be occupied,” Coll said.
The plans now call for keeping the existing stairs, but the second floor will mostly be used for mechanical equipment, including air conditioning ductwork, with the possibility of the Local also using it as a storage area, he said.
The club did not know until recently that the initia l plan which would have allowed it to stay was
changed, Horst said.
“It just irks me we had no say in the matter,” club member Bob Widlund said. “We’ve been here over 40 years. I mean, come on.”
The club was actually started in the 1960s, but moved to Souderton in 1974, club members said. The name comes from Philadelphia’s Logan Station, where the club was previously located. The layout depicts a fictional western Pennsylvania town and mountain region.
Logan has a dozen active members, Horst said.
Weekly meetings are held during which the members run the trains, do repairs and make improvements, he said, as well as “kibitzing.”
“No politics. No religion. Just boys and their toys,” club member Charlie Ascenzi said.
Open houses are held 10 days a year (five weekends), including on the first Saturday in December when
Souderton’s annual holiday parade is held.
Even the crew of a freight train passing through town stopped to see the model train display, Ascenzi said. Special arrangements were also made for school, scout and other groups to see the trains, he said.
Many people returned each year for the open houses, he said.
“I doubt you’d ever find anybody who said they had a bad time here,” Ascenzi said.
“We brought thousands of people into the borough,” many of whom went to restaurants or other businesses, bringing money into the town, club member John Wertan said.
“We’ve got thousands of dollars invested in this and a lot of it’s going to go right into the trash can, unfortunately,” Wertan said.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to move the layout, club members said.
“If we moved, we’d have to start it from scratch, es-
“It just irks me we had no say in the matter. We’ve been here over 40 years. I mean, come on.” — Bob Widlund, member, Logan Southern Model Railroad Club
sentially,” Widlund said.
Finances also make it difficult to move because it’s unlikely the club could find a place that matched its current $100 a month plus utilities rental rate, Horst said.
“If we have to vacate the premises and start all over, chances are we can’t stay together,” he said.
Although the borough now leases the property from SEPTA, Logan and the Local are actually subtenants of Jennifer Joseph, who previously operated the Caboose restaurant and whose previously existing lease agreement with SEPTA still is in effect, Coll said.
S ouder t on Borough Council President Brian Goshow said he has taken his children to Logan’s open houses.
“I think it’s neat. I’d like to see it stay,” Goshow said.
That’s not likely to happen, though, he said.
“I just don’t know how it’s possible,” Goshow said.
Although there are no definite plans, the club is contemplating the possibility of one final open house, Horst said.
Logan has not yet been given a date after which it has to vacate the building, he said, but it could be as soon as August.
“We will work around you for as long as possible to provide reasonable time for you to transition to another space,” Coll wrote to Horst in an email.