The Track Board

11/27/06

The ORM recently sold a piece of its collection to the Marion Union Station Association (MUSA). Peter White, from MUSA, came down during the Thanksgiving holiday to retrieve it. The track board, which was located in the RPO car, will now be on display in Marion's AC Interlocking Tower where it was originally in operation. The tower was built in 1902 and the AC stands for Atlantic Crossing, a reference to the Atlantic & Great Western railroad, which operated in that area at one time. It was relocated from a site across the tracks from the station and now sits behind the station. It was shortened by one story and its interlocking machine was restored to simulate operational moves. Like the depot, the tower is undergoing a renovation and the track board will help to restore the tower to a more accurate historical condition. The Marion Union Station has served the Hocking Valley, Chicago & Toledo, and 'Big Four' (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St Louis) railroads. In 1904, several of these lines were acquired by the New York Central and in 1968, following the merger with the Pennsylvania RR, operated as the Penn Central. In the 1960's it also served the Erie Lackawanna, which, despite only existing for 16 years, built a state of the art diesel engine repair facility in Marion. These lines now operate under the authority of NS, CSX, and Conrail. Ironically, the Ohio Railway Museum is located on and uses the old right-of-way and rail bed as the Columbus, Delaware & Marion interurban trolley system whose passenger stop in Marion was only three blocks from the depot on Center Street at what is now an Italian restaurant called The Warehouse.

For more information, go to: www.mariononline.com/agencies/MUSA.htm