Columbus had five class I railroads in the 1950s. The Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, New York Central Railroad,
Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Norfolk and Western Railroad. As late
as 1955 all five provided Columbus with passenger service and all but the
C&O used steam locomotives, either on their freight, yard or passenger
trains. In 1954 there were 38 passenger trains through Columbus, the
B&O had 2, C&O 2, NYC 10, PRR 22, and N&W 2.
This section of the web site will look at each of the five railroads,
through photographs, maps and other material, in order to give the reader a flavor of the
Columbus railroading scene during a major time of transition.
By the
1960s steam engines would disappear followed by passenger trains, mail
trains, the railroad post office (RPO), Railway Express, Columbus Union Station, most train
yards, most railroad shops, much of the railroad employment and even the
names and configurations of the five roads listed above. Most rail
fans knew change was coming. They would have to hurry to see and
absorb the 1950's railroad scene while it lasted. Here is some of what
they saw and photographed.
Through the narrations some simple maps will be provided for each railroad, the reader can
also access
more detailed maps of Columbus railroads at the Rails and trails web site -
http://www.railsandtrails.com -
select "maps" from the menu and then "Columbus Maps" from the list
to start. Then explore the rails and trails web site further to find other railroad maps of Ohio.
