Hocking Valley Scenic Railway

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Coordinates: 39°27′35.95″N 82°14′2.32″W / 39.4599861°N 82.2339778°W / 39.4599861; -82.2339778
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Hocking Valley Scenic Railway
standard gauge
LengthApprox. 12 miles (19 km)
Other
Websitehttp://www.hvsry.org/
Route map

Legend
MP
I&OR Logan Subdivision
to
Logan
Franklin Equipment LLC.
Smead Manufacturing Co.
Hocking Valley Concrete Inc.
US 33.svg US 33
Webb Summit
Old Gore
Gore
C&O line
to New Straitsville
Haydenville
Sand Run Jct.
Sawmiller LLC.
Carbon Hill (Scrapped, 1980)
Nelsonville │ Bessemer
Snow Fork Jct.
to New Straitsville
Nelsonville Turn
Hocking River
Hocking Adena Bikeway
Hocking Valley Railroad to Athens
1972-1980 route
This diagram:
Hocking Valley Railway Historic District
Hocking Valley Scenic Railway is located in Ohio
Hocking Valley Scenic Railway
Hocking Valley Scenic Railway is located in the United States
Hocking Valley Scenic Railway
LocationRoughly between Bridge #494 in Logan and Bridge #629 in Nelsonville, Nelsonville, Ohio
Area162.4 acres (65.7 ha)
Built1869 (1869)
ArchitectHocking Valley Railway; Et al.
Architectural styleSecond Empire
NRHP reference No.88000451[1]
Added to NRHPMay 5, 1988

39°27′35.95″N 82°14′2.32″W / 39.4599861°N 82.2339778°W / 39.4599861; -82.2339778 The Hocking Valley Scenic Railway is a non-profit,

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, which was in turn originally Hocking Valley Railway
trackage. The current operation was founded in 1972.

General Information

Most of the trackage used by the railway is known as the Hocking Valley Railway Historic District, and has been placed on the

Lake Superior & Ishpeming in 1916, and operated over the former Monday Creek Branch to Carbon Hill. Today, the tourist trains operate along the former C&O Armitage Subdivision between Nelsonville and a point just east of Logan, Ohio
.

History

1864 to 1930

The current route's origins can be traced to April 1864, when the

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway merged the railroad into its system to create the Hocking Division.[2]

C&O Years

Passenger service was eventually discontinued on December 31, 1949. By this point, the coal business was fading south of Columbus, and the C&O was busy operating many trains on the Columbus-Toledo portion (which connected to the C&O's mainline through [West Virginia] with the Lake Erie). Over time, freight business was down to a single branch line local train, the "Nelsonville Turn", which finally was discontinued around 1980.[2]

Starting Out: Laying the Foundation

By this time, the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway had been operating over seven miles of the old Monday Creek Branch to Carbon Hill from Nelsonville since 1972. The HVSR had been created by three men: Frank L. McCauley, Ted Goodman, and Jerry Ballard. It was initially to be the "Salt Creek" railroad, as they had intentions of purchasing the abandoned Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad line that operated into Wellston, Ohio. During this time, they had managed to purchase three former Erie Railroad commuter coaches, piecing together two of them to be able to transport passengers. However, before details of the railroad line itself could be finalized, a scrapper had bought the line for salvage. But just in time, they were notified of the Monday Creek line and its impending scrapping. This they were able to purchase before it was too late, purchasing it from the scrapper himself. Before all of this, however, they had already purchased a steam locomotive in 1965, former Lake Superior and Ishpeming 2-8-0 No. 33 and were working on its restoration at the C&O's Yard A in Columbus.[3]

Monday Creek and the 1970s

The first "station" of the Hocking Valley Scenic was a tarp stretched across four poles. Later on, a small building was donated. Eventually, the final structure used as a depot on the same site (near the intersection of State Route 691 and U.S. 33) was an original Hocking Valley Railway

train order office originally located in Lancaster, Ohio at the crossing of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the HV. During the early 1970s, once the season was completed for the year, the 33 would be moved to the C&O's Parson Yard roundhouse during the winter for storage and maintenance. It wouldn't be until 1976 that the locomotive would be kept in the HVSR's own (first) engine house in Nelsonville. This engine house was constructed by Bonanza Polebarn Company. Tracks were laid to the structure by the HVSR's own volunteers, with the assistance of a C&O surveyor. The work was done between 1975 and 1976, and was the first new track installed by HVSR crews and the first indoor shop facility owned by the railroad. Materials for the track to the shop were donated, coming from a spur in Logan. The early years were rough financially, and in order to make a bank payment, the "Lost Run spur" was scrapped to keep up. It was also during the late 1970s that the HVSR's Santa Claus trains began operating.[4][5]

