The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Railroad show picks up steam
Mayfield Heights resident Bill Pinkava smiles fondly while looking at a replica of the 999 Steam Locomotive — the first vehicle on earth that exceeded 100 mph.
Engine 999 was designed to haul the New York Central Railroad’s new passenger train, the Empire State Express, which ran from Syracuse to Buffalo.
In 1893, it became the fastest land vehicle at 112.5 mph, a record it would hold for about a decade.
In the mid-1940s, the 999 replica was built at the Collinwood Yards and has traveled nationwide ever since to the delight of train enthusiasts.
On Aug. 27, the historical engine — with a working bell and whistle — was on display at the Painesville Railroad Museum’s second annual Railroad Memorabilia Show at the Painesville Depot.
“This brings back memories,” Pinkava said. “I am a 1947 Collinwood High School grad. I was in the Drug and Bugle Corps, and we used to parade with it.”
Mike Cavotta of the Collinwood Alumni Association said the 999 replica was a community initiative with the American Legion Post 999, of which Pinkava is a member.
“It’s been all over the United States — the Rose Bowl, Washington, D.C., a New York city parade and numerous Cleveland parades,” Cavotta said. “It’s stored at a Thompson Township barn. We bring it out on special occasions like today. One lady was actually crying earlier when she saw it, saying, ‘This used to be in our neighborhood!’ It brings people back to when they were kids and things were simple.”
The railroad show was designed to have collectors show off their private collections of railroad-related items.
More than 250 people had already been inside the museum by the middle of the event, Painesville Railroad Museum Vice President Tom Pescha said.
“This is showing what the real history of railroading was,” Pescha said.
Another popular display at the event was a yellow inspection cart outside the building belonging to one of the museum members, he added.
Over the past two years, the museum has made many improvements to the depot with the help of grants and donations.
“We are currently looking for donations to fund the rebuilding of the caboose, which was built in 1915,” said Pescha.
In 2000, Lubrizol Corp. donated the red wooden Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Caboose to the museum for educational purposes. In 2006, the caboose was destroyed in a suspicious fire.
The Depot’s museum is open Friday nights from May through October. For more information, visit http://painesvillerailroadmuseum.org/.