Boyce station history

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

To: "N&W Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> 
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 14:45:11 -0500 
From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject: Re: "British extraction" & the Shenandoah
Division 

Frank and N&W group,

I do not have the Shenandoah Valley material in front
of me as this was donated to the N&W archives upon
completion of the book. But as best as I can recall
the station location grew out of a dispute between the
property owners, some of whom you mention, but
included others and the railroad.  These folks were
not natives, but had moved in following the Civil War
snapping up these estates at bargain basement prices.
(Other readers of the N&W Mailing List may not be
aware but these estates are, or resemble, colonial
plantations).  In any event these estate owners were
continually moving expensive horseflesh in and out of
the area.

The original SVRR station for what was first called
"Boyceville" was a small structure located on the west
side of the track, alongside a passing 
siding.  When time came to replace the station the
railroad intended to also locate the replacement there
[Note: Mason, I assume you mean on the East side of
the track?  I had thought the replacement station was
contemplated for the West side of the track, across
from the 1880s Shenandoah Valley Railroad station.] 
The landowners however feared the highly valued horses
might encounter danger crossing the tracks and lobbied
for a location on the east side.  A dispute arose with
the end result being that the station was built on the
right hand side [when heading Northbound] and these
landowners provided the difference between what the
N&W had intended to pay and the additional cost of
providing the station in a location desired by these
patrons.

Although some members of the Gilpin family still live
in the area, they were not the sole providers of the
$17,600 necessary to construct the station.  Others
included the Carter family (of Carter Hall) and the 
Busch family.  The Gilpins in those times were
reported to be combative and confrontational in their
dealings, quite different than the family today.
As for the station itself, it is a variation of a
standard N&W design and was constructed by John
Pettyjohn & Company of Lynchburg VA, who constructed 
a number of N&W stations.  As for the station size,
there is some speculation this was picked by the
railroad in order to get the last laugh by making
these individuals pay far more than necessary in order
to get their way.

To answer your specific questions, my notes are in the
archives, but probably do not exist in a form that can
be easily located. The very efficient archives
volunteers by this date would have long ago gone
through this material and filed the photographs with
the photos already extant, and placed the other 
material with appropriate collections in the archives.
 It is possible the volunteers may not have shared a
similar interest in Boyce.  I interviewed a 
number of people concerning Boyce.  As I recall, my
primary source for this was Mr. Kibler, who is now
longer alive.  His family ran the express truck 
business that operated out of Boyce station, and later
his wife was the postmaster of Boyce and worked again
in the station.  I believe the information they gave
me to be truthful and fairly balanced.

Boyce station was not given back to the Gilpin Family,
but was put up for sale.  To further confirm this, I
will point out that the railroad still 
owns the land of which the station sits.  If the
facility was owned by the Gilpin family, then why does
N&W still own the land?   Boyce station 
was purchased in 1955 by the Gilpins not because of
any special  relationship, but because in was a
bargain.  The Post Office moved there after a fire 
destroyed the old facility.  In addition a used
clothing store operated here.  The Gilpins did not
sell the station to Rodway.  It passed through a 
series of owners, one of which used it as a part of  a
tax shelter scheme.  The station was again on the real
estate market when Ian Rodway purchased it in 
October 1985.  Ian, was a member of the N&W Historical
Society at that time, and had just married a local
(Clarke County) woman.  His restaurant did not fail, I
believe the day-to-day operation, tied to a sewage
problem wore him down.

I want to thank you for the work you have done to
Boyce station.  I was involved with a group that owned
the station briefly. I later discussed the 
situation there with a friend who had a similar
experience with an airplane.  We fed both of these
"toys" for a while then passed along ownership to
somebody else.

Mason Cooper


February 16, 2005

Hello, Mason:

Thanks for your extensive, informative reply.  While
this topic may not be of interest to most readers,
there are interesting insights to be learned about how
the N&W interacted with freight and passenger
customers on local planning issues.

