Thousands of 100-year-old bricks will serve as a part of the Colebrookdale Railroad’s station platforms.
The borough of Pitcairn, located outside Pittsburgh, has donated 94,500 individual bricks to benefit the railroad’s effort. The first shipment of these bricks made its way into Boyertown last Thursday. Twenty more shipments will follow to deliver a total of 350 pallets.
The bricks were originally used as roadways and have since been ripped up and replaced with macadam since it’s an easier material to maintain. They were piled up by the time the Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust got to them.
“Every one of those bricks was hand dug out a dirt pile,” said Nathaniel Guest of the Colebrookdale, explaining how they don’t make bricks like these anymore. “They’re larger and more dense; they have a really wonderful sheen to them with brilliant colors.”
Volunteers, many from Pitcairn, took the time to sort through hundreds of thousands of these bricks to find ones usable for the project.
The project involves installing historic patterns on the platforms – patterns that would have been seen on sidewalks and railroad boarding platforms a century ago.
“We’re looking for people to help us with this project,” said Guest, admitting this is an expensive proposition.
A $200,000 grant has been received for this project; another $50,000 is needed. In total, this would be about a $350,000 project. Many funds have already been raised.
“There’s a lot of value here – we need the money to capture it,” said Guest.
The bricks will be used in the boarding area and the walkways throughout the railroad yard in Boyertown and eventually in Pottstown.
The value of the individual bricks varies from $2-$10 each. They were made between 90-100 years ago from four different manufactures – therefore there are four types of bricks. The work to clean them has already been completed. The goal now is to get them all into town.
“These colors and these bricks would have been hallmarks of the true aesthetic of Pennsylvania communities a century ago,” said Guest. “It’s unfortunate you just don’t see it anymore – they’ve either been removed or covered over with blacktop.”
Guest spoke about the yellow bricks in the particular, and how Boyertown may soon have its own yellow-brick road.
“It’s a wonderful thing to have the two municipalities to partner in this way. It’s a great way of adaptive reuse,” said Guest. “The amount of work that went into to create this and the craftsmanship of each one of these bricks is not something that’s done anymore.”
Other materials recently acquired by the railroad include gas lamps and a street clock; together these items are helping to form the sought-after aesthetic with the goal of creating a beautiful town center.
“It’s wonderful to reuse these materials,” said Guest about the bricks. “Now there will be generations of people enjoying the beauty of Pennsylvania craftsmanship.”
The goal is to have all of the bricks in town by the beginning of July. Those interested will be able to sponsor a brick. Due to the sensitive nature and historic value of the bricks, engravings will not be included but instead sponsors will be listed on a plaque located at the station. The more prominent the donation, the more prominent the name recognition will be. The plaque will also feature the history of the bricks and the story of how the two cities came together to preserve a piece of history.
