Old Rail Station Gets Revamped

BROOKS (NEWS CENTER) -- The Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad is a 140 year-old piece of Maine's history. But when the Belfast and Moosehead Lake Preservation Society started selling the railroad and all its equipment -- many feared it would be the end of the line. But a group in Brooks is working toward restoring and preserving one piece of the railroad.

Joe Feero's grandfather worked on this railroad many years ago. Feero grew up listening to stories about the railroad -- and it's given him an appreciation for its history.

Feero remarked, "I didn't want to see anything cut up for scrap or torn down or turned into stuff that was anything other than historic railroad stuff."

That's why Feero and nine other people formed the Brooks Preservation Society. They started raising money to buy the Brooks Railroad Station and other railroad equipment. Last month someone made that possible.

"We had an anonymous donor give us the money to purchase the station and the locomotive." "It was kind of unexpected. It was a nice surprise. We had been raising money for four or five months and then it all came together in one day."

The building needs a lot of work. The roof needs to be fixed and the platform needs to be repaired. But Feero says it has a lot of potential.

"The interior is completely original as well as the exterior. So there's a lot to work with."

Self-proclaimed railroad buff Richard Rote is serving as station agent -- watching over all of the work. He's excited to see the old train station reborn. "I have model railroads of my own and this is a dream come true to see an actual train station and a train line you know, rise out like a phoenix again."

Rote hopes more people come forward to help restore the station. "The U.S. has a failure of maintaining its own history. Unlike other countries of the world that will go out of their way to maintain history, we don't. We rip it down."

The state currently owns the rails on which the Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad operated. Feero says the Brooks Preservation Society is talking with the state about getting the tracks up and running again.