Marion Union Station
Marion, in central Ohio northwest of Columbus, is one of Ohio's trainwatching
"hot spots," and is well worth your time to visit to see the 106-years-young,
restored Marion Union Station, the relocated, restored AC Tower, and, if on
Sunday when it operates, the Marion Model Railroad Club -- as well as the train
action, of course.
All three are on the same site on Center St., just west of downtown Marion;
just turn right after you cross the first set of tracks and you're there.
Marion was served by four railroads -- the Pennsylvania (north-south) on the
east side of the station; Erie/Erie-Lackawanna and Big Four/NYC shared the
east-west tracks north of the station; and Hocking Valley/Chesapeake & Ohio
north-south on the west side. AC Tower, originally located across from the
station, controlled the diamond crossings of all of the roads.
Today the ex-PRR tracks are Norfolk Southern's Columbus District between
Bellevue and Columbus, and carry the most train traffic. The E-L/NYC shared
tracks became Conrail, and then CSX since the Conrail breakup, while the C&O
tracks also are CSX today.
Marion once had the major shop facilities for the Erie, later
Erie-Lackawanna, just west of the station. These were closed in the Conrail era,
and today the site has a small CSX local-service yard and some of the shop
buildings are used by Union Tank Car Co. as a repair facility.
The volunteers of the Marion Union Station Association literally saved
Marion Station from the wrecking ball and have restored it to as close to its
original appearance as possible. And they're still working on it, as evidenced
by complete restoration of the stained glass ceiling in the waiting room. The
station displays several interlocking machines from various towers, and several
are hooked up so visitors can move the controls and watch actual signals change.
In1999 the group got ownership of AC Tower, moved it (and the complete
interlocking machine) onto the station grounds, and restored both the
tower and the interlocker. If volunteers are available, the tower is open
and visitors can make believe that they are actual tower operators controlling
the trains crossing the eight sets of diamonds and the related tracks.
You may download and print these two Marion map pages by clicking
Marion Map -- it is a large, color file
in PDF format.
Viewing Instructions: Click on the image you want to view and it will open in
your browser. To return to this page, click your browser's BACK button.
Copyright Notice:
All photos displayed on this website are copyrighted © by the
original photographers under the provisions of Title 17, United States Code (the
Copyright Act), and may not be reused, distributed, or published in any way
without the express written permission of both the photographer and Train
Order Publishing. All photos on this website are licensed to Train Order
Publishing.
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An E-L RS3-powered work train passes AC Tower, Marion, in its original locaton north of the tracks at the PRR (now NS) diamond c.1960 (Sheldon Lustig) |
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Catch of the day at Marion 5/18/08 was a southbound NS freight with BNSF Yellow Bonnets 6724 and 8612 (SD40-2/B40-8) (Richard Croy) |
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CSX 5296 (ES44DC) is on the point of eastbound Q108 banging across the NS diamonds at Marion 5/16/08 (Richard Croy) |
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CSX 4551 (SD70MAC) and another CSX unit bring Q279 west at Marion, passing eastbound Q108, shot from AC Tower 5/16/08 (Richard Croy) |
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NS 6699 (SD60) leads a southbound freight across the CSX diamonds at Marion, headed to Columbus 5/16/08 (Richard Croy) |
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Riding in the #2 spot behind NS 6699 southbound at Marion was CN/IC 1038 (SD70) 5/16/08 (Richard Croy) |
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NS 9344, followed by UP 5294 and NS 6613 (C40-9W/C44AC-CTE/SD60) rush a southbound NS stack train through Marion 5/16/08 (Richard Croy) |
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The former Western Union Telegraph office anchors the northwest corner of the station, with relocated AC Tower in the distance. (Richard Croy, 2008) |
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The forecourt of Marion Union Station shows the U-shape layout between the NS (PRR), CSX (NYC/E-L), and CSX (C&O) tracks. (Richard Croy, 2008) |
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The restored, and working, model board in AC Tower showing the diamonds and other tracks. (Richard Croy, 2008) |
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AC Tower's original pistol-grip interlocking machine has been completely restored and operates to demonstrate what the tower did. (Richard Croy, 2008) |
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Marion Power Shovel Co.'s plant adjoins Marion Station, and this big bucket is a memorial to the company and its employees (Richard Croy, 2008) |
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E-L 2514 and 4 other units lead a train east past Marion Union Station, taken from the steps of AC Tower, Marion, Summer 1975. (Jeff Reams) |
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AC Tower, fully restored, now stands at the northeast corner of the station grounds. It is open if volunteers are available. (Richard Croy, 2008) |
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If you're in Marion, it's worth a half-hour drive north on Rt. 4 to Bucyrus to view this unique wall mural on city square. It will surprise you! |
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Artifact: Restored Model 21 Marion steam shovel, one of the first made in the late 1880's, on display at the Marion Train Show 12/1/07 (Tom Boylan) |
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