OhioRailwayMuseum ex-IllinoisTerminalPCC

The Ohio Railway Museum is a

railway museum A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives ( steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic ...

that was founded in 1948. It is located in Worthington,

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, near

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

, Ohio.

History

Established in 1948 and incorporated August 22, 1950, it is one of the oldest organization involved with the preservation of railroad equipment and railroad history in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

that includes an operating railroad line. The museum was started on the grounds of the former Columbus, Delaware and Marion Railway with the name of "The Central Ohio Railfans Association" and officially changed its name to The Ohio Railway Museum February 17, 1993.

Mission

The Ohio Railway Museum (ORM) is an educational organization dedicated to the preservation and operation of historic railway equipment. A special focus is its collection of historic Ohio Railway equipment and artifacts. The Museum educates the public through operations of historic equipment; special events; publications; and community involvement.

Collection highlights

* Ohio Public Service #21 *

Norfolk & Western The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisi ...

#578 *

Marble Cliff Quarry Co. The Marble Cliff Quarry Co., is located in the community of San Margherita and operated the largest limestone quarry in the United States from its founding in 1913 until its sale in 1985. History In the early 1840s, quarry activities began in ...

#1 *

Kansas City Public Service Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the we ...

#472 * Columbus Street Railway (Columbus & Southern Electric) #703 *

Illinois Terminal Railroad The Illinois Terminal Railroad Company (reporting marks "ITC"), known as the Illinois Traction System until 1937, was a heavy duty interurban electric railroad with extensive passenger and freight business in central and southern Illinois from ...

#450 * Columbus & Southern Ohio Electric #2 *

Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad The Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad, or Y&OR, was one of the smaller interurban railways in the state of Ohio. Along with the Youngstown and Southern Railway, the Y&OR formed a traction link between Youngstown, Ohio and the Ohio River at East ...

#7 *

Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad The Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad (C&LE) was a short-lived electric interurban railway that operated in 1930–1939 Depression-era Ohio and ran between the major cities of Cincinnati, Dayton, Springfield, Columbus, and Toledo. It had a s ...

#119 *

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (officially the GCRTA, but historically and locally referred to as the RTA) is the public transit agency for Cleveland, Ohio, United States and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County. RTA is ...

(RTA) #163 * Columbus, Delaware and Marion Railway #501 * Ohio Public Service #64 (Built As #41) * United States Army Transportation Corps #7178

Collection description

Ohio Public Service #21

Car #21 was the first piece acquired by the Museum in 1947. It was moved to the Museum grounds in 1948. The car is a fine example of wooden interurban car construction as of the 1900-1910 period. It was built by the Niles Car and Manufacturing Company of Niles, Ohio in 1905. It is considered a combination passenger-baggage type interurban. The car is long and weighs 60,500 pounds. It is equipped with four

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...

number 263A motors, one General Electric type K-34D2 controller and one Westinghouse 3817 air compressor. Car #21 and its sister #20 both had a baggage compartment at the front, a smoker section seating 12, and a main passenger section seating 34. The car is single-ended and is operated from the baggage compartment. Also inside the baggage compartment is an early telephone that could be used for communications with the dispatcher by hooking the leads over a phone line strung along the track. The interior of the car is finished in quartered oak, originally with leather seats in the smoking compartment and plush seats in the passenger section. The car is currently listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Norfolk & Western #578

Norfolk and Western 578 is a 4-6-2 "Pacific" E2a steam locomotive built in March 1910 by the

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

's Richmond Works. The full length including the tender is . The weight fully loaded is 285 tons (259 t). The 6 sets of wheels from front to back are two sets of wheels for the pilot truck, 3 sets of wheels for the drivers, and one set of wheels for the trailing truck. The tender has 2 Buckeye steel built 6 wheel trucks each wheel at 33 inches. The full height of the locomotive is The fuel capacity is 26 tons of coal and 18,000 U.S. gallons (68,000 L) of water. This locomotive was donated to the Ohio Railway Museum on Thursday, February 12, 1959 from the Norfolk and Western Railway Company. Norfolk & Western #578 is the last surviving one of 26 E2a locomotives built for the Norfolk and Western Railway Company. Numbers 553-558 were built by the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades ...

