Belmont railroad museum to close
9/21/2004 8:09 AM - Associated Press
BELMONT, N.C. - A railroad museum that has been a fixture in downtown 
Belmont for 17 years will close Oct. 30 because of low attendance and 
liability concerns.

"It's very sad because a lot of us were quite active with it and the folks 
in Belmont all seem to be very good to us," said Jim Gregory, president of 
the Piedmont Carolina chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, 
the group that operates the Piedmont Carolina Railroad Museum.

Robert L. Stowe, the owner of the former Piedmont and Northern Railway 
Depot that houses the museum, decided not to renew the group's lease for 2005.
"I know with the folks at the Piedmont Carolinas chapter it's not a real 
popular decision," Stowe said, "but I'm trying to ... help the downtown 
Belmont area."

The railroad cars sitting on rails next to the building lean toward the 
road and people can climb on them at any time, Stowe said.

Stowe also called attendance at the museum "erratic."

"It's not staffed on a regular basis," he said. "They have hours, but often 
aren't open when they say they will be."

About 3,000 people have visited the museum so far this year, Gregory said.

The group doesn't plan to reopen in another location.

"We're about decided that we'll get out of the museum business," Gregory said.

Stowe said he would like to bring a retail business into the building