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The source: Railroads in Erie County, Ohio
From: The Centennial History of Erie County, Ohio
By: H. L. Peeke
President of the Firelands Historical Society
Sandusky, Ohio 1925
The report of the Board of Public Works of Ohio, of January 16, 1838, shows the following named railroad companies then chartered and receiving subscriptions by the state to their capital stock: The Ohio Railroad Co., the Monroeville & Sandusky City Railroad Co., the Painesville & Fairport Railroad Co.
The report of the Board of Public Works of Ohio, of January 16, 1838, shows the following named railroad companies then chartered and receiving subscriptions by the state to their capital stock: The Ohio Railroad Co., the Monroeville & Sandusky City Railroad Co., the Painesville & Fairport Railroad Co.The report of the Board of Public Works of Ohio, of January 16, 1838, shows the following named railroad companies then chartered and receiving subscriptions by the state to their capital stock: The Ohio Railroad Co., the Monroeville & Sandusky City Railroad Co., the Painesville & Fairport Railroad Co.The board in its report of February 9, 1838, states that the estimated cost of the Monroeville & Sandusky City Railroad was $56,000, of which the amount the company was entitled to from the state if the work was completed was $18,666, and the amount of credit already loaned was then $14,667.
In addition, the report shows that applications had been made to the board from the following railroad company, of which the plans and estimated cost of each work had been approved by the board as follows:
The Ohio Railroad, estimated cost $1,975,413
Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad, estimated cost $1,200,000
Little Miami, estimated cost $596,060
For these the anticipated loan of credit if they should be completed were:
Ohio Railroad $658,371
Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad $400,000
Little Miami Railroad $198,686
To the Mad River & Lake Erie $100,000 had been paid by special law.
On the 5th of March, 1842, the commissioners of the canal fund, in a special report to the Legislature, stated that the following amounts had been advanced by the state to railroad companies:
Lake Erie & Mad River $270,000
Monroeville & Sandusky City $33,333
Painesville & Fairport $6,182
Ohio Railroad $249,000
Little Miami $115,000
Vermilion & Ashland $44,000
These six were the first railway enterprises in Ohio receiving aid from the state, and four of them crossed portions of the Firelands. The Ohio and the Vermilion & Ashland railroads have only left their scars behind them, traced in long lines of trees felled and spiles driven along their abandoned tracks through the forests.
Had the large sums received and wasted along their whole lines been expended in completing and putting the cars in motion over a part they would have so far resulted in a success. As it was they ended in a total loss to the state and to all involved in their reckless mismanagement. The Monroeville & Sandusky City Railroad was wisely and successfully managed, becoming afterwards the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad, and now operated under lease by the Baltimore & Ohio Company. Throughout its long history it has been of great benefit to the state at large, and especially to this portion of it. The Lake Erie & Mad River Railroad was also successfully completed and is now part of the line extending from Lake Eric to the Ohio River.
The most successful and useful of the present railway lines across the Firelands are those which have been constructed without any Government aid.
The Monroeville & Sandusky City Railroad Company chartered March 9, 1835, and the Mansfield & New Haven Railroad Company chartered March 12, 1836, were united as the Mansfield & Sandusky City Railroad Company, which consolidated with the Columbus & Lake Erie Company (chartered March 12, 1845) on the 23d day of November, 1853, under the name of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad Company, which is still the legal owner of the right of way from Sandusky to Newark, Ohio. On February 13, 1869, to evade the Ohio statute against foreign railroads leasing Ohio railroads, the road was leased to the Central Ohio Railroad Company, the rent being guaranteed by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, which is the owner of substantially all the stock of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad Company. When operated as a horse railroad the rails were made of hardwood, and the road ran through Franklin Street, with a depot in front of the Wayne Hotel on Water Street. The depot of the Baltimore & Ohio Road was for many years in a wooden house on the south side of Market Street, just west of the track of the Baltimore & Ohio until about 1910, when the present modern depot between Market and Washington streets was constructed.
