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RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE LIBRARY______________
POSTAL HISTORY RESEARCH - ARTIFACTS
www.railwaymailservicelibrary.org
(540) 837-9090 - TELEPHONE
(540) 837-9046 - FAX
fscheer@railwaymailservicelibrary.org - e-MAIL
117 EAST MAIN STREET
BOYCE, VA 22620-9639

December 1, 2010

Dear Railway Mail Service Library friends:

2010 has been a remarkable year of opportunity. The future is promising, for which
the Railway Mail Service Library (RMSL) is well-positioned. Here are the year’s highlights.
Although the RMSL owns Boyce railway station, it leases the land from Norfolk
Southern Corporation. The 0.88 acre depot grounds are an attractive, uncluttered space.
An objective is to maintain the open vistas surrounding the building as well as to preserve
the structure as a notable example of railroad architecture..
A long-range vision has been to purchase a lot near the station so that a garage and
maintenance building can be constructed. The workshop will facilitate building restoration,
as well as a place for gasoline-powered equipment, tools, and materiel. This will not only
improve building safety, but will also release space for exhibits and the library collection.
Several buildings and lots near the station were available during 2009 and early 2010
as the real estate market slowed. A favorable property was bank-owned real estate and
had been on the market for 1-1/2
years without a buyer. It had
several historical aspects, such as
serving as the telephone
switchboard exchange for Boyce
during several decades. Although
long since removed, the town post
office between 1917 and 1954
stood alongside. A large rear lot
was formerly the site of a livestock
pen and blacksmith. The back
portion of the land is contiguous to
the Norfolk Southern property and Figure 1 - View from East Main Street (Route 723)
large enough for the envisioned
shop structure. A plat illustrates the layout of this ground.
Frank’s wife Arja and his brother Lloyd owned a rental property in Alexandria. They
mutually agreed to sell that house, which provided a down payment for 127 East Main
Street at Boyce. Settlement was concluded during May. Although the building is now
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rented to partially offset the acquisition cost, in future years it can serve as a guest house
for researchers using the RMSL who want to spend several days at Boyce.

Figure 2 - Scene from the station parking area. The vacant rear lot is out-of-view to the right.

Figure 3 - 127 East Main Street plat. "Lot B" is a separate property, not included. The common
boundary with Norfolk Southern (NS) land runs along the top edge. The NS grounds shown are the
parking area to the northeast of the depot building.

Another positive development has been collaboration with Richard Small, a noted
postal historian who has developed well-documented post office listings. He has
assembled a specialized collection of postal reference materials. During December, these
were moved to the agent’s office records room, alongside the Winchester Chapter
collection of railroad reference books and videos. Richard will conduct his research and

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writing at the station, utilizing his resources as well as those within the RMSL collection.
The RMSL participated in six major events during 2010 as a part of its mission to
communicate the contributions of the Railway Mail Service/Postal Transportation Service
(RMS/PTS). Frank presented an overview of the RMS/PTS at the New York Central
System Historical Society during May, as well as the Norfolk & Western Historical Society
(N&W HS) convention during June. Boyce station was also a featured stop during the N&W
HS tours. A similar presentation was also made at the Old North State Chapter, National
Railway Historical Society, September meeting at Raleigh, North Carolina.
Frank attended the final PITTSBURGH & ST LOUIS RPO reunion at Terre Haute
during September, followed by the 39th annual WASHINGTON & FLORENCE RPO reunion
in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. These meetings have renewed ties with former RMS/PTS
personnel who have generously supported the RMSL’s quest.
The Town of Boyce celebrated its 100th anniversary of incorporation on Saturday,
October 2. The town’s and the railroad’s history are intertwined. Construction of the
Shenandoah Valley Railroad lead to the establishment of Boyceville at the crossing of the
Winchester and Berry’s Ferry Turnpike . The toll road later became U.S. Highway 50, then
County Route 723 when U.S. 50 by-passed the town during the 1930s. The station is
nearly as old as the town and played a leading role during early town development. The
railroad agent at Boyce was also on the town council for two decades.
Boyce’s Centennial indirectly highlighted the depot’s history. Although the present
structure is three years younger than the town’s incorporation, the rise and decline of
railroad prominence in the local economy parallels the town’s development. In recent
decades, the station has become the town’s icon. So, it was only natural that a drawing of
the depot appeared in a special pictorial postmark for the celebration.
Visitors obtaining the commemorative postmark also received a complimentary sheet
summarizing the station’s history. That overview is included as the last two pages of this
letter. Many toured the agent’s office and small waiting room that were open. An afternoon
cook-out was followed by a “train night” of slide presentations of Virginia-area railroading.
Fortunately, one of the visitors was Barbara Adams. Her grandfather was Boyce’s
third station agent, Sylvester Lane. Having lived in town until she was 17, Barbara has
provided many insights about life and people in Boyce during the 1940s. She also added
rare glimpses about the personal life and interests of her paternal grandfather that portray
the man behind the face below.
The scene within the agent’s office is notable because it depicts its working
appearance which can guide recreating the scene as an exhibit within the building. For
example, there has been uncertainty about the telegraph and telephone arrangement on
the operator’s desk in the bay window. Enough details are visible to accurately lay out
similar instruments from the 1930s.
The picture also identifies the style of desk, chairs, train order levers, and other
miscellaneous items, as well as where they were placed in the room. The RMSL purchased
an identical desk and chairs from Tom Aker during 2006, who saved these items from
dumpsters when the general office building at Roanoke was vacated. Finding replacements
would otherwise be difficult because the furnishings were made in the Norfolk & Western
Railway’s carpentry shop, crafted to their own plans. They were not commercially available.
Equally important, Barbara has written many of her recollections that will be a helpful
reference for years to come. She also identified the occurrence of a wreck of train 2 in
1919 which caused several cars to derail about 1,000 feet north of the depot at the Old
Chapel Road crossing.

