Jan 8 2009
Pioneer Millworks recently salvaged 50,000 board feet of antique heart pine and white pine timbers from the old Delaware and Hudson Rail Car Maintenance Shop in Oneonta, NY -- part of the railroad yard that was once home to the world's largest roundhouse.
"When you stop and think about the history of this wood, you begin to see why it's so prized: these timbers were cut in the late 1800's from trees that probably started to grow in the 1600s. Now, after 140 years supporting this historical railroad structure, these Heart Pine and White Pine timbers will begin a new life as eco-friendly flooring, paneling, and millwork for residential and commercial structures," says Jered Slusser, wood expert at Pioneer Millworks (and Delaware & Hudson train geek).
Pioneer Millworks is renowned for reclaiming antique wood from old industrial buildings like the Delaware & Hudson shops. The timber used to build these structures in the 1800s are no longer available (such as Heart Pine and Chestnut) because the forests are now gone. Tighter growth rings, greater stability and deeper patinas are just a few advantages of these old growth species. Pioneer Millworks painstakingly recovered the antique timbers in an effort to keep a piece of history from being buried in a landfill or burned. Once at the mill, the timbers will be scanned for nails and other metal artifacts, then planed into planks for tongue and groove flooring (solid or engineered), ceilings or other hand crafted millwork.
The Delaware & Hudson railroad was one of the oldest transportation companies in the country. It began in 1828 as a canal company operating from Honesdale, PA to Kingston, NY. After constructing its first railroad line in 1868, the D & H became known as "The Bridge Line", linking central Pennsylvania with Canada. As the railroad grew, so did the need for centralized maintenance facilities. Thus in the 1870s, the company built the roundhouse and shops in Oneonta. The Delaware & Hudson Roundhouse was known to be the largest in the world. Centralized maintenance facilities like the shops that supported it kept D&H railroad cars running smoothly through the mid 1990's. Today, the railroad is owned by Canadian Pacific and has since closed down large facilities like this, opting instead for new, consolidated shops in major cities.