Epsom to acquire old train depot building

Rotten pieces of siding hang from the sagging walls of the old train depot. Half a roof sits sunken in on itself, the building showing its skeleton to the sky above.

The former train station, which sits right by the Odd Fellows Hall on Short Falls Road in Epsom, will soon belong to the town, which originally hoped to acquire it years ago from the state, its owner, and work on restoring it.

But that never panned out, said Virginia Drew, chair of the Board of Selectmen.

Two years ago, the roof caved in, raising alarms that the historic structure was “not viable anymore,” according to Drew. The state erected “no tresspassing” signs, and the building continued to sit abandoned in quiet disrepair.

“It’s on a dirt floor. Maybe we can save some of the wood from it, but right now it’s just gone too long without any care,” she said.

Now, Epsom is in the midst of working with the state to transfer ownership of the property. The Heritage Commission began the conversation and started working with the Board of Selectmen to coordinate with the state Department of Transportation, Drew explained.

“The town will be able to purchase it for $0 because the state has recognized it’s going to cost us the value of the land to have it demolished, the liability of it all,” said Drew.

Hopes of preserving the old train depot have long been dashed by the toll of time and decay. A parking lot could be a potential use for the space, Drew said.

“Our intent is to make it available so that when the Odd Fellows have their events and things, it will give safe parking and get those vehicles off the side of the road, which is not safe,” she said. “It keeps that area clear. We have the snowmobilers who use those trails in the winter, and we have people who like to walk those trails, and the building has become a serious hazard.”

However, she clarified, nothing will be determined until the town actually owns the land and the Board of Selectmen has a chance to flesh out their options.

Penny Graham, who sits on the Epsom Historical Association, estimates that the railroad stopped running through the depot around the end of the 1940s, although she said she’s not sure exactly. The Suncook Valley Railroad, nicknamed “The Blueberry Express,” went through the station, she said.

“My father, who was a dairy farmer, used to take his cans of milk to the train depot there, the Short Falls one,” she said. “The milk, it would go to Manchester Dairy. There was a line, going south through Short Falls. It went south to Suncook. From there, they would pick up another line, from Manchester to Concord.”