As Dickson City officials plan future improvements for the borough, the train station along Boulevard Avenue remains a priority.
A $273,758 grant through Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Main Street Matters program will help make renovations of the Delaware & Hudson Railway Station and its surrounding grounds a reality, state officials said.
Overall, the Shapiro administration announced $17.2 million in investments for 56 community projects across Pennsylvania through the program to help revitalize downtowns, support small businesses and strengthen local economies, state officials added.
The front of the Delaware and Hudson Railway Station on Boulevard Avenue in Dickson City on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Dickson City Mayor Bob McCallum and Dickson City Borough Manager Cesare Forconi pose for a photograph at the Delaware and Hudson Railway Station on Boulevard Avenue in Dickson City on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A caboose sits at the platform of the Delaware and Hudson Railway Station on Boulevard Avenue in Dickson City on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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The front of the Delaware and Hudson Railway Station on Boulevard Avenue in Dickson City on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Mayor Bob MacCallum — who also serves on the borough’s Train Station Committee — noted committee members began crafting ideas for rehabbing the facility about a decade ago.
“We applied for some grants and this one came through,” he said. “It’s really to make it a safer place and for some cosmetic outside work. We don’t have particular plans yet. We have one engineer concept drawing, so we’ll meet on that again with some other people.”
Borough Manager Cesare Forconi stressed that the station plays into Dickson City’s ongoing approximately $5 million Main Street revitalization project throughout town — from Hallstead Street to Jackson Street, Jackson to Jermyn Street, Jermyn to Dundaff Street, and Main Street, down Boulevard Avenue, to Enterprise Street.
“In our conceptual plans for the future, when we were doing our parks, the train station was always part of that because it’s a historical part of our community,” Forconi said. “There used to be more railroad tracks than there are right now. During the heyday of coal and everything, that station was used quite extensively. It’s not that it’s been neglected, it’s just that we haven’t had enough financial resources to get the concept that we have for the future of it in place. This grant is a big start toward that. We got the caboose about 12 to 15 years ago and we want to incorporate it into the whole facility.”
Planned renovations of the train station include railings for improved safety and an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramp for better accessibility, Forconi said.
“There is no easy way to get up to the platforms and it’s starting to show its age,” he said. “It needs either repainting or siding, some new doors, and some work on the roof.”
The train station hosts a visit from Santa each winter and previously served as the venue for other community events, including a farmers market, Halloween festivities and a chicken barbecue, MacCallum said. Borough officials hope to see the station transformed into a community hub serving multiple public purposes once renovations are complete.
“The committee people are still talking about bringing some of that stuff back and maybe some other holiday events,” MacCallum said.