Aug 23, 2015 4 min read

The largest airplane ever to land at Greene County Airport was big news last week, but it wasn’t the only historic relic to arrive in Franklin Township.

Just a couple hours after the C-54E Skymaster cargo plane, piloted by Amwell Township native Tim Chopp, arrived at the airport last Monday morning, another mammoth piece of history was being lowered into place less than a mile way.

The return of the 19th century Waynesburg & Washington Railroad Coach No. 6 was a celebration for history buffs after the train car had spent the past two decades rotting away at a Connecticut museum. A crane pulled the 8-ton car off of a flatbed truck and gently lowered it near where the “Waynie” steam engine is currently housed next to the Greene County Historical Museum.

Both events created a buzz as people watched something special happening in their county.

A crowd of people and a welcome party from the Carmichaels VFW honor guard gathered around the cargo plane as Chopp taxied to its parking space outside the Airport Diner. People streamed onto the runway tarmac – gawking and taking photos – the entire week before Saturday’s Aviation Day events in which the plane demonstrated a Hershey’s bar “candy drop” for children gathered at the airport.

A similar group of curious onlookers also found the sight of the old train, beaten and weathered by years of neglect, return to its rightful place in Greene County.

Ethan Phillips watched with his children, Nathan and Julia, as the crew worked to secure the train car and the hoist it into the air before swinging it around onto a temporary platform.

“How often does this happen?” Phillips said. “There’s always some cool stuff happening in Greene County.”

That’s certainly true, but how often do two big historic events happen in any rural county, on the same day, no less?

Neither undertaking was easy and took a herculean effort from many groups and volunteers.

The work to host such a historic aircraft at Greene County Airport for Aviation Day this weekend was a wonderful attraction that brought together many different entities. The Community Foundation of Greene County helped to secure the grant and Save Our Aviation Resources, a local organization determined to bring awareness about the importance of small airports, helped to attract the aircraft.

And of course, Chopp and his “Spirit of Freedom” crew should be commended for not only bringing the cargo plane that participated in the Berlin Airlift, but physically landing it at such a small airport.

The skill and effort was similar for the train coach at the Greene County Historical Museum.

Jim Weinschenker, a member of the historical society and author who has written extensively about the W&W Railroad, worked tirelessly in recent days to bring Coach No. 6 back to the Waynesburg area. It was used for about 40 years in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but then disappeared for decades as it was used as a residence.

It returned again in 1985, but was not refurbished and eventually sold to the Connecticut Antique Machinery Association in Kent, Conn., which had plans to refurbish the car that never panned out.

Weinschenker knows the job will not be easy, but he’s willing to give it a chance. He estimates it will cost $100,000 to hire a professional restoration crew to rebuild the car.

That’s great news for the restoration of local history that appeared to be lost forever.

We can’t help but commend the hard work by these local organizations to bring good news to Greene County and a little bit of joy to its residents.

It’s amazing such big historical events happened hours apart and just a stone’s throw from each other.