Forest Hall store served as a sidetrack for passenger pickup and train turnaround before the U.S. Navy began managing the railroad in 1942 and extended the line to the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. A background picture dates from the 1920s, and the Wood family operated the store until the early 1950s. In 1925, the Farmers' Railroad faced some of the same struggles that had troubled earlier corporate owners. In 1928, heavy rains washed out the tracks three times, and the cost of repairs left the company in debt. Train service was later reduced to two days per week, and local volunteers often worked as station agents to help keep the train running.