Robby Lefkowitz has been coming to The Station Inn since he was barely five years old, which makes him one of the few members who grew up on the porch.
Home is Charlottesville, Virginia. Robby is working now and heads to law school next fall. Outside of trains, he’s a sports guy: college football and basketball on TV, and on the field he pitched in travel baseball until college before moving to a rec softball team. He also loves photographing sunrise and sunset, and he flies a drone.
He found trains the way a lot of kids do, through Thomas the Tank Engine. Then his dad took him to see the real thing at Horseshoe Curve, and that was that.
First Trip: 2007
In 2007, Robby’s dad reached out to Tom Davis with an unusual request. The Inn had a rule that children under a certain age couldn’t stay. Would Tom make an exception for a five-year-old?
Tom agreed, with one condition: if Robby didn’t behave, he would never be allowed back.
“I guess I did something right,” Robby says. He has come back at least once a year, often many more times, ever since.
In Robby’s Words
Why Trains?
“I got hooked when I was a little kid with Thomas. Once my dad took me out to see real trains at Horseshoe Curve, the rest was history. What I love are the memories that come with being trackside. Whether it’s the annoyance of getting cloud-screwed or the thrill of golden light, all of it makes memories with others that last a lifetime. I will ALWAYS be a PRR, N&W, and C&O guy.”
Why We Come Back
“The quality time with friends and familiar faces, and the nostalgia. There’s nothing better than sitting out on the porch with a drink on a cool summer or fall night, as a heavy eastbound pushes up the mountain.”
Standing Orders
“If I don’t get Vito’s at least twice in a weekend, or three or four times on a longer trip, everyone knows something’s wrong with me. I also always sleep with the windows open, even when it’s cool outside. Unlike some others, I don’t mind being woken up by a heavy overnight coal drag.”
Ask Robby About
Drone photography · Sunrise and sunset shooting · The PRR, N&W, and C&O · College football · Staying at the Inn at age five