The following account of the old Mansfield & Sandusky Railroad was originally published in the Railroader of August 12, 1882, and found in an old scrap book formerly belonging to Eleutheros Cooke and now in the possession of Fred Frey:
"Thinking perhaps a few lines in regard to railroading in the olden time may interest your younger readers, I will try and give you a few items of the first railroad built in Ohio, the Mansfield & Sandusky City (now The Baltimore & Ohio). When this road was projected the writer was a small boy living at Shelby, now an important point on the road, and he well remembers the first meeting held at the old schoolhouse in the interest of the enterprise. Among the speakers present was a Mr. Purdy of Mansfield, who made the astounding declaration that if the road was built they could start a train from Mansfield in the morning and run it through to Sandusky, forty seven miles in one day, and that the locomotive could haul ten cars, and each car carry one hundred and fifty bushels of wheat, making fifteen hundred bushels of wheat that could be hauled in one train of cars. Everybody was invited to take stock, and everybody did take stock and the work was begun and pushed forward with commendable zeal. The road was laid with strap rail in this wise: First timbers called mudsills, 8 by 12, were imbedded in the ground lengthwise the track, then crossties were laid on these mudsills, the ties were notched over the mudsills, and stringers 4 by 6 inches were laid in the notches and wedged fast. Then another strip 2 by 4 inches called ribbons was spiked to the stringers and the iron rails (somewhat heavier than the ordinary wagontire) was spiked on to the ribbon and the road was completed. Time and space will not permit me to give a full description of the locomotive and cars used on this road. Suffice it to say that the locomotives were not as large as those now in use on our narrow gauge roads, while this road was wider by several inches than our standard gauge. The passenger cars were about one third the size of our present cars. A Mr. Jones was one of the first passenger conductors, and was a man of great pluck and energy as the following will show: One day as Jones was going South near Plymouth his train was ditched. It was a cold stormy day, very muddy, with nearly a foot of snow on top of the mud. They had but lately begun to carry the mail. There was no telegraph and no sleigh nor wagon could get through with the mail. Yet the mail must go. Passengers could wait. So Jones hired a pair of horses, hitched them to a handcar (they had no cattle guards nor bridges in those days), put the mail in the hand car and came on to Shelby. There he hired a fresh team and came to Mansfield. At another time after he got six miles out of Mansfield he remembered he had forgotten the mail. He stopped the train, backed to Mansfield, got the mail and went on his way all right. C. G. Mack, then a mere lad, carried the mail from the depot to the post office for which he received $1.50 a month. Here he received his first lessons in railroading and afterward rose to the position of Superintendent of an important Indiana road."
Upon the ground now occupied by the Wells Fargo Express Company in 1840 was David Campbell's bookstore and the Clarion office. A little east of it was a small railroad turntable, the terminus of the old Sandusky & Monroeville horse railroad. Old Luke Ballard handled the reins. The whistle was a tin horn and the last signal of departure was the crack of Luke's whip. The snakeheads and frowning banks and deep shadows of the deep cut were terrors to the travelers on this great thoroughfare.
Here is a bit of Monroeville history:
The first railroad in this part of the state was operated by horse power, and was built by the Hollisters, grain buyers and distillers, about 1838. It ran from Sandusky to Monroeville along the present right of way of the B. & O. It entered Monroeville near the present Sandusky street railway crossing, coming into the business section down through the park, with terminal in a building that stood on the site of the building now occupied by George J. Haas, on Main street. The building was used as a depot and grain elevator.
A passenger coach accommodating about a dozen people was used, and small box cars hauled grain to the Sandusky market. Returning they were loaded with merchandise for Monroeville merchants.
The cars were driven by horses, sometimes single, and tandem when loads were heavy. The rails were made of 2x4 scantlings on which strap iron was spiked.
Heavy timber and spites were used as a base. There was a large bell in the terminal station which rang half an hour before the departure of a passenger coach.
The Hollisters were wealthy men and erected many buildings in Monroeville, among them the Colonial hotel and the Latham house.
The next railroad was built about 1843 and was operated with a steam engine. Wood was used as fuel, and the train was often stopped in the woods to put on a supply.
The trains made about 15 miles an hour. The road passed through Monroeville on the present right of way of the B. & O. and the depot was located in the Roby warehouse, which was destroyed by fire several years ago; then being occupied by Yingling Bros. Co. as a handle factory.
The annual report of Hon. E. Lane, president of the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Co., for the year ending June 21, 1853, furnished a very interesting historical sketch of that, the second pioneer of Ohio railways in point of operation, but first in organization work of construction.
The company was chartered in January, 1832, and organized February 22nd, following, being the only railway corporation then in existence in Ohio. An experimental line was run and estimates prepared in the fall of 1832 and spring of 1833, and the first annual meeting of stockholders held January 8, 1834. July 6, 1835, James H. Bell commenced his labors as civil engineer and on the 16th of September reported the line between Sandusky and Tiffin located and the grading and bridging under construction.
