Project Description

• Introduction
• Arrival/Decompression/Reception
• Orientation
• Interpretation
• Dining, Retail & Entertainment
• Terminus

Interpretation
Whereas the sequence of events to which the visitors are exposed from Arrival through Orientation is carefully controlled, the various venues that comprise the balance of the Railpark are organized for more casual inspection.

Leaving the Reception/Orientation Building, visitors follow a canopied path through a newly constructed entrance in the west wall of the restored Lighting Shop, and into the great Car Shed to which it is appended.

Lighting Shop / Car Shed / Paint Shop

The Lighting Shop is essentially a portal into the nineteenth and early twentieth century world of railroading in Alabama. Posters herald the advantages of steam power over horse power and the speeds attainable by the railroad. Timetables, route maps and a wide variety of small artifacts, from lanterns to signs to signals of every kind, establish the growing significance of this new means of transportation.

In the Car Shed, locomotives and rolling stock from many eras are arranged on track in this now enclosed and climatized building. Interpretation ranges from empirical experiences aboard selected vehicles enlivened by costumed interpreters, to computerized, interactive kiosks that invite participation by visitors of all ages.

The Paint Shop has been dramatically converted to a beautiful Café adjoining the arched openings into the Car Shed and offering varied dining experiences, all keyed to railroad history. Menus, silver service, lighting and furnishings are all reminders of the railroad to which the Railpark owes its existence.

At scheduled times, the locomotives facing into the Café become star players in the "show" that entertains diners throughout the day. The Café is ideal for meetings and special events, a unique environment for weddings and similar celebrations and of course the perfect place for a spectacular children’s party.

The outdoor space just to the east of the Café is furnished with umbrella-shaded tables for lunch or a drink.

Planing Mill / Wheel Shop

Framing the east side of the outdoor dining area is the entrance to the Planing Mill and Wheel Shop, now converted to a completely unique retail mall. Designed as a macro-sized model railroad layout, the RailMall incorporates two levels of operating miniature railroads, with specially designed coaches for children and a variety of model-related attractions. The themed interior encompasses a number of specialty shops familiar to the visitor as well as many not found in conventional retail malls.

Freight Car Repair Shop

The Back Shop has been completely recreated as a restoration facility and locus for many manufacturing disciplines originally housed in buildings no longer on site. In the future, these buildings will be recreated in their original locations and their industries and crafts interpreted "in-situ". In this iteration of the Center however, the different activities are juxtaposed under one roof.

Within the shop, craftsmen explain the ongoing challenges of restoration and part replacement, ranging from ironwork to upholstery; from electrical and plumbing to woodworking and painting. Cars in different stages of restoration bear witness to the slow, often protracted process.

The interpretive experience is supported by explanatory graphics and text as well as interactive kiosks that invite detailed inquiry and provide historic information.

Roundhouse and Turntable

Sixty per-cent of the original Roundhouse has been recreated on its original site, together with a new turntable over the original pit. Locomotives of differing vintage, several involved with active operations are housed in its twelve stalls. A circular ramp protected from the work area within the Roundhouse provides visitors with an elevated view of the locomotives. Data about each locomotive and the maintenance work which they are at that moment undergoing is conveyed by computerized graphics at each stall. The information changes electronically as locomotives move in and out of the Roundhouse.

Visitors are treated to frequent use of the Turntable, with that operation interpreted by both live and electronic media.

The complex is also the background for a variety of special programs and events scheduled for the open area between the enclosed shops and the Roundhouse. This multi-purpose Events Plaza has been invested with the equipment and technology to enhance every conceivable event, from weddings to Railfairs.

Coaling Tower & Theater

The concrete coaling tower, a surviving component of the Yards, has been completely refurbished and has become the site object most easily identified from a distance and the defining architectural icon of the project. In addition to its monument, it provides an excellent opportunity to acquaint the visitor with the coaling and watering processes fundamental to steam railroad operations.Those processes are explained and interpreted in a specially designed theater appended to the south side of the tower structure.

Rendering by Terry Greenough - Barry Howard Limited.

Through the integration of filmed and live action, visitors are returned almost a century to a time when steam whistles, coal furnaces, smoke and the throb of great steam locomotives were common to daily life. Viewed as a large projected image, an inbound train is delivered to its destination. The locomotive and tender are uncoupled and driven into the yards, where after dropping the ashes from its fire box, it is pushed to the coaling tower to be made ready for another journey. When the projected locomotive is properly positioned, the screen slowly becomes transparent, revealing a fully dimensional locomotive within the tower. At that point the action becomes live and the audience enjoys a rare opportunity to see the preparations in real time that precede the joining of motive power to the waiting rolling stock that will form a new consist.

The five to seven minute experience makes an important contribution to the visitors’ understanding of and appreciation for the complex nature of steam power and many human aspects of railroad operation.

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