A gift isn't necessarily something new.

And it's often not even a thing at all, but a person.That's the situation in one Carbon County town, where a resident's mere presence is cherished like a gift because of the way he gives back.Weatherly native Jack Koehler, 88, began collecting historical artifacts of the Lehigh Valley Railroad decades ago. They're showcased in a repository at the center of town.The new Weatherly Area Community Museum at the Train Works was formerly an accessory building of the local Lehigh Valley Railroad complex, a place where, a century ago, 300 trains a day chugged through town.The 4-acre site opened in 2013 thanks to dedication of folks like Koehler and the Weatherly Rotary Foundation.The museum occupies one of three structures on the complex, which was first a locomotive construction shop, and then, after the turn of the last century, the Weatherly Steel Co. until 1980, when it was abandoned.It's now the public place where Koehler displays much of his collection.Early startThe LVRR was the rail line of the town, and Koehler was intrigued about it because many of his family members worked there."I started about 1942," he says. "I collected railroad and Weatherly."After graduation from Weatherly High School in 1945, Koehler was drafted into World War II and trained for the invasion of Japan.At the time, Koehler's dream was to come home and work for the railroad, to follow in his ancestors' footsteps.But many times our dreams and our reality don't mesh.When Koehler came home from the war, there were so many veterans vying for available jobs that the railroad wasn't hiring.Koehler was forced to shift plans and accept a job with the U.S. Postal Service in 1955.All along, he enjoyed collecting railroad memorabilia.His passion for all things Weatherly intensified after a death in the family.Koehler was looking through items stored in the house of his late uncle, Harry Yeide, a master baker, and discovered a gold-trimmed Weatherly graduation card from 1892. It carried eight names, including Lottie White, Koehler's great-aunt.This find motivated Koehler to rediscover his hometown and to collect and save its curiosities.His school-related memorabilia and a touch of everything else is on display inside the museum at the old Weatherly Steel Co. site, previously the 1867 Lehigh Valley Railroad Machine Shops, a place where locomotives were built."This building was a dispatch office," says Koehler, showing a bay area where a foreman could keep watch on trains passing through.The museum showcases businesses and industries that defined the early industrial town.Private handsFor many years, much of the collection was inside the Koehler house because it was private and represented the fruits of his hobby.In fact, Koehler and his wife, the former Esther M. Romig, converted bedrooms to dens and filled them with his "junque."Esther was his soulmate in every way, sharing in proud Weatherly lineage. She was an eighth-generation descendant of Benjamin Romig, who founded Weatherly in 1825.Sadly, Esther passed away on March 17, 2008, age 78, after a courageous, four-year battle with breast cancer.Since then, Koehler perseveres, driven by a desire to make artifacts of Weatherly's greatness accessible to others, helped by close friends."I give him a hand and I keep an eye on him," says a smiling John Weigand of Weatherly.Koehler and Weigand were part of an attempt to establish what would've been the Weatherly Historical Society.But as in many small towns, the younger generation has other things to do. Plans fell apart. As a result, the work is left to the older generation."Everybody loses interest," says Weigand.And so the best-laid plans for an official historical society have fizzled.But that's OK, because there's always Jack Koehler. He'll never fizzle.CherishedKoehler's collection of railroad books and documentation forms a valuable reference library, attracting researchers from throughout the region."My father used to go for coal," says visitor Joe Reba of McAdoo, on hand to look into vintage railroad dispatch logs.Others describe Koehler as the ultimate gift to the town."He's irreplaceable," says Weatherly native Janette Bontempo, now of Oklahoma City."He's a plethora of information on just about anything all through the years."One of Koehler's most prized items, he says, is a Beaver Meadow Railroad Conductors Report dated 1854.Another is the 1887 conductor's box once owned by Frank Casler."His father, Jake Casler, was a railroad engineer," says Koehler.There are so many details, so much history and culture to be shared. Yet so little time.We're here only for visit, and we need to make the most of it.On April 16, Koehler will turn 89.His goal to is continue to give freely of his time and spirit for the benefit of Weatherly's future.And, because of that, the people of Weatherly say Koehler is cherished beyond words.His knowledge and generosity are making a difference.Through his work, people of Weatherly more fully understand their past and their present.They rely on his mementos, his flawless record-keeping and valuable interpretation.Jack Koehler, they say, has met the measure and is Weatherly's treasure.And residents of Weatherly know it.