The ceremony of "breaking ground" at the northern commencement of this road took place at Sandusky, September 17, 1835, and was attended by demonstrations of interest unusual in such cases, and quite without precedent in that connection, it being the first occasion of the kind in the western states. The day was ushered in with a national salute, at that time consisting of twenty four guns. At 11 o'clock a procession was formed in front of the Steamboat (since the Verandah) Hotel, with Gen. W. H. Mills as marshal, assisted by Major White and Captain Kinney. The procession was headed by the Sandusky Rifle Corps and other military; the officers of the Monroeville & Sandusky Railroad, president and directors of the Mad River Road, and the chiefs of the Wyandot Nation from Upper Sandusky.
The point selected for the ceremony was on the East Battery, at the then northeastern boundary of the city, a point on a side of the same opposite to what came to be the terminus of the road. Here the exercises were introduced with prayer by Rev. J. E. Chaplin, then principal of Norwalk Seminary; after which the address was delivered by Hon. Eleutheros Cooke. The most conspicuous personage of the occasion was Gen. Wm. H. Harrison, to whom and to whose military and civil record, Mr. Cooke made prominent reference in his remarks.
At the close of this address, the president of the railroad company with General Harrison, supported by the officers of the company in the presence of the assemblage, proceeded to break ground upon railway line, which act was followed by twenty four guns. This being accomplished, the procession again formed and marched to the Mansion House, where a dinners had barn prepared by the landlord, Mr. Henry Victor. Hon. Isaac A. Mills, of Sandusky, acted as president, with Oran Follett and John Weeden, of Sandusky, and John Fish, of Monroeville, as vice presidents.
The dinner over, the regular toasts were presented, one of which was complimentary to General Harrison, who responded in a speech of some length, in which besides recognizing the importance of the improvement then inaugurated, referred to the early history of Ohio and the wars with which he was so prominently identified.
The means of the company then consisted almost wholly of subscriptions, payable in land. At the session of 1835-36, the Legislature passed what came to be known as the "Pluredon Law," in doing which the credit of the state, to the amount of $200,000, was loaned to this company, and under the same act county subscriptions were obtained, with which means the work was prosecuted under constant embarrassments during the twenty years following the date of the charter, until in 1852, the line was opened from Sandusky to Dayton, a distance of 157 miles. Some idea of what this struggle was may be had when it is known, that it took four years (to 1839) to get the road in operation to Bellevue (fifteen miles), the next thirteen years being spent on the line south of that point.
In common with all American railways at that date, the Mad River first used the flat or strap rail, selecting the lightest known pattern, being two and one half inches wide, five eighths thick and weighing twenty two pounds to the yard, or nineteen tons to the mile. This was supported by continuous wooden sills. So light a structure soon gave way, when heavier flat rails were substituted. Ere long this would not permit the speed demanded by the traveling public to say nothing of the serious peril to passengers and property, arising from what were known as "snake-heads," consisting of the loose ends of rails, which so often came crashing through the bottom of the cars from the track below. To meet this demand, the T rail was supplied, and the bed graveled.
How many Sanduskians remember the old strap rail form of railroad ? Mozart Gallup recalled that when he came to Ohio in 1844 he traveled from Albany to Buffalo on this old type of rail. As Mr. Gallup describes it, the track known as the strap rail was built by laying heavy logs end to end and then fastening to these a flat strip of iron about four inches wide. On this iron strap the wheels of the cars ran. These iron straps warped and bent after but little use and sometimes curved clear up over the top of the wheel in such a way that the wheel was turning inside of the strap instead of above it. On one occasion, on record, one of these iron straps penetrated the floor of the car and carried a lady passenger's hoop skirts with it to the ceiling, causing much amusement and embarrassment.
