January 26, 1977
Picture: B&O passenger train of the era when Potluck editor was a boy and selling papers at the train stations in Fostoria.
WHEN THE TRAINS WHISTLE
A train whistle, whether it be in the day, or a far away sound in the dead of night, always provokes memories for me. I guess because trains have been so close to me all my life.
Up to the time I was six, I lived just a stones-throw away from the B&O and Nickel Plate tracks in the south end of town. Then for another 18 years I lived close to the old New York Central and C & O (then known as Hocking Valley Line, at the east edge of town.) And of course the L.E. & W (Lake Erie & Western) was nearby too. It was often called the “leave early and walk”.
Some of my reading audience may remember like I do, the “excursion” trains that ran on the L.E. & W. line to Cedar Point. The run started at Ft. Wayne and ended at Sandusky, where the rest of the trip to the Point was made by passenger boat. The train carried 8 or 10 cars and was usually filled.
Cedar Point was as popular then as it is today. The main attractions was the clean, sand beach, but the roller coaster and fun house were popular too. They didn’t have the sophisticated amusements that are there today.
As a lad I met most of the daytime passenger trains that came into Fostoria, selling newspapers of that day – Cleveland Plain Dealer and Cleveland News Leader; Toledo News Bee; and Cincinnati Enquirer. The traveling men who rode the trains were always anxious to get the latest news and tipped heavily.
Cecil Hall, a friend of mine, peddled freshly popped corn to the same trains, and usually made a “killing”. Anyway to make a – I was about to say buck – but, no it should be “a little extra change”.
Forty car freight trains were long ones then. With the advent of the big “iron horse”, and later the diesels, the trains grew to 100 cars or more.
Fostoria was known as a railroad center when the railroad business was at its height. There were five major lines running both freight and passenger cars through Fostoria and an average of 100 trains passed through here daily.
When I left The Review Times and started working for Fostoria Pressed Steel (now Fostoria Industries), the trains were my favorite mode of transportation. They always got you there, in comfort and had good sleeping accommodations and good food.
Twenty-five years ago, you could ride the trains north, south, east, west out of Fostoria, for Cincinnati, New York, Chicago, Detroit, with connections for about any place in the U.S. It was possible to take an early morning train to Chicago getting there by mid-morning, transact your business and return on a late afternoon train the same day.
Or, you could leave here on a late afternoon train and arrive in New York early the next morning, leaving enough time to transact a full day of business and return on a night train.
The passenger train 25 years ago were excellent, as was the service. The train crews should be remembered and honored for their service today, as well as then.
The C & O Sportsman was deluxe. What a beautiful ride it provided from Fostoria to Chicago. Both were excellent, but the Capitol was the best and fastest. Dee Harrison, whom many readers will remember rode the B & O consistently to Chicago and return. We often rode in the clud-car together and sometimes had breakfast or dinner.
The Nickle Plate had a very good passenger train to Hoboken, N.J. where you could get the ferry boat, to complete the trip to New York City. The Nickle Plate ended its run in Buffalo, but switched the New York cars to the Lackawanna.
I’m not sure Fostoria and Fostorians have always appreciated the revenue and overall contribution the railroads have made to the city. We never appreciate the good things until they are gone. It’s too late now.