Ohio’s Interurban Railroad History

From its zenith, Ohio’s electric transit systems were built across the state at breakneck speed, connecting towns, villages and city’s that were isolated from each other. Beginning in 1884, entrepreneurs, local citizens and bankers invested to build the best electric railway system in the United States. The Rise and Fall of these systems was remarkable and changed social norms and habits. It provided entertainment leisure time and changed the work culture. This book addresses the entire state interurban system chronologically, and indexes all company names. Interurban companies augmented their business models to include entertainment. They built amusement parks that ran on the electricity they provided and offered discount rates for patrons to and from these parks. Ridership on week nights and weekends would be filled to capacity as people flocked to new electric parks for a fun filled day of entertainment. Many of these parks closed as did the interurban lines. This book takes a look at many of these early ‘Trolley Parks’ that were a part of this illustrious era. A detailed chronological progression will take the reader on a long journey, showing the amelioration of each interurban line, when they were incorporated, reconsolidated, sold, and reorganized over and over until each was finally abandoned, one at a time. The reader will be challenged to keep-up with all of the name and date changes as they occur. The highlight from this era is the Golden Spike Ceremony. President A. E. Akins of the Western Ohio Railway Company drove the ‘Golden Spike’ into the last rail on the company’s Findlay-Lima extension on December 30, 1905. This completed what became known as the Green Line. The author has a plethora of evidence as to why these interurban and trolley lines across the country went out of business. Beginning with ‘National City Lines’, a company created as a front for General Motors, Standard Oil, Firestone, Mack Truck, Phillips Petroleum and others. The General Motors conspiracy court trail of 1949, and the 1974 reexamining by the U. S. Senate Judiciary Committee will be discussed. In addition, Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s electric car will be introduced. Exclusive photographs are provided throughout the text to illuminate each company. A photo chapter will enrich the readers understanding of interurban car styles that took place over the decades. This fascinating story will give the reader an in-depth understanding of interurban travel in Ohio. Read more