Plans are being made to give the old Centreville railroad freight station a new life as a museum and a new home in a park north of town. The Queen Anne’s County Commissioners voted 5-0 to have the county accept the old freight depot as a donation from the Town of Centreville. County Commissioner Paul Gunther said the town hopes to put a parking lot on the Pennsylvania Avenue property where the freight station is located.

Gunther said the building would be moved to White Marsh Park at Bloomfield Farm, the county property at state Route 213 and White Marsh Road, where the old depot would be converted into a train station museum. Each year for two weekends in December, model train layouts are displayed at the Queen Anne’s County 4-H Park. The old freight depot could become a permanent home for the model train exhibitors, said Gunther. County Commissioner Carol Fordonski said the volunteers put about 2,000 hours of work into building their layouts each year for their Christmas season show at the 4-H Park.

The motion approved by the county commissioners calls for moving the freight station to Bloomfield Park by April 1. Expert House Movers of Sharptown would move the building, said Gunther. He said it is the same company that moved the old Hope School building from Hope crossroads to the grounds of Queen Anne’s County High School.

Starr resident Garry Schnappinger, one of the volunteers who builds and operates the model train displays each year at the 4-H Park, said several different clubs are involved in the annual model train show. He said more information would be released later about the plan to move the freight depot to Bloomfield Farm.