As mentioned, my thoughts were only a hypothesis
pieced together from scarce shreds of information. 
Your facts certainly are helpful in settling some of
my questions.  Since the Boyce station building is not
real estate but instead is "personal property," there
was no requirement to record its transfers at the
Clarke County court house.  When I purchased it, I
found bills of sale had been recorded from the time
Ian Rodway sold it, but not before.  Consequently, the
terms of transfer from the N&W in 1955 to 1985 are
undocumented, at least to the extent I've been able to
ascertain them.

In my view, it would not be unreasonable for the N&W
to have considered the underlying real estate
transactions to be entirely separate from the
building.  My understanding is that N&W only received
financial support for the differential between the
wooden station it planned to build which might have
been like the Antietam station, versus what was
actually constructed.  The land acquisition for the
new Boyce station was made in two stages involving
three parcels.

On June 4, 1912, R. Powell Page and Agnes B. Page sold
a lot adjacent to Millwood Pike (now VA route 723,
East Main Street) to the N&W for approximately $1,200.
 This area extended the area behind the 1880s SV
station.  I haven't found a land purchase for the West
side of the track across from the station, so assume
that N&W decided to keep the facility on the East side
by that date.  It may be that the mid-1912 plans were
that the existing station would only be enlarged or
partially rebuilt. /*

The second transaction involving two parcels --a lot
of about 1/3 acre that was jointly owned with P. H.
Mayo, and a two-acre parcel-- was sold by Mr. and Mrs.
Page.  The small lot sold for $2,700 while the two
acre parcel was $400.  The present station was built
on the two-acre parcel, as well as a 1990s wastewater
treatment plant.  The small 1/3 acre lot afforded
parking at the north end of the station.

The Page family was the owner of "Saratoga."  These
land transactions are of the western fringe of that
estate which was purchased by the family in 1866.

My understanding --although I may be wrong-- is that
the building construction was about $17,600.  The
$4,300 or so for the combined purchases on land were
separate transactions.  In my view, railroads
generally and the N&W in particular viewed buildings
as less-essential assets than the land that comprised
the right-of-way plus contiguous real estate.  Since
the railroad apparently purchased the land with its
own funds, I can envision a situation that the
railroad was willing to dispose of the station without
the land.  This goes to your point: "If the facility
was owned by the Gilpin family, then why does N&W
still own the land?"  To me, if the station was a
bargain in 1955, there might have been an interest in
buying it by others.  It seems too coincidental that
Kenneth Gilpin ended up as its owner, but coincidences
do happen.

You are correct that The Station Restaurant was
successful.  I've heard that Ian Roadway invested
$250,000 in restoring the interior as well as buying
equipment, furnishings, repairing water and heating,
and rewiring the building.  He more than anyone else
is probably responsible for the station turning the
corner in survival.  The restaurant operation was
closed because the building was condemned on account
that wastewater effluent exceeded the rating for the
cesspool serving the station.  I conjecture that Ian
had not incorporated The Station Restaurant, so that
closure forced him into bankruptcy.  The station
building was sold at that time to the Winchester
Chapter NRHS at a substantial loss of investment for
Ian.

My hope is that, whether in your extensive research
notes or in N&W records at the N&WHS Archives, some
additional information will come forth on one or more
of these transactions.  Nonetheless, the information
you've provided above is very helpful in guiding me
how to assemble the pieces of a most interesting
puzzle.

Best wishes,

Frank


_________________
/*   However, there is a contradiction in my research.
 A 1/2 acre lot across from the North end present
Boyce station is owned by Norfolk Southern.  It
stretches from Saratoga Street to the NS right-of-way.
 I have not found the deed for its acquisition by the
railroad.  It may have been the planned site for the
originally-contemplated replacement station.

Saratoga Street parallels the NS right-of-way to the
west about 100 feet from the track.  This lot would
have been behind two stores that once faced West Main
Street.  Saratoga Street leads to about two acres of
land also owned by NS that was once used for cattle
pens and loading of stock cars.  "Fancy stock" --show
and race horses-- were loaded on the team track behind
the station, on the East side of the right-of-way. 



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