Train observation tower opens at Radford's Glencoe Museum

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Train observation tower opens at Radford's Glencoe Museum
By Sam Wall [e-mail] 381-1643 6 hrs ago



Janice Herzog of Radford and train enthusiast Joe Falkinham of Blacksburg check out the view from the New River Train Observatory, which opened to the public this week near the Glencoe Museum.

MAT GENTRY | The Roanoke Times

RADFORD — Shortly after the New River Train Observatory opened, visitors got their first glimpse of a locomotive passing by the Glencoe Museum’s latest attraction.

Tuesday’s unveiling highlighted the significant role trains have played in the city’s history and celebrated Virginia Tech architecture students who designed and built the viewing platform.

“Simply put, the train hub was the nucleus of the city in the 1850s, and Radford wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad Companies,” museum director Scott Gardner said.

He lauded the efforts of the students for enhancing the project and making it better than the nonprofit Radford Heritage Foundation had hoped it would be. The foundation operates the Glencoe Museum.

“We originally had modest plans for the tower, sort of like what you see with bird watching areas at parks,” Gardner said. “But what they did was really make a unique and beautiful structure that really enhances the area.”

Tech Architecture Professor and Radford resident Kay Edge said that she had been looking for projects that would get her students out of the classroom and into the community.

When Edge contacted City Manager David Ridpath about such a project, he pointed her to Deb Cooney, who pitched the train observatory as a possibility.
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Sam Wall covers Pulaski, Radford and Radford University.

[Recursion]

1. Oh that's cool, thanks! (nt)