Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in the American Midwest, including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Kansas. For questions specific to a railroad company, please seek the appropriate forum.
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in the American Midwest, including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Kansas. For questions specific to a railroad company, please seek the appropriate forum.
Did that 1974 tornado really have big effect on the decline of rail activity in Xenia? Besides the PC freight that was knocked down, I have heard something about the yard facilities being damaged and that contributed to the downfall.
The 1974 tornado had no major effect upon rail freight service in Xenia. Rail freight usage here was already in gradual decline. The Penn Central ex-PRR yards (what was left of them anyway) were not in the path of the tornado. Other than a couple of sidings, freight house and team tracks, B&O had no "yard" here, ever. There was minor wind damage to "Greene" tower where the PC Xenia-Cincinnati line crossed the ex-B&O Wellston Subdivision. Repairs were made and the tower reopened. The Kroehler Furniture plant west of downtown was destroyed by the tornado. Kroehler elected not to rebuild in Xenia and thus PC did lose one rail freight shipper due to the storm.
Tom Pulsifer wrote:George Elwood's plan to save the line between Clement, Xenia and London was ambitious, even including passenger excursions and a dinner-train; but by 1984 the remaining on-line freight traffic base had eroded to the point that even if he, or anyone else, had managed to purchase and save the line, the cost of operations and maintenance would have been prohibitive.
Regarding a good map of Xenia's trackage: James H. Shell's well-illustrated book Next Stop! XENIA has a "centerfold" map showing all tracks at the height of "the railroad era" here. A separate print of this well-done and carefully researched map is also available... both from the Greene County Historical Society, 74 W. Church St., Xenia, OH 45385. Ph. 937-372-4606. Another local publication, Train Times, has a "centerfold" map of all the railroad and traction lines that ever served Greene County, Ohio. The GCHS has put in much time, support, and volunteer effort over the past 15 years to document and tell the story of the railroads that are now sadly gone.[/b]
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Tom Pulsifer
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Xenia, Ohio
by MR77100
Well at least the town is trying to preserve the memory of its railroad history. I'm sure they are very unhappy about losing all their tracks. The whole situation is depressing. My father and I were in Xenia in the spring of 2001, and we saw ROW's all over the place! It's amazing at what this town once had and how much it has lost.
Tom,there are several Xeina maps at the Geo.Ellwood site in the PRR and Conrail sections
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Sun Apr 11, 2004 9:13 pm
by RailMike
The infamous Xenia tornado was on April 3, 1974, which was Easter Sunday that year. That means it's been just about 30 years. Too bad Conrail and Chessie had to get rid of what the twister left behind. At least the town has some nice bike trails.
What's the story with the fifth (pardon the pun) bicycle spoke -- the B&O line from Xenia to Jamestown? It appears that when the US-35 bypass was built east of the city in the early 1990s, no grade separation or culvert was built for the B&O right-of-way, since by then it had been abandoned for 8... 9 years. Will there be a new bicycle bridge over the freeway? Or will cyclists have to pedal to the nearest highway overpass and cross there.
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RailMike
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Washington, DC
by 262
I have seen several references to,(Lebenon Junction) as a place where the B&O Dayton and Wellston and PRR may have had a connection near Xeina.The info in Hobo's Guide site says both lines were under the control of The CH&D at one time.The newest reference I have found is from an NTSB accident report,that tells of a steam locomotive powered freight on the B&O had a grade crossing collission with a truck in the 1950s at US35 the to nearest points sited in the report were Dayton,and Lebenon Jct.Where was Lebenon Junction?
Lebanon Junction is (was) actually in Montgomery County, much closer to Dayton. The Cincinnati, Lebanon & Northern connected with the CH&D (B&O) here until the early 1900s when their own line was extended north a mile or so to Clement Yard on the PRR Dayton-Xenia mainline. The CH&D and PRR were always grade-separated just east of Clement, locally known as Barr's Station on the B&O, and that is where the accident happened at the old US35 crossing. The CL&N and CH&D tracks ran parallel between Lebanon Junction and Barr's Station. Nothing left today where Lebanon Junction was (just west of Woodman Drive where the Wellston Subdivision crossed). The former CL&N track is still there and still used by NS to access the large Delphi plant in Kettering.
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Tom Pulsifer
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Xenia, Ohio
by 262
Thank you Tom,I spent many a childhood day watching freights on that B&O line,playing in the woods by Lilly Creek.Then walking the ROW to Easttown watching the Alco switchers at Clement and the maroone E units pulling passengers.
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Sun Apr 11, 2004 9:13 pm
by brokenrail
Thanks for all the information on Xenia and area. My interest is renewed as I just found out a member of my local NRHS chapter lived in Yellow Springs in the '50's as I did in the '70's. He remembers the PRR running from Xenia to Springfield and I remember the PC running south from Springfield to Yellow Springs with the line to Xenia abandoned. I mentioned that I had heard (probably on this forum) that the PRR had abandoned Xenia-YS before the merger (1967 was mentioned on this thread) and operated the line from Springfield with an isolated job. I speculated that the PRR took this unusual step because of the pending merger which would leave the PC (PRR) branch operating out of a PC (NYC) terminal (Springfield).
Did the PRR operate from Springfield? For how long (1967-1968?) Did they taxi a PRR crew from Xenia? Was the power/caboose PRR or did they borrow NYC power? And was the operation down to once weekly that early or more frequent? If once weekly and PRR power used, did this power deadhead over from Dayton prior to the jaunt down the line?
Thanks in advance for answers.
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brokenrail
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Thu Sep 02, 2004 6:00 pm
by catfoodflambe
I understand that the Pennsy would alternately run a crew Xenia-South Charleston/DT&I-Springfield/PRR, work to YS, return to Springfield, and then leave the unit there. They'd then ferry crews over the road until the unit needed fuel or service. If power got tight, they would run the unit back to Xenia each trip, especially if no traffic was expected for a couple of days.
I wonder if the crew got two - or even three - days pay for making the round trip?
I'm sure this was a stopgap measure in anticipation of the PC merger.
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catfoodflambe
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Sat Mar 13, 2004 5:54 pm
by MR77100
What customer did the PRR Little Miami line serve in Yellow Springs? Also, when were the tracks cut back to Springfield?
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MR77100
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by MR77100
Does anyone know when the last B&O train ran through Xenia?