My Town Monday: Take a Ride on the Wild Side

By fromskilledhands ( June 1, 2008 at 7:31 pm) · Filed under Community, Cuyahoga Valley, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, Giveaway, Home, My Town Monday, Peninsula, Peninsula Python, Traveling

Today’s post is a short one—the beautiful weather and the garden have been calling my name. For the record, the garden is planted, except for a couple of Roma tomato plants.

The history of trains in the Cuyahoga Valley goes back a long time. In 1869, Akron businessman David King lobbied the state legislature to build the Akron and Canton Railroad. The Valley Railway was completed and began operations in 1880; it transported coal to Cleveland, Akron and Canton from the Tuscarawas Valley, and provided passenger service along the way. In 1890, the Valley Railway became part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Owned by the Chessie System, the Cuyahoga Valley Line was incorporated in 1972 by the nonprofit Cuyahoga Valley Preservation & Scenic Railway Assn., a group of private citizens interested in preserving the memory of steam railroading. The train is now known as the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

Today, the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad offers many wonderful events and excursions.

My Town Monday is the brainchild of Chief Marauder Travis Erwin. Take a trip on over there and see what else you can learn about towns hither and yon.

Keep those cards and letters coming! Post a comment and I’ll enter you into this week’s Peninsula Giveaway. Last week’s Peninsula Python Posse winner was Sam.

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17 comments »

Travis Erwin said,

June 1, 2008 @ 10:32 pm

Amarillo owes it’s existence to the railroad. They sure could make or break a town in the early days.

Mary Witzl said,

June 2, 2008 @ 6:15 am

My grandfather homesteaded in Kansas with my great-grandfather just before the turn of the century. He left a hastily-written memoir for his family, and one of the stories in it is of the huge competition between western towns for the railroad. Travis is right: the towns that managed to get the railroad to pass through them were the towns that made it.

Linda / Lyndi said,

June 2, 2008 @ 1:49 pm

The railroads helped to build this country. What a shame the system has been allowed to decline to such a shell of itself.

Old steam trains are fun to ride. The Cuyahoga Valley train sounds like a fun trip and the scenery looks beautiful. Thanks for telling us about it.

Linda

PS I went to Book Expo America over the weekend, so I won’t have a My Town Monday post this week. Hoping to have a BEA post up later today though.

Cathy said,

June 2, 2008 @ 1:59 pm

I’m hoping trains are going to make a big comeback! Maybe we can take one from Boston to Peninsula! Anyway it would be so good for the planet if we all left our cars at home and jumped on a train again.

lizzy said,

June 2, 2008 @ 2:19 pm

I am from a long line of train drivers, from way back when the train drivers were the computer programmers of today!!!I think they are vital and underused.

Terrie Farley Moran said,

June 2, 2008 @ 2:59 pm

The “take a ride on the wild side link’ is mesmorizing and the music is fantastic!

Thanks so much.

Terrie

Patti Abbott said,

June 2, 2008 @ 5:05 pm

Is it me or does this seem like paradise?

Mary Nix said,

June 2, 2008 @ 6:48 pm

I can see the original Olmsted Falls train depot from my dining room window.

My great grandfather was a life long train man. I can still remember the long, lonesome whistle of the engine that slowly went by in his honor at his graveside service.

I love trains and agree in the hope that they will return. It is a wonderful way to travel.

Mary

Eryl Shields said,

June 2, 2008 @ 7:42 pm

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad looks great. I love trains, when I was a teenager I used to jump on the train to London (England) as often as I could, so trains smell of freedom to me. I’d love to do a really huge, long train journey.

Barbara Martin said,

June 2, 2008 @ 9:04 pm

My grandfather used the railroad to ship his prize hogs to the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto from Wetaskiwin, Alberta.

Cathy, I agree with you. Trains would be better than cars.

Debbielou said,

June 3, 2008 @ 5:58 am

There’s something quite nice about travelling on a train – when you’re not in a rush that is.

fromskilledhands said,

June 3, 2008 @ 11:54 am

Thanks for all your comments. I’ll draw the name of the next Peninsula Python Posse member on Friday.

Trains are such an important part of history. It will be interesting to see if they will resume their rightful place in history with fuel prices so high.

I loved taking the train from Cleveland,Ohio to NYC when I visited my daughter in April. I would love to take a train across the US and return across Canada.

When my kids were littles, the train was still a steam engine, and it was l-o-u-d. We’d race to close the door to our studio, and move the sleeping babies to the back room.

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic RR has grown quite a bit, and is adding all kinds of trips. It’s pretty cool stuff.