while numbers 559-563 were built by the Norfolk & Western shops at Roanoke and numbers 564-579 were built by Alco's Richmond Works. The 4-6-2 designation indicates that there are four wheels in the pilot truck, six driving wheels, and two wheels in the trailing truck. The term "Pacific" was given to this wheel arrangement because it was first used on the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

. The E2a locomotives were first used for mainline passenger service and later for branch line service when replaced by larger equipment. The E2a's could pull up to 8 heavy Pullman passenger cars at 70 miles per hour. Through the years, these locomotives were equipped with various types of tenders. The current tender on #578 is the largest used with any E2a and is originally from a larger

4-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This type of steam locomotive is commonly know ...

"Mountain" type locomotive. It is equipped with a stoker and can be operated with an auxiliary tender for greater range. #578 was assigned to the Scioto division operating into Columbus from 1917 to 1944, and was transferred to the Norton branch from Bluefield, West Virginia to Norton, Virginia, and was retired from service in December 1958 after a 48-year career.

Marble Cliff Quarries #1

This 0-4-0 saddle tank steam locomotive was built in 1924 by the

Vulcan Iron Works Vulcan Iron Works was the name of several iron foundries in both England and the United States during the Industrial Revolution and, in one case, lasting until the mid-20th century. Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and smithery, was a popular n ...

. It is long (6 m) and weighs and has 4 drivers, each measuring in length. It was donated to the museum in 1954 in operating condition after service with the Marble Cliff Quarries Company. It was used by the museum to pull N&W #578 onto the museum property. In 2006, the engine was cosmetically restored and Loaned to The Depot Rail Museum. In 2018 #1 was moved back to the museum property and is on display again.

Kansas City Public Service #472

472 is a 4-wheel DuPont Type C single-truck

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

built in 1900 by the

Brownell Car Company Brownell Car Company was a horsecar and streetcar builder in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded as Brownell and Wight Car Company by Frederick Brownell and Andrew Wight in 1875 as a horsecar builder, and was renamed in 1879. It produc ...

. It is long and seats 24 passengers with a crew of 2. It was donated to the museum in 1956.

Columbus Railway Power and Light #703

703 is a Columbus streetcar built in 1925 by the

G. C. Kuhlman Car Company The G. C. Kuhlman Car Company was a leading American manufacturer of streetcars and interurbans in the early 20th century. Middleton, William D. (1967). ''The Time of the Trolley'', p. 423. Milwaukee: Kalmbach Publishing. . The company was based ...

. It weighs and is long. It seats 48 passengers and 2 crew members. It currently has Canadian Car & Foundry 3550 type trucks with 26 inch diameter wheels. It was donated to the museum in 1962.Street Car 703 is currently under restoration to working order.

Illinois Terminal Railroad #450

450 is a

Presidents' Conference Committee The PCC (Presidents' Conference Committee) is a streetcar (tram) design that was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II it was licensed for use elsewhere in the ...

(PCC) car. Built in 1949 by the

St. Louis Car Company The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, interurbans, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887 to 1974, based in St. Louis, Missouri. History The St. Louis Car Company ...

, it is long and weighs . It was donated to the museum in 1964. It currently runs trips taking visitors up and down the line on the museum's operating DAY. They’re only open one day a week.

References

* Most information above provided from. The Ohio Railway Museum historical archive. * Other information pulled from the official. The Ohio Railway Museum website.

External links

Ohio Railway Museum
{{authority control Museums established in 1948 Railroad museums in Ohio Museums in Franklin County, Ohio Worthington, Ohio 1945 establishments in Ohio