Judge Lane's report referred with some detail to the matter of change in the route of the road between Sandusky and Tiffin, which was changed from the original location via Bellevue, to the track of what was then known as the Sandusky & Indiana Road, via Clyde. Such change of route was the subject of much discussion at the time, and the cause of much feeling on the part of Bellevue, Republic and other points on the old line. Judge Lane stated that the road by Bellevue traversed the outer edge of a limestone formation, a district abounding in sink holes and nearly destitute of running water, rendering it impracticable to obtain the requisite supply of water. Nor could proper gravel be found on the route. Upon examination of these facts, and the further facts that the route was nearly four miles out of a straight line, the directors sought to ascertain by what means such location could have been made. Engineer Bell's report in 1835 gave his reasons for his preference of route: That the "deep ravines," "immense embankments" and "high bridges," of the straight line would be very expensive, the grading alone costing $200,000, while both grading and bridging on the Bellevue route would be only $71,360, with a maximum grade of eighteen feet to the mile. Another consideration with him consisted in the large donations "of lots" made by the "enterprising proprietors" of Bellevue. To determine how much there was of truth in such comparison of routes by Engineer Bell, the company had a survey made of the straight line, when every position relied upon by him was found to be untrue. It was ascertained that Tiffin was thirty three" miles from Sandusky, and 179 feet above that point, that a road could be constructed between them, scarcely differing from an air line, with a regular grade not exceeding seven feet to the mile, except in crossing the Cleveland and Toledo road at Clyde, where it was fifteen feet for one and one half miles. There were found no streams or ravines or embankments. On the old route, the altitude of Tiffin was reached within fifteen miles of Sandusky, and that compelled to surmount an additional elevation of 132 feet, and descend the same to Tiffin, nearly a total rise of 311, and a descent of 132 feet. According to the equation of lines fixed by books on engineering, the saving of a mile in distance is equal to the saving of $50,000 capital, and a rise of twenty feet equivalent to a mile of level road. Under these rules, it was ascertained that in this case the saving of a straight line over the Bellevue route was equivalent to ten miles in distance, or $500,000 in capital. Judge Lane then said: "It is not for us to conjecture the influence under which the engineer was led to act, but the name of Bellevue is reported to have been selected in compliment to him, and now known, that at that time he himself was one of those 'enterprising proprietors,' whose spirit he commends."
In order to prevent a change of route, citizens of Bellevue obtained an injunction, restraining the company from such action. So important, however, did the company regard matters that a new organization - the Sandusky & Indiana Railroad Company - was provided, under which the Clyde line was built, when it was permanently leased to the Mad River Company, and the old line subsequently abandoned.
Judge Lane's report felicitates the stockholders of the road on the provision of the steamers Mississippi and St. Lawrence, which had "perfected the connection between New York and the Ohio River, and perhaps between New York and Chicago," - a felicitation, which, in common with others based on water competition with the rail in passenger business, was soon doomed to failure. The name of this road was subsequently changed to Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland, and later known as part of the Indiana, Burlington & Western Railway, and now part of the Big Four System.
The suit of Chapman & Harkness vs. The Mad River Railroad Company, for injunction restraining the latter from building or using the new track between Sandusky and Tiffin via Clyde, was decided January 22, 1857. The Supreme Court refused such relief and provided for compensation to plaintiffs for stock subscribed, property depreciated in value, right of way, etc.
The Register of October 21, 1889, prints a part of a pamphlet printed in 1833 entitled "Considerations on the future prospects of the Mad River & Lake Erie railroad." It states:
By an official report printed in the year 1832 it appears that there were transported on the Miami canal down to Cincinnati 97,978 barrels of flour, 19,750 barrels of pork, and 40,425 barrels of whiskey. That canal is only sixty five miles long. Should the whole country between Cincinnati and Sandusky become thickly settled and highly populated and should the whole surplus produce of the immediate country and a share of the Miami canal transportation all be brought into this railroad what must be the quantity and what the value of this produce ? What the quantity and what the value of the goods on return? And what must be the number of passengers on this railroad ?
"At this time the old Mad river road ran into Sandusky on Pearl Street (then called Railroad Street). The engine had no cab and when it rained the engineer stopped the train and went into a convenient farmhouse till the rain was over. The passenger cars had seats along the sides like horse cars and were about the size of a stage coach containing about sixteen passengers. The freight cars were about the size of cars now used in digging coal or cement."
The Register of November 20, 1883, contains the following statement:
"The New York Times of November 6th contains the announcement of the death of William Swinburne, the builder of the first railroad locomotive ever turned out of the famous Paterson, New Jersey, shops. This locomotive was the 'Sandusky' and was built to run on what was then known as the Mad River road (now part of the 'Big Four') which was then the only railroad west of Utica, New York, and was a strap railroad running from Sandusky via Bellevue to Tiffin. The locomotive was placed on the old Jersey railroad on October 6th, 1837, for a trial trip and as it was found to work satisfactorily it was a few days later shipped from Paterson on a scow to New York Bay and from there via the Hudson and canal to Buffalo at which place it was placed aboard the schooner Sandusky commanded by Captain McGee and brought here.
