Historic Train Station Restoration

• October 13, 2020
• Posted to: Client Projects Street Brick Pavers Miscellaneous

The History of the Depot

The Orchard Park Depot was erected in 1911 by the Buffalo Rochester and Pittsburgh (BR&P) Railway through the generous efforts of wealthy Orchard Park philanthropist Harry Yates. Later, the property became a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad station. The Railroad terminated passenger service in the 1950s but freight service operated until 1967. A local family, Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Burke of Burke Realty and Construction Company purchased the structure in 1971 with the intention of making it into a restaurant. After several years of negotiations, the Burke family decided to instead turn ownership over to the Western New York Railway Historical Society (WNYRHS) in 1983 to ensure the restoration and preservation of the historic site. The Orchard Park Depot was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007 by the United States Department of the Interior.

Exterior restoration work begins on historic train station.

Preservation and Restoration Work

The restoration and preservation of the historic structure is at approximately 95% complete, with the exterior being the final phase. In the photos below, you can see the old infrastructure was ripped out and salvaged (as best it could be). Contractors then graded the area, installed concrete curb edging as the outline of improved pedestrian paths and prepped the base for the new installation of historic street brick pavers.

Installing Street Brick Pavers

Experienced Brick and Stone began working with the WNYRHS in 2018. We assisted the preservation of the depot by providing our expertise in removing the historic infrastructure and salvaging as many street brick pavers as possible. Once that was complete, we assisted in matching the bricks and providing over forty-eight pallets of historic street brick pavers to complete the upgrade to their infrastructure. That’s 14,000 bricks! The WNYRHS contractors did an incredible job installing the beautiful used pavers in a running bond throughout the property. Take a look at their installation progress photos:

Continued Support

The Depot is open to the public during the spring, summer, and fall every Saturday from 9:00am – 1:00pm until Labor Day. During the year, they feature events for the whole family to enjoy such as the Orchard Park Garden Club Sale, Christmas in the Park, Business Functions and the annual Ice Cream Social. For more information on the property, please visit Buffalo Rochester & Pittsburgh Depot Orchard Park. To follow the construction progress, check out their Facebook page, @OrchardParkDepot.