Unless you were purposely driving to the “Geigertown Central
Railroad” in Geigertown, Pennsylvania, you would never see this roadside
memorial to a lost son. And if you WERE driving there on purpose, you would probably
know that the “Geigertown Central Railroad” is not an actual, official railroad
line. It is a memorial to the man who amassed a large collection of trains.
People mourn, grieve, remember, and memorialize the dead in
countless ways. I can respect that. Roadside memorials are quite common, in
urban as well as rural areas. The big difference between the two is the sheer
scope of land one can dedicate to rural memorials. Such is the Geigertown
Central Railroad in southeast Pennsylvania – 150 acres, to be exact.
According to the Pottstown (Pennsylvania)
Mercury, “
D. J. Shirey was an active train enthusiast and collector
and was killed in 1993 at the age of 26 when a crane overturned on him as he
was trying to right a derailed train in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.”
The Geigertown Central Railroad Museum Inc. is a nonprofit corporation which the
Shirey family has set up in D.J.’s memory. Essentially, they keep his collection in place.
Unlike most train enthusiasts who collect HO gauge model
trains, Shirley collected the real thing. If you see the acres of railroad
track and antique locomotives, cabooses, and other rail cars rusting on this
150 acre-rural property, you would gather that Shirey’s hobby was somewhat more
expansive (not to mention expensive) than most.
Shirley
was a member
of a family who owned (and still owns) a trucking company (
Shireys Trucking)
in Geigertown, PA (about ten miles south of Reading). The “memorial” sprawls
over acres of farmland along the side of 1403 Geigertown Road, directly across
from the trucking operation.
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| Inside a caboose |
"From a young age, his dream was to create his own railroad,
which he named the 'Geigertown Central Railroad,' complete with engines,
freight cars and tracks that would circle his farmhouse in the rolling hills of
Geigertown,” according to the Oct. 6, 1993, article in the
Mercury.
D.J. Shirey married his wife Frances aboard a steam locomotive in 1991,
and had moved from Geigertown to Hamburg with his wife and baby daughter
about a year before his death.
While the average railroad enthusiast might build an HO
gauge model railroad setup in his basement, Shirey bought and collected real
trains! He had tracks laid on the family property on which to set the many
steam locomotives, cabooses, and other types of rail cars amassed in his
collection. If I were to guess the number of pieces on the property I would say
about thirty. He even has old rusting cranes, bulldozers, and steam boilers. Piles of railroad ties, track, and spikes dot the landscape. There are railroad signs, sheds,
and lights. Everything has been sitting there in the field rusting since D.J.’s
death in 1993.
“With the help of his grandfather, Dave “Bob” Shirey, D.J.
amassed quite a collection of rail cars, old trains, and rusting engines.
Meanwhile, D.J. learned everything he could about railroading. For two years he
drove the diesel engine in Pottstown that pushed the old Ironstone Ramble steam
train. He was chief operating engineer for the Blue Mountain and Reading
Railroad, where he had done “almost every job,” including driving and
inspecting diesel and steam engines and shoveling coal into the locomotive’s
fire box. Just a few months before his death, he became a locomotive steam
boiler inspector.”
Back in 2005, some of the collection was auctioned off by
his father, David Shirey. About thirty pieces remain, as a memorial to his son.
How (and
why) D.J. amassed this collection at such an early age is downright
intriguing.
Amidst the row of cabooses can be seen rusting steam shovels, bulldozers, and
other old industrial equipment. Manual pumper cars and steam boilers sit idly
alongside massive locomotives and other railroad cars. It is quite a scene. The photo below is in fact what you see from Geigertown Road.
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| Steam locomotives alongside Geigertown Road, Geigertown, Pennsylvania |
If you donate some money, the family may let you roam about
the property to view the cars up close, and even go inside them. (Photo at left shows inside of one train car looking out its door at the caboose.) The donation
is for the upkeep of the collection, which it appears, probably amounts to
cutting the grass in summer. When I was there this past winter exploring and making
photographs with a friend who lives in the area, he nonchalantly suggested we
come back again in the fall. I asked, why wait until fall? He said, “
You
wouldn’t want to be in these weeds when the rattlesnakes are around.” I figured
I’d defer to his good judgement and not return until next fall.
References and Further Reading:
If you donate some money, the family may let you roam about
the property to view the cars up close, and even go inside them. (Photo at left shows inside of one train car looking out its door at the caboose.) The donation
is for the upkeep of the collection, which it appears, probably amounts to
cutting the grass in summer. When I was there this past winter exploring and making
photographs with a friend who lives in the area, he nonchalantly suggested we
come back again in the fall. I asked, why wait until fall? He said, “You
wouldn’t want to be in these weeds when the rattlesnakes are around.” I figured
I’d defer to his good judgement and not return until next fall.
