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JimCincy 1 post May 18, 2007 4:58 PM	I am looking for the dates that the Dayton Union Station was torn down. I haven't been able to find out accurately. Was the 1900 main terminal demolished simultanously with the entrance archway? I have had different opinions. I heard that the demolition for the main building was 1963. and that a smaller station was erected for use up to the discontinuance of Amtrak in 1979. I need this for a power point presentation I am giving this Sunday May 20 2007 to the local Model Railroad group. I am from Cincinnati and have not found a Dayton or Cincinnati Native with the answer. If you have and answer I would appreciate a reply send it to Jasmonthgt@aol.com
driver62 26 posts May 19, 2007 6:39 AM	Union Terminal in Dayton was dedicated in 1900, vacated in 1986 and demolished in 1989.
ssm 1 post Aug 31, 2007 5:49 PM	I grew up on Ewalt Circle in the Belmont area of Dayton. Both one of my childhood friends and my brother recall some type of round or oval building, believed to be connected with a rail system, near the intersection of Watervliet and Patterson Roads. It had a lot of windows and was in disrepair in the mid-1950's. It's long gone now but do you know where I could find out its exact location and perhaps a photo of it? This mystery is driving us crazy. The trolley (overhead wires) bus turned around on Ewalt Circle but didn't even stop on the circle itself. This building was further out of town. We're also not thinking of the maintenance barn out past the Bergamo Retreat. We place it closer to Dot's Supermarket. I have recently learned that the "Traction Line" went through Belmont; possibly on Watervliet Avenue. Was that the Interurban Railway? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide in solving this mystery! Last Edited by on Aug 31, 2007 7:57 PM
etbetb 1 post Sep 07, 2007 9:54 PM	SSM said: "I grew up on Ewalt Circle in the Belmont area of Dayton. Both one of my childhood friends and my brother recall some type of round or oval building, believed to be connected with a rail system, near the intersection of Watervliet and Patterson Roads. It had a lot of windows and was in disrepair in the mid-1950's. It's long gone now but do you know where I could find out its exact location and perhaps a photo of it? This mystery is driving us crazy. The trolley (overhead wires) bus turned around on Ewalt Circle but didn't even stop on the circle itself. This building was further out of town. We're also not thinking of the maintenance barn out past the Bergamo Retreat. We place it closer to Dot's Supermarket. I have recently learned that the "Traction Line" went through Belmont; possibly on Watervliet Avenue. Was that the Interurban Railway? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide in solving this mystery! " SSM: I can answer some of your questions. a) I'll forward your question about the building onto the folks around town who might know. b) "Traction Line'. Well, the Dayton-Xenia Railway, which eventually ran the trolleybuses which turned at Ewalt Circle, was the line which ran thru Belmont. Their carbarn was as you say, out past Bergamo. At least until 1940. Then they built a carbarn at Watervliet and Smithville, where a car wash used to be, currently occupied by a Walgreens. The D-X had turnarounds at Kingston Ave on the east side of Watervliet, and the aforementioned turn at Ewalt. In 1940, the D-X converted to trolley coaches, and followed basically the same route to downtown. The D-X and City Transit merged (well, City Transit really swallowed D-X) in 1955. Peoples Railway ran the Wayne Ave line to Epworth in streetcar days, and then extended the line to Wayne and Fauver in 1940 upon conversion to trolley coach. I don't think that's the line you mean -- Belmont implies D-X. You can see photos of the D-X, Peoples, and many other trolleybuses from the past at www.trolleybuses.net and www.daytontrolleys.net. C'ya rtm
etbetb 3 posts Sep 08, 2007 9:40 AM	Driver62 said: "My mother use to tell me about a traction line or maybe interurban that ran from Dayton, through West Alexandria, Eaton and on to Richmond, Indiana. In fact, the Eaton local paper has a history column each week and ran a story about the train wrecking in West Alexandria in the early 1900's. The concrete base for the trestle that went over the highway in Eaton was still there the last time I looked but that was several years ago. I'm not sure what the name of the railroad was." That interurban or "traction line" was the Dayton and Western, also known for awhile as The Indiana, Columbus and Eastern. On it, you could go all the way to downtown Dayton, or to Richmond IN. For awhile, you could have a one-seat ride all the way to Indianapolis. The D&W became no more in 1937. C'ya rtm
RonF 1 post Sep 25, 2007 2:21 PM	Does anybody have pictures of the model railroad in the old Dayton Union Station?
