Xenia Station, located at 150 Miami Avenue in

Xenia Xenia may refer to: People * Xenia (name), a feminine given name; includes a list of people with this name Places United States ''listed alphabetically by state'' * Xenia, Illinois, a village in Clay County ** Xenia Township, Clay County, Il ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, is a

replica A replica is an exact (usually 1:1 in scale) copy or remake of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without ...

of Xenia's 1880s brick

railroad station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...

. Built in 1998 by the city of Xenia, Xenia Station houses a local history museum, a classroom/meeting space and an observation tower called the Hub Lookout. Xenia Station is the hub for 5 regional

rail trails A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corridor with active railways, lig ...

, two of which are segments of the unfinished Ohio to Erie Trail, which will run from

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

.Miami Valley Bike Trails - Xenia Station
City of Xenia site for Xenia Station
/ref>

Facilities

Xenia Station was designed b
Schooley Caldwell Architects
in 1998 and custom built for the city of Xenia by a local contractor
/ref> and is located on a city park of the same name, which has play equipment, picnic tables, a picnic shelter, nature areas, a splash pad, a caboose and off-street parking. The site is the former PRR freight yards. The building's first floor houses a local history museum which includes railroad memorabilia while the second floor has a classroom/meeting space. Xenia Station is also the hub for 5 regional

, two of which are segments of the unfinished Ohio to Erie Trail, which will run from Cincinnati to Cleveland. In addition to the museum and classroom/meeting space, the building also has restrooms, vending machines and water for the bicyclists, hikers and others who use the park. It also has a large map of the rail trails and the Hub Lookout, which is a tower accessible by spiral staircase that provides a panoramic view of the rail trails.

Railroad history

As late as 1960, Xenia had three rail lines running through it, as follows: * The Baltimore & Ohio Wellston subdivision, which ran between Washington Court House and

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

; * The

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

's (PRR) Little Miami branch, between Cincinnati and Springfield: and * The PRR's Pittsburgh to St. Louis mainline.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

utilized this line for the '' National Limited'' until 1979. All three route saw diminished usage by the early 1980s: each was eventually abandoned and dismantled. PRR's Pittsburgh-St. Louis mainline, owned by

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

after 1976, remained intact until the late 1980s.

Rail trails

The crossing of the three railroad lines created six spokes on a wheel with Xenia Station in the center. Of these six spokes, five have been converted for interim

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

use. The one exception was the B&O line west to Dayton which did not become a trail because it closely paralleled the PRR line to Dayton. Clockwise from the north, the five trails are:

North

The northern branch of the Little Miami Scenic Trail runs from Xenia to Yellow Springs and on to Springfield. This is the former PRR line to Springfield.

Northeast

The Prairie Grass Trail (a part of the Ohio to Erie Trail) runs from Xenia to Cedarville and to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and beyond. Former PRR Pittsburgh-St. Louis mainline east to London and Columbus.

East

The Xenia-Jamestown Connector will run from Xenia to Jamestown and beyond, but there is now a short gap from Xenia Station to Jasper Road. Former B&O Wellston Subdivision to Chillicothe and Wellston.

South

The southern branch of the Little Miami Scenic Trail is a part of the Ohio to Erie Trail and runs from Xenia to Milford and beyond. Former PRR line to Cincinnati.

West

The Creekside Trail, known as the Creekside Recreation Trail in Montgomery County, runs from Xenia to

. Former PRR Pittsburgh-St. Louis mainline to Dayton.

References

External links

Miami Valley Bike Trails - Xenia Station

- includes Xenia Station

City of Xenia list of parks including Xenia Station

City of Xenia gallery for Xenia Station
{{coord, 39.680270, -83.931345, display=title Xenia, Ohio Museums in Greene County, Ohio Buildings and structures in Greene County, Ohio History museums in Ohio