Museum burns down at Tweetsie Railroad

BLOWING ROCK, N.C. --The oldest building at the Tweetsie Railroad and decades of history are in ruins.

The depot, built in 1957, went up in flames early Sunday morning. People passing by the theme park saw the flames shooting through the roof and called 911, according to officials with the Blowing Rock Volunteer Fire Department. The building is completely unrecognizable, reduced to charred remnants and mangled metal.

When they arrived shortly after 4 a.m., the fire was fully involved, the building was already destroyed. No one was hurt. The depot housed a gift shop, first aid and storage facilities, a concession stand, and a museum full of old railroad memorabilia.

"Everything that was in that facility unfortunately is gone," said Tweetsie Railroad President Chris Robbins. "The biggest loss is all the things in the museum that have been there for a long time. Some of them have been here as long as I have or longer."

Much of the memorabilia was from the east Tennessee and western North Carolina railroad, as well as from Fred Kirby, a popular personality at Tweetsie and in Charlotte. His old saddle, clothes and pictures are now gone, as are old railroad signs, and model trains. Employees managed to recover a box of pictures and a brass plate.

"You can’t be prepared for this. You never know if something is going to happen obviously, but at the same time what we replace it with might be even better," said Robbins.

Fire officials believe lightning may have struck the building causing an electrical fire. The exact cause is still under investigation, but officials have ruled out foul play. The fire was contained to the area, so the rest of the park was not affected. It is still scheduled to re-open in May for the season.