Waynoka Station; It’s About Trains!

· April 30, 2009.
· Waynoka Oklahoma.
· Santa Fe Depot ribbon cutting.

I received an invitation to lunch (never turn down food!) and to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony in my home town. The historic Harvey House sits along the tracks of the main line of the Burlington/Northern/Santa Fe Railroad and next to it an old depot building.

Sandie Olson and friends who make up the local Historical Society have worked many years and successfully completed the restoration of the Harvey House. It now houses an El Charro restaurant on the main floor and a wonderful museum upstairs. But that’s not all! Across the street are a fully restored section house, a weigh station and a log cabin that was moved in from the country and reassembled. The first phase of restoration on the depot building is just finished, thus the reason for the party. Oklahoma’s Executive Director for Tourism & Recreation Hardy Watkins came to talk to us about tourism.

The best part of the event was the opportunity to tour the museum! Waynoka was a destination for famous early flight leaders such as Charles Lindberg and Amelia Earhart and you can almost feel their presence as you walk among early train and plane history in the museum. A scale model train makes its way past recognizable landmarks in one room. Another looks just like an original sleeping room for one of the hard working Harvey House Girls.

This is not your typical small town dusty museum filled with cast off old items. The Harvey House Museum is a class act; the guides really know the railroad history and are passionate about what they do. Carol King was our guide and was quick to point out all of the interesting details told on the walls. While this was not my first trip to the museum, it was the first in several years. Sometimes we forget what we have at home and while traveling is one of my biggest enjoyments, sharing what is in my backyard seems important too.

So if you ever get the opportunity to visit Waynoka, make the Harey House Museum Complex a "must see"!