In the latest issue of the newsletter for the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway in Nelsonville, Ohio, it reports that they are making arrangments to have the former Hocking Valley coaling tipple (one of 2 left in the state) brought down for "safety reasons".



I am not certain of the exact era of the tower but it dates to original Hocking Valley which was acquired by the C&O in 1930. It may be pre-1900.

They are working on a deal to have the tower demolition paid for in exchange for right of way access for the Hocking-Adena Bikeway which runs from Hocking College to Ohio University in Athens. This right of way access would give the bikeway access into downtown Nelsonville rather than ending at Hocking College, current north end termination point of the path.

L&RP did an article on this whole area (20 years ago?), proposing making it a historic district. In addition to the coal tower and machine shop there were the remains of a roundhouse, turntable gone and pit filled in. The article also noted numerous bridges and other infrastructure dating back to the beginnings of the line. Tracks (mostly unused) still ran all over Nelsonville.

With a tourist line already using parts of the trackage this seemed like an opportunity waiting to happen, but.....

The roundhouse (derelict) was torched by arsonist. In my last visit (over 5 years ago) there were apartments built where it had been, named the "Roundhouse Apartments." I wonder if anybody living there knows what it means.

The shell of the machine shop was still there, boarded up and seemed to be in good shape. But, in addition to the apartments, the area around the coal tower was built up with other new construction. What's driving a building boom in Nelsonville?

I'm kind of surprised they're just now getting around to considering demolition of the coal tower.

HV had a line of passenger cars and cabooses near by in variuos states of decay. What's happening with that stuff? OH, and that doesn't include the cars visible under the tower in the picture. There was an Armor refrigerated meat car if I remember right (I am in Korea, my pictures are in Seattle, and as my Korean compatirots have told me several times my brain is injured with age).

The machine shop, which housed the boiler for the roundhouse is in use by the HV Scenic. I understand that they recently purchased the original HV yard office.


Much of their derelict equipment still remains.





A few years ago while still involved, another member and myself suggested the idea of photo freights but we were turned down by the board. We wanted to repaint the old freight cars for the early 50's time period and use the GP-7 do run freights and do switch moves. They turned us down because they said "no one would want to take pictures of just freight trains" and that this was a "tourist train" and people came to "ride the train".

I guess the Western Marylnad Scenic, Heber Valley and others haven't yet figured that out.

Hi Greg:

Got a list of their derelict equipment?

Les

I haven't been down there in a couple of years. HERE"S a link that shows some of it. That I know of consists of. . .

A couple of old Swift Premium diesel powered reefers. One old orange ice reefer. A couple of dry ice reefers. I think there are three or four tank cars (UTLX?) as pictured at least one is riveted. There are numerous ex-Chessie (C&O, B&O) MOW box cars. Most of their flat cars are ex military (US Air Force), these came from the DCSC in Columbus when they acquired the BLH Locomotive 4005. I don't know if they still have the two Erie commuter coaches, there was talk of scrapping them as well as an ex-PRR electric motor-coach (although they were planning on keeping the motors).

I don't think they keep anything in Logan any longer but they used to keep some stock on a siding in Haydenville and they put a lot on a new siding in Nelsonville. Ron Weaver still has his ex C&O caboose there, built in Logan by the HV, he is working on plans to have it moved and restored.

I'm gping totally on memory, I hope that helps.

My question(s) to the board then would have been - "why the heXX do we have the cars then?...what purpose are they serving?...is it not a waste of money and an insurance issue to have useless equipment sitting around?"

People indeed come to ride trains, but they do NOT like to see rusting, decaying, ugly "old train cars" sitting around. They DO want to see History....which is what ALL current Tourist Railroads are trying to portray...a bygone era.

I would hope the board has changed some since then. They do seem to be focused on restoring equipment now more so than before and they do a nice job.

Day-dreaming>>>Would be nice to see them lease the 33 from the OC.

David Dupler maintains a nice web site with many photos of the Hocking Valley over the years, as well as various roster shots and background information.

http://www.davedupler.com/rr.html


Alan Maples

IMHO, while it isn't out of the realm of possibility, I wouldn't expect the #33 to return anytime soon; quite a few reasons for this, none of which I feel qualified to fully discuss. Suffice it to say that #33's time at the HV has now passed, and seeing any steam (#33 or otherwise) there again would be stretch.

By the way, although Greg and Ron would kill me for this, it should be known that Ron, Greg and his dad before him volunteered for many years at HV, and were instrumental in the operations of #33 and the initial saving of the railroad in the first place. In a very real sense, he speaks from experience when he talks of the personal side of volunteer organizations, their benefits and drawbacks.

TJ Gaffney

Does anyone know if this demolition actually occurred? I've not been down to the HV in several years. I recall being down there in the late 80's and being in awe of the tower.

#33, ex-Lake Superior and Isheping with tender booster, went to Ohio Central years ago. I believe they have a small 0-6-0 which they hope to restore for steam operation on a smaller scale in the future.

I stopped by Sunday on my way home from Michigan. They have a small 0-6-0 on display with a sign saying $70,000 would get her restored to operating condition. I wish them best of luck but I think that price is a little low.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjbailey/4493853829/

Tower demolished in 2009. See the pile of concrete rubble under the sign.

Did the tower really have to be demolished? I would like to have seen the engineers report stating that it was beyond salvation. What part of it was likely to fail? As much as it may look like a heavy concrete block on top of some spindly legs, these were actually much the opposite since the bunker portion is of relatively thin wall construction. I did notice in photos that some of the rebar was showing, so maybe there was not enough cover concrete to protect the rebar, causing corrosion and spalling. If enough of that happens you end up with an unreinforced wall which could topple.

There are two phrases that grates me to no end: "safety concerns" and "security concerns". These are blanket statements designed to conceal the real reasons for taking an action, or prohibiting actions. What is the concern? Who has the concern? Why is it a concern? The few of us that still have functioning brains would like to know!

Do they still have the the two ex-C&O coaches (or what is left of them) on the property?

Cast concrete is always a vexing problem. I personally went through this with a couple concrete bridges in Pennsylvania where I was lobbying for preservation of the old structures beside the new ones, and I may find myself involved with a similar situation in Arizona before too long.

The problem with such cast concrete is that if and when it fails, it fails catastrophically and completely. Unlike a wooden or steel bridge, you won't have the luxury of tell-tale joint failure, sagging, truss members showing weakening, etc. These structures can be built to last 1.000 years (like the proverbial PRR Middle Division stone bridges), but they usually aren't, and when deterioration occurs, it's like cancer: stop it fast enough, and you have hope; let it spread far enough (like exposed rebar corrosion), and it takes radical reconstruction or removal.

I can't debate the HV coaling tower, because I don't have enough facts before me. But in the cases of other concrete structures I tried to save that ended up demolished, a couple factors entered into play: the willingness of other parties to accept the responsibility of maintenance and liability thereof; the closeness of other structures or things that could be damaged; the willingness and ability to effect adequate stabilization; and the removal of risk from stupidity (bungee jumpers, for example, or people climbing the coal tower--and removing the ladders means you have a difficult time going back up to fix the concrete at the top, no?).

I'd rather we focused our efforts on the concrete bridge on the East Broad Top, myself, but.....

It is all about choices. Would you rather spend $50,000 fixing this concrete paper weight, or apply that money to Hocking Valley's 0-6-0?