hamlet passenger depot

We had the great fortune of attending the Hamlet Old Fashioned Christmas and toured the Hamlet Passenger Depot. How fun to hear and see the history right before your eyes. What an experience to hear the Christmas carols inside the depot, while getting to explore the train across the street in the park.

This was the Hartsfield Airport of the Train Age - connections a plenty for all people going north, south, east or west. This town is lovely, but the station is the jewel. Go here if you love trains, it's a no brainer. Worth about 45 minutes to appreciate the building and the exhibits inside. Great for kids. Free.

Beautifully restored Depot and Tornado Bldg with a lot of history kids will enjoy no matter the age. My 7 y/o enjoyed the learning experience and my 1 y/o enjoyed watching the model trains inside the exhibits.

Beautifully restored, interesting history of the railroad and Hamlet, NC. Miranda, the curator was a wealth of information and her enthusiasm was contagious!

Railroading has been a part of Hamlet history since 1870 when an east-west line connected Wilmington to Charlotte. In 1877 a north-south line crossed over, linking Raleigh to Augusta. The area is a true feast for the railfan, with multiple CSX trains running daily, and yards, bridges, etc. to see in 4+ locations. It's a wonder it's not swamped! At the STATION AREA is the historic Seaboard Depot, originally built in 1900 within the triangle of the intersecting RR lines as a passenger station and division headquarters for the Seaboard Air Line RR. Since the lines are still active with the station no longer considered safely accessible, it was recently moved some 100 feet and totally restored inside and out as the only Victorian Queen Anne passenger station in North Carolina. At the foot of Main Street, It is truly stunning restoration, the red roofed two-story rotunda supported by flying buttresses, the original glass in place (bowed in the rotunda), etc. In the basement--accessible by elevator--is a full HO-scaled model of what Hamlet, its rail lines and buildings looked like historically. It's easy to view trains and take photos in the station area. Kids will have a ball! A neighboring museum building has a history of how the town developed with textile, ice cream, brewing, soda bottling and other manufacturers taking advantage of the rail connections, beautifully documented. (Many old buildings including an Opera House, still exist downtown, too.) The museum director is also the free tour guide, a font of information (and not only because she grew up in the town!) Across the street are an engine and caboose and another building housing some car and rail reproductions and small model layout. At the EAST JUNCTION are tracks and sidings for railfans to view. At the BRIDGES JUNCTION the tracks are elevated. You can also get close to trains for photos at Hamlet, Alley, Church, and Laurel Avenues and Rice Street. The HAMLET YARD north a few miles on NC 177 is a full active CSX maintenance facility with a Diesel Area, Hump Area, and North End although you must, of course, be careful not to trespass.

This beautifully restored passenger depot from 1900 sits a couple of hundred yards from its original location. Neglected and dilapidated, the Queen Anne style building was sold by CSX to the city of Hamlet, then moved back from the tracks for safety reasons. The move (of the entire original building) was accomplished in 2003; restoration was completed in 2004. It still serves as an active passenger depot, and the several rooms feature artifacts, oral histories, music, games and a large model railroad display. Across the street are a diesel electric locomotive, a caboose, and the Tornado building, which houses a magnificant replica of the Tornado, the first steam locomotive (1839) in North Carolina. All are free and can be visited on weekend afternoons.Not to be missed during a visit to Hamlet is the nearby (two long blocks) separately operated National Railroad Museum, displaying railroad memorabilia, maps, photographs, and a variety of artifacts. Many of the artifacts specifically relate to the Seaboard Air Line Railway (now CSX). The museum, in fact, leases the above mentioned locomotive, caboose, and Tornado replica to the city of Hamlet. It is open on weekend aftertnoons. As with the Depot, the friendly volunteers are quite helpful and eager to please.

We spent a wonderful afternoon exploring the Depot. It's amazing to think that this building was turned 180 degrees and moved across the railroad tracks to the present location. The restoration is beautifully done, down to the hexagional tiles in the ladies restroom. We met a very nice volunteer who gave us some background and took us to see the model of Hamlet train set. How fun! This really is a treasure and a collection of beautiful buildings!!

This museum is made up of beautifully restored buildings, and features exhibits you may not expect in a small town attraction. There are interactive exhibits including two rotary dial phones that let you "listen in" to recorded oral histories from local residents. There is also a huge replica of 1940s Hamlet with a model railroad running through it. Be sure to check out the small museum in the visitor's center, located next to the depot, too. It's clear that the museum's creators took pains to ensure all parts of the community are represented in the exhibits, giving visitors a well-rounded understanding of the area's rich--if sometimes painful--history.