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Figure 4 - Sylvester M. Lane in the agent's office at Boyce station on May 28, 1934.

Looking ahead to 2011, the RMSL will continue its transition from adding materiel to
the collection and instead organizing and disseminating the information it already has. The
th
final WASHINGTON & FLORENCE RPO reunion will coincide with its 40 annual gathering
in October. Most other Railway Mail Clerk gatherings have ceased and the few that
continue have observed rapidly dwindling attendance. Indeed, it has been testimony to the
strong bond among former clerks that they have continued to join hands and lift a toast for
more years as retirees than many people work during their careers.
Projects for the year will be arranging shelving and improved organization of the
collection. A volunteer effort is underway to index the journals of the Railway Mail
Association and the National Postal Transport Association. Much more needs to be done,
and people are welcomed to help –even if they cannot visit Boyce. Several activities such
as transcribing oral recollections can be done at home during time that is available.
If you haven’t been by Boyce in a while, I invite you to visit. The town and
surrounding area has always been a great place to see, be, and be seen. If the
Smithsonian Institution is “the nation’s attic,” the RMSL is the Railway Mail Clerk’s
“basement” at the last stop of the RMS/PTS.

Season’s greeting and
Happy new year,

Frank R. Scheer
frs\RMSL2010.DOC

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A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF BOYCE RAILWAY
STATION
The Town of Boyce and its railway depot have enjoyed a long history together. Nearly as old as
the town, the 1913 structure has served as its public gathering place, the portal through which travel and
commerce passed, as well as becoming Boyce’s icon.
Indeed, it was the crossing of a newly-built Shenandoah Valley Railroad with the Winchester and
Berry’s Ferry Turnpike that prompted the birth of a new community in formerly dense, forested land.
Unlike Berryville, White Post, and Millwood, the Boyce community –briefly named Boyceville—sprung
forth around a stop along the tracks relatively late in Clarke County’s development.
The current depot, constructed by John P. Pettyjohn & Co. of Lynchburg, Virginia, replaced an
1880s wooden station adjacent to the turnpike, now named East Main Street and county route 723. The
Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W), which acquired the Shenandoah Valley Railroad in 1890, undertook
improvements during the early 1900s, including depot replacement. In 1912, it announced plans to
construct a new station on the west side of the track, within the boundaries of the newly-incorporated
town. The station was planned to be a modest building similar to those in other villages of less than
1,000 residents, at a projected cost of $7,500. It would have been of wood construction with stoves for
heating, oil lamps, and outside facilities.
Mr. P. H. Mayo negotiated with the N&W to build a “first class” station instead of a smaller
structure. Principal enhancements included masonry construction, clerestory windows for better air
circulation during summer months, a fashionable stucco design, with electric lighting, central heating,
and inside restrooms. It was spacious, modern, and comfortable –rivaling the best contemporary railway
stations in small cities.
These improvements were added at substantial cost. Mr. Mayo, along with Ms. Hattie Gilpin and
Mr. R. Powell Page, contributed $17,500, bringing the station’s value to $25,000 –a sizeable sum in
1913!

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The station not only served passengers traveling locally or beyond Hagerstown and Roanoke. It
was the Western Union telegraph office, Railway Express Agency, handled carload and less-than-
carload freight, livestock loading, exchanged U.S. Mail from R.P.O. routes, and facilitated N&W Railway
operations.
During its 45 years of operation, four agents were assigned to the station: Morton J. Dunlap, T. M
Sheetz, Sylvester M. Lane, and L. C. Murray. Mr. Dunlap was also a Boyce Town Council member.
Boyce station was desegregated in 1954, as were many N&W stations in other communities.
The larger of the two waiting rooms was rented to the Post Office Department as of April 16, 1955.
Thus, it continued as a community hub until the Post Office moved to its present location on West Main
Street in 1984. Benjamin Harrison, Russell B. Lloyd, and Eva P. Kibler were Postmasters during the 29
years that the Post Office was at the station. Several clerks and Rural Free Delivery carriers also worked
there.
The N&W agency, Railway Express, and Western Union services closed in early 1959. The
building was sold and passed through several owners between then and 2003. It had multiple uses,
such as farm supply storage, a FISH charity, restaurant, and a woodworking shop. It is now home for an
archival resource –the Railway Mail Service Library, which is at the grade crossing of post office research
and railroad history!

RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE LIBRARY
POSTAL HISTORY RESEARCH - ARTIFACTS
www.railwaymailservicelibrary.org
(540) 837-9090 - TELEPHONE
(540) 837-9046 - FAX
fscheer@railwaymailservicelibrary.org - e-MAIL
117 EAST MAIN STREET
BOYCE, VA 22620-9639
\BOYCESTA.DOC Updated June 6, 2010

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