#605 in Circleville, Ohio

[NW Mailing List]

Hi everyone. When talking offline with Mike Rector regarding J’s and multiple bearing crossheads, I was reminded of a photo in my collection that I found on a Facebook group about four years ago (for those of you who are Facebookers, the original post is here <https://www.facebook.com/groups/OldPhotosSoOhio/posts/1690872364279921/?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZVwRU3UFpPRmOoCJXfNCD-0o_C97XGEgSvh0KJ9hb7LkYUhGIAew1pS5sTQvEKKOFSkbZqPD8LskieyW__UJcy5BxJvRhoM-c_9-VelOAxOTM9r6Ugmjc1VyFtjk7HkLTLvpg6hdU4r4Itis-1SoZ60&__tn__=,O*F>.). The image is one of the favorites in my collection due to the location in my family’s hometown of Circleville, Ohio. The find reminded me that some interesting stuff can be found in non-railroad groups.

The photo was shared by a man named John Boylan (for credit purposes), who stated his father took it "around 1950". Photos of passenger trains in Circleville (and the Columbus District more generally) are rare, so I was tickled when I found it. The photo was taken about the same time as passenger service was halved on the Columbus District (and probably the Division as a whole?). My notes from contemporary Circleville Herald articles:

6/24/1950 - Herald, Page 1, article headline: N&W Seeking to Halve Rail Service Here
Trains 35 (Northbound, 10:15pm) and 36 (Southbound, 8:45am) to be discontinued if State Utilities commission approves. Trains 33 (6:41am) and 34 (11:38pm) will remain.

The headline of a follow up article does a nice job summing up the contemporary feelings about trains: “City Council Shrugs off Train Slash”. When the Mayor asked the Council if they wanted to protest the reduction, a councilman responded with “I move we adjourn”. 

I’ve also attached an article from the Circleville Herald describing the last steam-powered passenger train in July, 1958. I found it interesting that that event was considered newsworthy.

Matt Goodman





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