Transition Years: The 1980s

Starting around 1980, the Hocking Valley Scenic began moving operations toward Athens. This was a time of transition between the Monday Creek and the former C&O Armitage Subdivision remnant south of Nelsonville. Trains were operated from the old Monday Creek station site, backed to the main line, and then operated round trip south to Glen Ebon. However, the HVSR trains never made it to Athens before the focus shifted north. Trains began using the present station site at 33 West Canal Street, which is near the original passenger station and freight house sites (both already razed), in 1981. At the end of 1981, the railroad's first diesel arrived, former U.S. Army 45-ton switcher No. 7318. The present depot, based on a Hocking Valley prototype once located in

Rising Sun, Ohio, was constructed in 1982. Architect Ted Goodman designed the structure, with funding and land provided by the Baird Trust Foundation. Trees used for the lumber were donated by local attorney Mike Nolan, and the lumber was milled by Hocking Technical College. (The lumber mill is now gone, and the site is now occupied by the Hocking College Public Safety Services building.) The station's building contractor was Denver Stump. It was also in 1982 that two more steam locomotives arrived, donated by American Electric Power: 0-6-0 No. 3 and "fireless" 0-4-0 No. 2. (It wouldn't be until 2003 that No. 3 was moved into the shop to begin restoration efforts.) The Monday Creek Branch was finally scrapped in 1983.[6]

Looking North to Logan

As the C&O and its parent company

Indiana & Ohio Railway. But in 1995, the HVSR lost its original engine house as the leased land it occupied had been sold out from under them. As a result, along with new federal boiler regulations and inspection requirements, and with no facility, No. 33 was sidelined at the conclusion of the 1996 season. It was traded to Ohio Central owner Jerry Jacobson, who eventually restored it to operation. No. 33 was traded for GP10 No. 701 in 2003, and 701 works off and on with 5833, giving the old C&O workhorse a break from time to time.[6][7]

Present

The railroad owns and uses historic rolling stock to offer scenic rides up the Hocking River valley. It sometimes hosts specialty excursions, such as wine-tasting trips, Easter Bunny, robbery trains, and the "Santa Trains." It was named one of the world's best family train trips by the Travel Channel in 2013.[8]

Today's locomotive fleet includes

Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton RS-4-TC No. 4005 and General Electric 45-tonner No. 7318. Currently one coal-burning steam locomotive, former Ohio Power Company 0-6-0 Baldwin-built No. 3, the Nelsonville shop completed a full restoration in 2015. No. 3 is currently working for the summer seasons, including pulling the line's “The Friendliest Train Robbery” service on select dates.[9]

Passenger equipment includes commuter coaches from the

Penn Central
transfer caboose is used as the on-board generator car, supplying electricity for the trains.

Locomotives

Hocking Valley Scenic Railway - Locomotives[10]
Image Manufacturer
 Date Built
 Model
 Type
 Road Number
 Status
 Description
Electro-Motive Division
 1952 GP7
Diesel-Electric
 5833 Operational Former
Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad
1508)
Electro-Motive Division
 1974
GP10
Diesel-Electric
 701 Operational Former
Illinois Central GP9
9307
BLH Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton
 1954 RS-4-TC
Diesel-Electric
 4005 Operational Former
USAF
4005
Whitcomb 1944 65-tonner
Diesel-Electric
 8122 Display Former
US Army
8465
GE General Electric
 1945 45-ton Switcher
Diesel-Electric
 7318 Out of service, awaiting repairs Former
US Army
7318 out of service awaiting for repairs.
Baldwin 1920 0-6-0 Steam 3 Operational Former Ohio Power Company 3, restoration complete, in service.

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Miller, Ed. "Hocking Valley Railway History". Hocking Valley Railway History Website. Chris Burchett. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  3. ^ Dupler, Dave. "HVSR Pre-1972". HVSR Pre-1972. Dave Dupler. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  4. ^ Dupler, Dave. "HVSR Early Years 1972-1975". HVSR Early Years 1972-1975. Dave Dupler. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  5. ^ Dupler, Dave. "HVSR Grows Up 1975-1980". HVSR Grows Up 1975-1980. Dave Dupler. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  6. ^ a b Dupler, Dave. "HVSR Years of Transition 1980s". HVSR Years of Transition 1980s. Dave Dupler. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  7. ^ Dupler, Dave. "HVSR Winds of Change 1990s". HVSR Winds of Change 1990s. Dave Dupler. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  8. ^ "World's Best Family Train Trips". Web article. Travel Channel. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  9. ^ Miller, Isaac (May 2023). "50+ years on track". Trains. No. 5 Vol 83. Kalmbach. pp. 46–47.
  10. ^ "Locomotives and Rolling Stock". www.hvsry.org. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
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