"Captain McGee says the new locomotive had been the talk of the country hereabouts for weeks and every one was curious to see it. When the schooner landed with it here on December 2nd, 1837, McGee found a great crowd of the people in town they having flocked into the city from all parts of the county to get a look at the pioneer locomotive. The late Thomas Hogg for many years a resident of Ottawa County, Ohio, and who had helped build the engine, came up from Buffalo on the schooner and assisted in unloading the locomotive at what is now known as Marsh's dock at the foot of Wayne Street. The Mad River railroad ran along Wayne street at that time and the locomotive after a good deal of hard work was gotten on the track at a point near where the United States Express Company now stands. It was a great day for Sandusky when that engine arrived. Captain McGee tells us that with few exceptions every man in town celebrated the event. Those who did not celebrate were either sick abed or were temperance men and would not."
The Register of November 16, 1887, describes the unloading of the engine 'Sandusky',......
December 2, 1837, and says it was drawn by an ox team on a sled to Knight's blacksmith shop on Columbus Avenues, near where the American Bank now stands, where the blacksmith work was completed, and the engine set up. It was a little larger than the engines now used to haul and operate threshing machines. "The locomotive was housed in a shed at the foot of Lawrence street and was used to haul material while construction was going on. * * * The first train was chartered and ran from Sandusky to Bellevue and return in the fall of 1838. Thomas Hogg was the first engineer; Conrad Poppenbo was the first fireman and Paul Claner was the first wood passer, Charles Higgins was the first conductor. The train consisted of the locomotive 'Sandusky', a small passenger coach and a still smaller freight car. Thomas Hogg was a native of England and for many years after retiring from an engineer's position with the M. R. & L. E. R. R. he held the position of master mechanic of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark R. R., now a part of the B. & O. R. R.
"Conrad Poppenbo was a native of Westphalia, Germany, and after the retirement of Thomas Hogg from the position of engineer, he became the engineer on the Sandusky and Paul Clanor the fireman. Conrad Poppenbo continued to run a locomotive until 1859 when he resigned and moved on a farm near New Riegel, Seneca County, Ohio, where he died in 1882."
The first locomotives in service on the M. R. & L. E. R. R. and the years these engines were put in service were: "Sandusky," 1837; "Lane," 1839; "Wyandot," 1841, and the "Seneca," 1841. Up to 1854 the company put in service 41 locomotives. The early engines were of the two driver type. The "Wyandot," built in 1841, was one of the four driver type. In 1851, the "Sandusky II" was built. This was the first of the six driver types. All of the engines built in this period were given names. For instance, the "Bellevue" was put in service in 1849, the "Fremont" in 1852, the "Huron" in 1852, the "Castalia" in 1852, and the "Clyde" in 1853. Six of the early locomotives were built by the Portland Company works between 1849 and 1852.
The payroll of the M. R. & L. E. R. R., or the Sandusky, Dayton & Cincinnati R. R. as it was later known, in 1861, shows that engineers, for a full month's pay received $67.50. Passenger conductors were paid $60. Freight conductors received $50. Brakemen were paid $30. Firemen received $33.75. Other wages paid were: Foremen, $65; master mechanic, $100, and clerk $50. There was variance in the pay of shop workers. Old payrolls, in the possession of Mr. Harris, show that the road's payroll for May, 1861, as approved by Superintendent Rice, totaled $15,119.26. Sandusky being the important shop point of the line and the terminal of the road, was the greatest beneficiary from the payroll. Train crew men as well as shop workers resided here and their number ran well into the hundreds.
On November 19, 1906, Isaac Coles died. He came to Sandusky in 1848. His first job was to saw six cords of wood for 50 cents for the Townsend House. He later owned a team, and used to tell of hauling cars on the old Mad River road on Water Street that had four wheels and were eight feet long, and would contain twenty five barrels of flour. The boxcars were little larger than a wagon box; there were ten of them to a train, which made eight or ten miles an hour.
The Register of December 10, 1864,
described the luxurious wood train of the Mad River Railroad. This was a train operated to cut down and gather wood to be burned by the old wood burning locomotives. The train seems to have been about half as luxurious as the ordinary work train of a modern road.
The Sandusky Clarion of June 8, 1849, contains the timetable of the Mad River Road announcing the rates of fare to various points.
