Roseburg Station in Oregon

On the Road in 2019

A few years ago, Don and I stopped for lunch at an old train station. I love a good building!

It was in October, 2019. We were on a trip from Portland to Sacramento.

McMenamins Chain

We usually go for Mom and Pop places when we travel.  

We avoid chain restaurants, but we're always up for a McMenamins owned hotel or restaurant experience. They rescue old properties!

Southern Pacific Depot

​This is how the town of Roseburg and its train station looked, about 100 years ago. The original was built in 1872. The current building was completed in 1912.

These photos were displayed on the wall, inside the restaurant. That's another reason I like McMenamins owned businesses. They spotlight history.

I like being reminded of the day, when train travel was popular!

I always have lots of questions, when we dine in old restaurants/buildings. It's often hard to get answers from young staff. In McMenamins owned properties, you can count on lots of shared history on the walls.  

Lighting 

You can also count on lots of curious light fixtures. We've experienced 9 of these festive properties, in Oregon and Washington. 

There's always a fun mix of interesting architecture, whimsical art and refurbished antiques.

Walls and Ceiling

In this photo, you can sort of see the original 16-foot vaulted ceiling. The tongue-and-groove fir wainscoting, is also original.

Besides old photographs, I spotted lots of intriguing, train themed artwork on the walls.

Love a Good Bathroom

I love a decorated bathroom. Thumbs up to this painted designs.  

I appreciated the preserved (I assume) stalls and tile. I hate it when historic features are removed. It helped me picture the traveling ladies from a century ago, stopping in to powder their noses! 

​Food

Some of those traveling ladies, kept an eye on Don while he ate his lunch.

The menu was just basic pub food, but we were both satisfied. Don was happy with the curry flavor, in his tuna sandwich. I was happy he shared his fries! 

​​My Aztec Salad had crispy greens and bright-fresh avocado and corn chips. Just the right amount!

It's been over 3.5 years since Don and I enjoyed our sandwich and salad, in the depot. Back in the October of 2019, we didn't know a pandemic was coming in 2020. We didn't know we'd have a grandchild born in Oregon, in 2021.

One More Stop at the Depot!

Little did we know that we would stop on another road trip in 2023. 

This time we were traveling with our daughter and son-in-law and their 2 year old Charlie!  She approved of the crayons!

We had a great little lunch, tucked into a cozy corner, near the old wood-burning stove. Charlie and Don toasted, like they did at pretty much every meal on our drive to Texas! Now this sweet girl and her parents live 2.5 hours from us! Not sure if we'll ever pass through Roseburg again. I'm glad we made this recent stop!
​