New railroad museum on track

The association has 18 railroad cars stored at various locations in the Valley.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Association hopes to establish the first phase of a museum honoring the area's steel and rail history by next summer.
City council recently declared a vacant parcel of land on Poland Avenue as surplus and instructed the board of control to sell the property to the association for 1.
The association received an adjoining piece from the city a year ago. Together, the parcels equal about four acres and used to be the parking lot for the former Republic Steel, and later an LTV Steel mill.
Phase I would cost about 30,000, and would include laying about 700 feet of railroad tracks and shipping a hot metal transport railroad car and a caboose, both owned by the group, to the Poland Avenue location, said Jim Marter of Youngstown, the head of the association and a retired Johnson Controls service sales manager.
"The steel mills and the railroad are Youngstown's heritage," he said. "Years ago, rail cars going to the steel mills was so common in our valley. If you didn't grow up with it, you don't know anything about that important part of our history. We want to make sure people don't forget about our heritage."
18 cars owned
The association owns 18 railroad cars, stored at various locations throughout the Valley, Marter said. There are about 40 members of the group, he said.
Besides moving the cars to the South Side location, the association wants to eventually construct a building to display rail artifacts, said Carl Jacobson of Green Township, the group's grants project manager and a freight agent for Ohio Central Railroad.
The cost of establishing the museum is somewhere in the six-figure range, Jacobson said. He plans to seek grant money for the project beginning early next year.
Expensive undertaking
"We want to preserve the Valley's rich railroad and steel history," Jacobson said. "But the economic reality is railroad tracks are very expensive. We have to do this in phases."
Those wanting to contribute money or join the organization -- dues are 20 annually -- can contact the Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Association at (330) 793-7189 or at P.O. Box 3055, Youngstown 44511.
skolnick@vindy.com