It is somewhat interesting to observe that at this time butter was worth 10 cents a pound and eggs 6% cents a dozen, and that the present fare to Tiffin is 56 cents and was then $1.50.
The Clarion of May 27, 1848, advertises that it will make the trip from Sandusky to Cincinnati via the Little Miami Railroad in nineteen hours.
On May 20, 1911, Samuel J. Catherman died at the age of ninety three. He designed the reversible seats for passenger cars and invented the idea of the end doors for passenger coaches instead of the side doors used up to that time.
The Junction Railroad was originally organized to connect the railroad between Cleveland and Toledo through Sandusky. Its charter is in the Carnegie Library. On June 28, 1850, a meeting was held to help the road at Euterpean Hall. On November 17, 1850, the contract to build the road was let, and the Clarion of July 8, 1853, describes the laying of the rails on Railroad Street. On July 23, 1853, the first train passed over the rails. On August 4, 1853, the drawbridge on East Washington Street was finished. On September 13, 1853, the first passenger train came through from Cleveland. On August 30, 1853, the first passenger train from Sandusky to Chicago passed through the city. Old residents describe long freight trains passing through the city over Railroad Street at that time.
The Junction Railroad is now part of the Lake Shore System. The following account of the opening of the Northern Division of the Lake Shore Railroad is taken from the Register of March 13, 1872:
"One morning in December, 1858, Conductor O. J. True called 'all aboard for Sandusky' at the station at Port Clinton and gave notice that his train would not return by that route, and those who expected to return that night had better stay home. It was with a feeling of bitterness that the Port Clintonites saw the train depart realizing as they did that they had lost the last chance of making their pleasant little village a metropolis. Not only was Port Clinton sorry, but every station on the route was vexed that the line had been abandoned. Years passed and the line came under the control of live wide awake railroad men who saw the great advantage of the abandoned route over the other one to which favor had been shown. At last it was decided by the great powers of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway that the old northern division route to Toledo should be rebuilt. Every step of the work has been anxiously watched and when it was announced that the track had been laid over Pipe Creek, and had reached the Bay Bridge, every one seemed to think that the bay city would awaken from the lethargy into which she had plunged 14 years ago and would now take her rightful place among the great cities on the great chain of lakes. By the completion of the northern division Sandusky railroad facilities are very much increased, and when the much talked of Wheeling & Lake Erie Road is built nothing ought to prevent us becoming a leading port of export and entry on Lake Erie.
"As before stated the last train over the northern division left Port Clinton 14 years ago. The 12th of March, 1872, will be remembered a long time to the citizens of Port Clinton and Sandusky as opening a new historical era. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon a train consisting of the locomotive 'Vermilion', and a passenger coach left Port Clinton for Sandusky. They came through with only a delay of about twenty minutes at the draw bridge and arrived here shortly after four o'clock. Mr. A. W. Otis, engineer of the Vermillion informed the reporter that the track was in splendid condition all the way, and that the new Bay Bridge is as firm as if it had been built for years. Mr. Otis was the first engineer to drive a locomotive over the re-constructed bridge and feels very much elated over the fact. Quite a number came over from Port Clinton on the train, among whom we noticed Mr. O. J. True, who has superintended the rebuilding of the Bay Bridge. The train left again for Port Clinton about half past five with banners flying."
On November 12, 1891, the first train over the Columbus Short Line left Sandusky, carrying about 400 Sanduskians in eight passenger coaches to Bellevue. Among them was W. T. West, who asserted that he was the only man in the crowd who went to Bellevue on the old Mad River Road on the first train in 1838. The Mad River Road from Sandusky to Tiffin through Bellevue was abandoned in 1853. It was again put in use by the erection of the Columbus Short Line, and was as solid and firm as when first constructed.
The road was absorbed by the Pennsylvania System October 24, 1902.
The Register of January 11, 1899, notes the destruction of the old Mad River freight house which had stood on the dock at the foot of Lawrence Street for nearly fifty years. It was also used by the Lake Shore Railroad when it ran trains along Water Street. Here was where George W. Paine began his railroad career as well as many other men since prominent in the railroad world. The second floor was used for general offices of the Mad River Road and when the C. S. & C. succeeded the Mad River and the I. B. & W. followed it was still the office building. It had been abandoned but a few years before its destruction.
In December, 1892, the new Lake Store depot was finished.
The Lake Erie & Western Railway Company is now a part of the New York Central Railroad System.