SWANTON — Some headed down to the railroad tracks Wednesday by plan, while others happened to be there by chance when the Nickel Plate Road 765 steam locomotive went through.
“Here he comes! That’s him!” Tom Haskins of Swanton exclaimed when he heard the distinctive whistle blowing for one of the crossings west of Swanton as the steam engine and its train approached during a run from Fort Wayne, Ind., to Cleveland.
“I think it’s wonderful. I wish it would have been advertised more,” Mr. Haskins said as the 765 chuffed into town, where he and dozens of other spectators lined the Norfolk Southern tracks to watch it go by — many of them snapping pictures or making videos.
“It’s a really neat piece of history, and this won’t happen too much more,” he said.
Except for Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society staff, nobody rode in the 18 passenger cars behind the steam engine, its tender, other auxiliary cars, and six gondola cars full of coal.
The 765 and train were on the first day of a two-day “ferry” trip to Youngstown, where excursion passenger trains will be run up to Ashtabula and back this weekend. The train was scheduled to spend Wednesday night at a railroad yard in Cleveland.
Despite the trip’s midweek scheduling, scores of people turned out along the route to wait for the steam engine, built in 1944 at Lima Locomotive Works. Railroad buffs and photographers staked out many of the road crossings, while larger crowds turned out in towns such as Wauseon, Swanton, and Toledo.
And wait they did. While its departure from Fort Wayne was scheduled for 9 a.m., it didn’t actually leave until about 10:30, and then it got caught behind several freight trains on the Norfolk Southern line from Fort Wayne to Butler, Ind., that it used to reach the former New York Central line, also Norfolk Southern now, across northwest Ohio.
Historical society officials had cautioned beforehand that, as an empty equipment move, the steam train would not have the highest priority.
Erica Mishka, of Swanton, brought daughters Leah, 9, and Ella, 6, and 2-year-old son David down to the tracks at 10:10 a.m. based on advice from her cousin Steve Rathke, a Toledo-based Norfolk Southern engineer who worked on the train between Butler and Toledo.
“My cousin said, ‘We’ll be rolling through Swanton between 10 and 12.’ My children have been so patient,” Ms. Mishka said as the train’s headlight appeared in the distance around 1:45 p.m. “We were here early, but I’m glad we waited,” she added after it passed.
“I liked that he waved at us!” Ella exclaimed.
But for Stryker resident Rita Kruse, the steam train’s 1 p.m. passage was just a pleasant surprise.
“Hundreds of trains go through here every day. It’s interesting to see a little bit of history,” said Mrs. Kruse, 67, who had heard the steam whistle in the distance and stepped out in front of her South Depot Street home to watch the special go by.
When Marion Sparks of East Toledo heard the steam engine’s whistle blowing from the downtown side of the Maumee River, she hustled her 93-year-old uncle, Bob Lober of Oregon, into her car and drove him to the bridge on Miami just in time to see it.
“That sounded just like the old troop trains during World War II,” said Mr. Lober, an Army veteran from the European theater. “It gave me a good feeling to hear that again.”
Contact David Patch at: dpatch@theblade.com or 419-724-6094.
First Published July 23, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
