Marietta, Part II

Let's continue our tour of Marietta.
Here is a photo I took of where the PRR once crossed to go to Marietta College. This is where ST. RT 26, 7th St and Green St all meet. It is very much different today.





Here is the B and O bridge from East to West (Marietta to Harmar). Once upon a time, Harmar was separate from Marietta!
To the right of the bridge on the far bank, is the house I lived in before we "moved up on the hill" (green house, third one from bridge).





Here we are looking back towards the bridge on the Harmar side.
Behind me, and to the left is the CSX office. The former B & O tracks run north to a power plant, about half way to Zanesville. The line used to run all the way to Zanesville. I've been told that a RDC used to run up that way between the towns. You can't get to Zanesville anymore from Marietta this way!




Here is a view towards Belpre, which would be south. The track curving towards the right is the active track north. I am standing on the line towards Marietta. I suppose that CSX could still use this part of the track-for what I dunno.




This photo shows the beginning of the CSX tracks running up Harmar Street! Oh, to live on such a street!









Finally, here is my closing shot of the Harmar bridge. The reason I stopped and visited Marietta is that I had heard that the bridge may not survive for long. It is closed to walkers and it does look rather, well, old. Here is hoping the community comes to its rescue. I cannot wonder, but what would have happen to the PRR line, if it had somehow survived the Conrail era, and made it to the NS (?) era. If, B&O had keep the bridge intact for traffic, if, if,if. Isn't that just like life? A lot of ifs?
The lesson here is that, if I had the time, money, and ability to travel as I can today, I would very much like to have taken photos of all that was. Do the same where you live. It is gone so easily.


For best results, right click and open this image in another window. Feel free to place on your desktop if you want Just give credit where credit is due. Talk about a moment! The right light, shadow and reflections!

A Visit To Marietta

Take a little trip with me, to Marietta, and remember railroads of the past. With a few photographs, along with distant memories, we will travel back over thirty years.
The first photograph (on the left) is where the Pennsylvania Railroad crossed State Route 26, as it entered Marietta.

Our next stop on the tour, is along RT 26 looking back towards
what were once destinations for the PRR, but today are other types of businesses, ones that do not need a railroad.











Our next two shots (below) show the road bed as it goes under I-77 and behind Phillips Elementary School. You can still see the ROW in several places, but you have to look!










This photo is of the old Pennington Bread Factory, where the PRR would deliver flour for making bread. When I worked there, one summer back in the late 70's, a Conrail crew showed up to collect the car on the siding. They were recovering cars in preparation of closing the line and removing the rail. Today, even Pennington Bread is gone!











Our next shot is of the old B & O (Baltimore and Ohio) RR's yard along side second street. If you cllick on the photo, to enlarge it, and look at the building in the back with the painted railcar on it, you will be looking at a store that once received boxcars inside it! I always thought that was so cool when I saw that boxcar inside the "garage". But, by the time I came along, the yard was just about gone.









Can you say, railroad tracks? Look at the shape of this building! The Marietta Times newspaper used to have a column titled Down Around the Railroad Tracks. Obvioulsy not today.











Finally here is the B & O bridge across the Muskingum River to the Harmar side of town.
Today the bridge is closed, waiting to be made save for pedestrains once more. No trains will have to worry about the bridge anymore. Hopefully, the bridge will be opened once more.


And here is the approach to the bridge. Seems kinda steep for the engine as it starts up to the bridge. Must have been a sight to see and hear!





I hope you enjoyed our little trek through Marietta. I will post more photos of the bridge, and other locations in Marietta!

The B & O Comes To Town
My dad took this film (not video!) way back when, possibly in the 1940's. His mother lived in Clarksburg, and he took her to Parkersburg to take the train back to her home. The train has just come over the Ohio River from Belpre.

This film shows a B & O train crossing the Muskingum River from Marietta to Harmar heading, most likely, back to Parkersburg. This was probably taken around 1938-1940, since on this reel of film are scenes of the a flood on the Muskingum, and I think the last large flood there was 1939.
Today, many years later, the scene has changed. In Parkersburg, no passenger trains come to town, the B & O is gone, and the rails to Clarksburg are gone. In Marietta, CSX still comes to Harmar, but no one crosses the bridge anymore. Especially trains. Times have change, but thanks to my dad, we can watch a little bit of what was, once more!
These films were video taped off the movie screen while we watched the films. This is one reason for the quality, the other is the age of the movies.

On my model railroad, to get to my coal mine, the train has to pull into the yard, then back up onto one track, pull forward, and then back up to the mine. I have thought that this isn't quite right, until the day I drove through Zanesville, and there I watched the same scene unfold before my eyes!
The Ohio Central was moving a coal drag up from southern Ohio to a power plant up north of the town. With engines on both end, the train came into town, backed up, crossed a bridge, and then pulled forward to leave town. Here are some photos of the train as it moved through Zanesville.