Sunday, April 29, 2001
Some are looking forward to seeing the train again.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Crews have been working daily to prepare the former Youngstown & amp; Southern Railway for its first train cars in years, but residents and businesses along the rail line have mixed feelings about the train's return.
The line, which runs from Youngstown to Darlington, Pa., along Southern Boulevard, was recently purchased by the Columbiana Port Authority and renamed the Central Columbiana & amp; Pennsylvania Railroad.
Tracy Drake, port authority director, said rail cars can be expected to be seen on the tracks as soon as work crews say the tracks are ready for service.
Nicole Parish and Jerry Anderson live in the 4000 block of Southern Boulevard, a stone's toss away from the railroad. Parish and Anderson have opposite reactions to the coming train.
Bit of nostalgia: Anderson has lived at his township home since he was a child. He has fond memories of scrambling up to the track's edge and watching the trains go by. For him, the train's return is all about nostalgia.
"When I was a boy, everybody took it in stride. It really didn't bother anybody," he recalls. "Anybody who has lived here a long time will not have a problem with the train coming back."
Parish is new to that part of the area and is not looking forward to the train's running again. She said there is nothing thrilling about hearing a train's whistle at 3 o'clock in the morning.
Parish walks through her front yard holding the hand of her baby daughter and says there are also safety issues to consider. She said children and household pets can easily get stuck while playing on the tracks -- that is her biggest concern.
A few miles up the road is a one-floor home that has a hair salon to the rear. Mary Kapasta, owner of Mary Jane's Beauty Salon, has lived and worked in the house for decades.
She is happy to see the train return. Without the train, Kapasta believes Southern Boulevard would be turned into a six-lane highway, taking away her peace and possibly a chunk of her property. Now Kapasta says she will sit at her kitchen window and watch the train go by.
Other concerns: Dan Wojton also lives near the tracks. His primary concern is that trash that falls off the train could make its way up to his and his neighbors' property. He also worried that the train will tie up traffic at the major intersections.
Managers at two businesses on Southern Boulevard are also less than enthusiastic about the train.
Jaime Garayua, general manager at Stadium Lincoln Mercury Mazda Volkswagen, said the company has just invested $100,000 into an access road over the tracks -- a road no one can use should the train stop there and block it.
"Our business is mainly people driving by seeing the cars and stopping in," he said. "If the train deters one customer, that is one customer we don't have."
How the company will be affected largely depends on what times the train will be running, said Garayua.
Tod Jones, manager at Home Depot, said the train will affect his business if it operates a lot during the day. Should the train break down or stop in front of the business, he said, that could pose a problem because the store's main entrance would be blocked.