Railroad topic for fourth-graders
LAKESIDE – The Lakeside & Marblehead Railroad was the topic of this month’s presentation to Danbury’s fourth-graders by Gretchen Curtis of the Lakeside Heritage Society.
In the 1870s, there were several railroads in Northern Ohio. One railroad ran between Cleveland and Toledo with stops at Cleveland, Lorain, Danbury, Port Clinton and Toledo. However, there was no train to the tip of Marblehead which would help not only people traveling to the peninsula, but would provide a way to ship the limestone out of the quarry. In 1887, construction of the railroad tracks was started in Danbury.
The finished Lakeside & Marblehead Railroad cost $260,000, was seven miles long, employed 14 people, and ran two round trips between Danbury and Marblehead, one in the morning and one in the afternoon from Monday through Saturday.
“Sunday was considered God’s Day, so there was no train or boat service on Sunday. Along the 7 miles there were three stations: one at Danbury, a second at Lakeside, and the third at Marblehead,” Curtis said. “The Danbury station was the transfer station. Passengers could transfer to the L&M and complete their trip to the peninsula or passengers could transfer to the big trains going to Cleveland or Toledo.”
The Lakeside station was built in 1887 and the Marblehead station was located on the present day ground of the Kellys Island Ferry parking lot, Curtis said.
In addition to passengers, the railroad hauled freight, fruit, and lumber used to build houses, especially in Lakeside.
Curtis explained to students that passenger service was less profitable than freight. Carrying passengers required not only hauling the locomotive and coal-car, but the additional passenger coach and a baggage car, she said. To reduce expenses, a gas motor car was purchased in 1910 and carried 35 passengers. By 1920, passenger train travel declined rapidly because of people traveling by car. Passenger service was at its peak of 15,500 in 1895, declining to a low of 2,900 by 1929 and eventually resulted in the L&M discontinuing passenger service in 1930.
However, there was still freight to move and operating coal cars was not only expensive, but it was time-consuming to load water, coal and clean out the locomotive firebox. To increase productivity, the railroad converted from coal to diesel in 1949 with its first diesel locomotive. Yet, the railroad continued to lose money. By 1964, all operations were closed. The tracks were removed in 1997, the Marblehead station was torn down in 2002 and the engine house was demolished in 2003.
“Of the three stations, the Lakeside station is the only building still standing,” Curtis said. “Renovation of the station was completed in 2004 and it is used today for meetings and social functions.”