Have you ever taken the Marc Train out of the Caperton Station in Martinsburg to Union Station in DC? That trip is mostly taken by commuters but it’s a pretty cool thing to do – it stops in Harpers Ferry, travels over the Potomac and goes through a mountain – so put it on your list of things to do. You can make that trip from the Martinsburg Caperton Station, from the Harpers Ferry Train Station and from Duffields They are all historic train stations and have a very interesting story to tell.

The most significant as far as notable historic events goes is The Train Station in Martinsburg. The original structure was a combination station/hotel built by Washington Kroeson around 1849. The B&O railroad lines in Martinsburg traversed the boundary between the North and South so it was a military target during the civil war. Jackson spared the hotel part of the station because it was privately owned. Martinsburg was on the border between the north and south and changed hands nearly 40 times during the Civil War.

Following the war, the B&O began reconstruction of the roundhouse and associated buildings in 1866, which is pretty much what you see today.

Another significant event happened about 10 years later. The B&O company had been consistently cutting wages so that the owners could continue to receive huge profits . The workers at the Martinsburg station unhooked a trainload of cattle so it could not moved. Thus began the Great Railroad strike which spread throughout the country That strike has been called the birth of the labor movement.
The Martinsburg Train Station is among the oldest surviving railroad stations in the United States.
An addition was added in 1977 – the Caperton Station which adjoins the original hotel/train station and is now used as the ticket office and waiting area.
The roundhouse is now a venue for all kinds of events – weddings, trade shows – there’s tours of the facility. And there’s a project underway – The city’s Marketplace Project- which is a plan to improve the roundhouse facility to make it more comfortable- updated HVAC and insulation. Those buildings are from the 1800s so it’s needed. The goal is to attract permanent tenants in there and host seasonal farmers markets, educational events. It’s part of the regeneration that’s going on in Martinsburg.

Heading up to the train stations in Jefferson County. Duffields in located in Shenandoah Junction. The original Duffields depot is the second oldest station in the United States – built in 1839. It was also a focus of Civil War fighting and changed hands several times. Today, the Duffield’s station is a small train stop with MARC train service to DC Union Station.
The Harpers Ferry Train Station is part of the Harpers Ferry National Park and on the Register of Historic Places. The current station was built about 30 years after the Civil War ended. It is a charming Victorian wood structure dating back to 1889 and part of the downtown historic district – there’s spectacular views all around.

The Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry Train Stations are worth a visit even if you aren’t going anywhere.They are reminiscent of those quaint train depots you think of in the early days of this country when buildings were built for beauty as much as function. I live not far from the Martinsburg Station so it’s often a part of the stops on my walk. It’s just a nice place to sit and sort of soak it all in.

The grounds around the Martinsburg station are planned to be a central point for 2 walking trails through the city – part of the regeneration happening in this area. I plan to do a video on that sometime soon.
Here’s the link to the train schedules. meetmeinthepanhandle.com/trainschedules