By: Stan Jordan
The other day young Mr. Godeke came into the office and we sure had an enjoyable conversation.
Since our first visit, he has gone to college and got his degree, and now he is talking to a school in Grand Rapids, MI and to Ohio Northern about furthering his education.
He has done lots of research on the railroad system in Ohio, old and new. It is all history and very interesting.
A little over 7 years ago, in the August 1, 2012 edition of the West Bend News. Stan discussed the railroad between Antwerp and Paulding that never was. It was assumed that the route was devised by a man named `Jim’ Fitzsimmons for service to his various mills in the area. Recently, I may have just solved the mystery by mindlessly reading about Ohio’s Road of Service; the Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad on American-Rails.com. While this road did not exist in the time our little railroad would have been built. One of the roads it would acquire assets from would be the Northern Ohio Railway, whose history directly ties to where our journey begins. According to Dr. George Hilton’s book, “American Narrow Gauge Railroads,” it began as the Cleveland, Delphos & St. Louis organized on March 7, 1881. This project was promoted by James Callery, William Semple, Joseph Boehme•, and Dr. Carey Evans to build an expansive and far-reaching narrow-gauge system. The Cleveland, Delphos & St. Louis was to work in conjunction with the Toledo, Cincinnati & St. Louis in opening a through route from Toledo to East St. Louis, head further east to Cleveland, and finally handle coal and iron out of Southwestern Ohio. The Cleveland, Delphos & St. Louis was tasked with reaching Cleveland and would branch from the Toledo, Cincinnati & St. Louis at Delphos, running via Findlay and Medina. The group also planned two additional extensions, one from Medina to a connection with the Pittsburgh & Western and another from Columbus Grove to Antwerp, Ohio where an interchange would be established with the Wabash Railroad. Much like most grandiose schemes they had little long term success with any of these projects; the Antwerp, and Pittsburgh & Western extensions were organized but never built. When the people at American-Rails.com say organized, they likely mean the Antwerp & Paulding, along with the Antwerp & Puckerbush. Finally providing the story to a mystery that has followed me through the decade. Assuming the connections were completed, the railroad would have run from Columbus Grove, Ohio and probably through the towns of Kalida, Cloverdale, somewhere between Melrose and Latty, Paulding, and finally arriving at Antwerp. One can only imagine how this would have changed the railroading landscape of the area, as both the Wabash and AC&Y would come under the banner of the Norfolk & Western.
I’d like to thank Terry Howarth for providing that map all those years ago which sparked this journey. Stan Jordan who first wrote of the subject, and American-Rails.com for being an outstanding source of railroad history. Without it, I would have likely never figured out the reason for Antwerp’s ghost railroad.
See ya!
THE EAGLES
By: Stan Jordan
At lunch today, one of the fellows was telling about the eagles he saw. He was traveling on the River Road west up close to the old Henry Donell Farm and he saw a carcass of a deer on the side of the road and there were seven eagles around it, there was some adults and some young eagles. We all discussed the fact that they were probably all kin, cause they seemed to eat in peace.
We all talked about the fact that Chris Walters caught a couple small beavers up on the Maumee in the Mike Culler area. I also heard that one of our hunters caught two badgers, of course, he turned them back into the wild.
We all agreed that the eagles are doing well.
See ya!
AHS BASKETBALL
By: Stan Jordan
This is Monday, the 23rd of December and I just found out that the varsity basketball team has started with a 6 – 0 record.
I am very proud of you boys. It’s been a long time since we started out with a good record like this.
I guess it was back when the Hormann boys were playing and I see by my Antwerp High School book that they are assisting with the coaching and I’m sure that is a help.
All I can say is: Keep up the good work. I hope you can go all the way.
This is January 2, 2020 and the boys won the SR 49 Tournament.
See ya!
