Two opportunities are available over the next week to celebrate America’s love of railroads and both take place at the Lee Hall Depot.
On Saturday, May 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., come out to the depot for National Train Day! Enjoy a day of fun for all ages with interactive model train children’s activities, educational presentations, costumed railroad characters, music, door prizes, vendors, food and more. Tickets for the National Train Day Celebration are $5/person at the door and children under 7 years of age are free.
All are welcome to come back out to the depot on Thursday, May 19, to watch as a newly restored Chessie Caboose is delivered to the site. Completely restored inside and out by the Lee Hall Train Station Foundation, the caboose was donated to the foundation in 2018 by the CSX Transportation Company, which had retired the caboose and slated it to be scrapped. The caboose was restored at the Ft. Eustis Rail Yard while a display track was constructed at the Lee Hall Depot.
On May 19, between 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (a more exact time won’t be determined until that morning), the caboose will be pulled by a locomotive along the railroad tracks the short distance from Ft. Eustis to the Lee Hall Depot where it will be lifted by a crane off of the active tracks and placed on the display tracks. Additional site work will need to be completed over the next few months before the caboose will be open for tours. The Lee Hall Depot is located at 9 Elmhurst Street in Newport News.
