Springfield Big Four Depot was a passenger train station in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

, built and operated by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, commonly referred to as the "Big Four Railroad." Construction on the station began on November 22, 1909, and it opened for service in 1911. The brick structure was located at 202 Washington Street and Spring Street, east of the Big Four's previous station on the south side of Washington Street. The Big Four had been acquired by the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

in 1906 but operated independently until it was fully absorbed into its parent railroad's operations in 1930. Many politicians, such as

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

in his 1968 presidential campaign, made campaign stops at the station.

Passenger trains

In 1924, an average of 3,000 freight cars and 40 passenger and express trains passed through the depot each day. By 1926, the station was accommodating 26 passenger trains a day. Two years later, the depot was being used by 123,000 passengers. In 1947, in the postwar period, the station remained busy, with New York Central trains bound in multiple directions: *Cincinnati-Columbus-Cleveland route: the ''Cleveland Special,'' ''Midnight Special,'' ''New York Special'' (section connecting with main part of the New York-bound train in Cleveland), ''

Ohio State Limited The ''Ohio State Limited'' was a United States named passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad (NYC) between New York City and Cincinnati, Ohio, via Buffalo and Cleveland, Ohio. Service began in 1924 and continued until 1967, wi ...

'' (bound for New York after Cleveland), ''Water Level Route'' (section connecting with main part of the New York-bound train in Cleveland), plus a six-day-a-week unnamed train and two daily unnamed trains on the same route. *Cincinnati-Toledo-Detroit route: ''Michigan Special'' and a New York Central extension of the ''

Ponce de Leon Ponce may refer to: *Ponce (surname) *Ponce (streamer) (born 1991), French streamer *Ponce, Puerto Rico, a city in Puerto Rico ** Ponce High School ** Ponce massacre, 1937 * USS ''Ponce'', several ships of the US Navy *Manuel Ponce, a Mexican comp ...

'' (Florida - Cincinnati) *Indianapolis-Springfield route: local unnamed motor train service, six days a week

Decline

The last trains on the Detroit-Cincinnati route, ''Michigan Special'' (northbound) and ''Ohio Special'' (southbound), made their final runs in 1958. In 1967, the ''Ohio State Limited'' had its final run, as did the ''Night Special,'' both on the Cincinnati-Cleveland route. The New York Central sustained a local unnamed remnant of the ''Ohio State Limited'' on the Cincinnati-Cleveland route. The

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

(formed from the New York Central-Pennsylvania Railroad merger) carried on this service in the final year of the station's existence. The Big Four Depot was demolished in February 1969 to make way for the Spring Street bridge that carries State Route 72's bypass. The Penn Central reduced trains for the final months of service through Springfield to a Cincinnati-Columbus train, as a feeder to a Columbus connection with the St. Louis-New York ''

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that Charles Lindbergh flew on May 20–21, 1927, on the Charles Lindbergh#New York–Paris flight ...

'' The last trains through Springfield ran on April 30, 1971.Passenger trains operating on the eve of Amtrak http://ctr.trains.com/~/media/import/files/pdf/f/7/7/passenger_trains_operating_on_the_eve_of_amtrak.pdf

References

{{Coord, 39, 55, 18, N, 83, 48, 25, W, region:US-OH, display=title Railway stations in the United States opened in 1911 Former New York Central Railroad stations Former railway stations in Ohio Buildings and structures in Springfield, Ohio