April 2003

NYS&W Railway and Cortland County IDA to Reopen Marathon Train Station as Tioughnioga Heritage Center

Cortland, NY -- The NYS&W Railway and the Cortland County IDA will officially reopen the historic Marathon Train Station as the new Tioughnioga Heritage Center with a ribbon cutting on Saturday, April 5 at 11 am as part of the 33rd annual Central New York Maple Festival. The community is invited to the event.

The restoration of the station was a joint effort of the Cortland County IDA and the Tioughnioga River Waterfront Development Commission, NYS&W Railway, and the New York State Department of Transportation. It has been 45 years since the station was used for active passenger service, and this restoration project is a prelude to re-instituting regularly scheduled passenger service between Binghamton and Syracuse, with stops at the Marathon and Cortland stations.

The Tioughnioga River Waterfront Development Commission has developed beautiful historic wall displays for the station, reflecting the history of the Tioughnioga River and Rail corridor, which has now been placed on the National Historic Register. Rail tracks were laid through Cortland in 1854, and the main line along the Tioughnioga River is one of the earliest in the country. The station will shortly celebrate its centennial, and the Tioughnioga River Waterfront Development Commission has produced a commemorative book about the rail line and the station for this event.

Regular train service ran through Cortland County for nearly 100 years. The very last scheduled train -- Delaware Lackawana & Western Railroad's Train No. 1915 -- pulled out of Marathon station on September 14, 1958. More than 300 people were on board for the sentimental last journey. The event was sponsored by the late Walter Grunfeld, publisher of a longtime weekly newspaper based out of Marathon. Grunfeld, who died in 2000, and whose dream it was to ultimately restore Marathon Station, will be memorialized with a permanent plaque in the station.

Renovations to the station are respectful of its rich heritage, dating back to the turn of the last century. Restoration oversight for the project was done by historic architects, the Cooperstown, NY-based Altonview group, and include the repair of original plaster walls and ceilings, refinishing the original Italian terrazzo passenger waiting area floor, refinishing of the original bead board wainscoting and ceiling beams, and cleaning and restoration of early 1900s copper gutters, along with the addition of period-style interior lighting. A complete mechanical overhaul of the station was also made, to bring plumbing, wiring, heating and other utilities up to modern standards. A new station platform, facade work, period style lighting, paving and landscaping will also be completed in 2003.

Participating in the ribbon cutting will be Walter Rich, President of NYS&W Railway, Paul Slowey, Cortland County IDA Chairman, Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, Senator James Seward, Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, Assemblyman Gary Finch and Assemblyman Brian Kolb, along with many other local community dignitaries and representatives from the New York State Department of Transportation. Renovations to the station were made with a $200,000 grant from the NYS Multi-Modal program.

With its rededication, the next era in the station's history -- as a working passenger and freight facility, as well as a tourism destination and community landmark -- promises to be as grand as the first chapter in its proud story.