trolleyfan 1 post Jun 29, 2008 2:07 PM	ssm saidI grew up on Ewalt Circle in the Belmont area of Dayton. Both one of my childhood friends and my brother recall some type of round or oval building, believed to be connected with a rail system, near the intersection of Watervliet and Patterson Roads. It had a lot of windows and was in disrepair in the mid-1950's. It's long gone now but do you know where I could find out its exact location and perhaps a photo of it? This mystery is driving us crazy. The trolley (overhead wires) bus turned around on Ewalt Circle but didn't even stop on the circle itself. This building was further out of town. We're also not thinking of the maintenance barn out past the Bergamo Retreat. We place it closer to Dot's Supermarket. I have recently learned that the "Traction Line" went through Belmont; possibly on Watervliet Avenue. Was that the Interurban Railway? Some of your answers were already posted, but I might be able to add a little more to it. The Trolley Barn you was refering to was located at the south-east corner of Watervliet Avenue and Smithville Road. It was owned ? and operated by the Dayton-Xenia Railway. I was born and grew up in Belmont in 1946, and my Uncle Lamar owned Tobias Funeral Home. His son (my cousin Danny) and i was just a few months apart and were very close growing up, thus I spent a lot of my childhood right in Belmont. The Trolley BArn served the Trolley system until the last Trolley ran in 1947, and then it was used for the new Trolley Busses until it was torn down in 1955. After they destroyed it, Parkmoor builtone of their restaurants on the property and it stayed there til approximatly 1970 when most of the Parkmoor's closed down for good. I also remember in the mid 50's when the city of Dayton re-paved the streets, NOT removing the trolley Rails, but covering them with 6 inches of asphalt or concrete. They're still under the streets of Dayton to this day. ALSO ! The maintenance shop you was refering to past Bergamo Center (used to be called Mount St. John) was at the corner of Shakertown Road (used to be Pike)and Grange Hall Road, Was torn down in 1939 or 40 and was where the old Ankeny Farm House is sitting. I spent my last years in Dayton (Beavercreek) living in Woodhaven at Patterson & Grange Hall Roads, easy walking distance to where the shops used to be. Hope this fills a few gaps in. Barry Kiefaber
trolleyfan 2 posts Jun 30, 2008 6:21 PM	etbetb wrote Barry -- since you used to live down there, do you remember a streetcar loop on the east side of Watervliet near Kingston St? Any idea when that was removed? If you look close at the curb on the east side, you can see where the curb is different where the loop would've been, but there's some question among the trolley people when exactly the loop went away. We know that the trolleybus didn't turn there, looping around the block at Ewalt instead, but we don't know when the streetcar loop was pulled out I'm assuming that the loop your refering to was property of the D-X Railway, and most of their tracks were gone by the mid 30's I was born in 1946, so that was before my time. However, there were some exceptions, such as rail embedded in Watervliet as late as 1952 or 53. To the best of my knowledge, it wasn't used because the trolley busses took over long before, but they weren't covered up till some years later. Now since you mention loops that were moved, or eliminated, for many years, e-walt circle was right at the corner of patterson and Woodman. When I rode #7 home from town, the bus would come down Watervliet which would merge into Patterson where Dot's M (or maybe it's now called Lofino's) and cross the railroad tracks just before Woodman Drive. Years ago there was an active siding and coal yard and later a lumber yard and on the corner a Bar which might have been Larry's Tavern and than a hard right on Woodman and Ewalt circle was there and the bus turned 360 degrees and turned left and was back on Patterson. Now I understand the bus crosses Woodman and turns right into the first street of a neighborhood. My understanding is the street is curved to the right and dumps out on woodman and that is now called ewalt circle. It's not ewalt circle as we knew it, but it's what the modern day version of it is. I also want to thank you for the links to the pictures of the Belmont bus barn. I had none and was thrilled to get the four you linked your message to. Talk more later. Peace Barry
etbetb 6 posts Jun 30, 2008 9:26 PM	"I'm assuming that the loop your refering to was property of the D-X Railway, and most of their tracks were gone by the mid 30's I was born in 1946, so that was before my time. However, there were some exceptions, such as rail embedded in Watervliet as late as 1952 or 53. To the best of my knowledge, it wasn't used because the trolley busses took over long before, but they weren't covered up till some years later. " Barry: Actually, the D-X streetcars ran until 1940, when D-X converted to trolley buses. The rail service out to the carbarn at Shakertown and Grange Hall was no longer necessary, so the D-X built a new barn at the SE corner of Smithville and Watervliet. The loop I was referring to was owned by the D-X, and would've been on the east side of Watervliet just south of Kingston St. There would've been a switch in the tracks where outbound cars could turn around and go back to town. ---------------------------- "Now since you mention loops that were moved, or eliminated, for many years, e-walt circle was right at the corner of patterson and Woodman. When I rode #7 home from town, the bus would come down Watervliet which would merge into Patterson where Dot's M (or maybe it's now called Lofino's) and cross the railroad tracks just before Woodman Drive. Years ago there was an active siding and coal yard and later a lumber yard and on the corner a Bar which might have been Larry's Tavern and than a hard right on Woodman and Ewalt circle was there and the bus turned 360 degrees and turned left and was back on Patterson. Now I understand the bus crosses Woodman and turns right into the first street of a neighborhood. My understanding is the street is curved to the right and dumps out on woodman and that is now called ewalt circle. It's not ewalt circle as we knew it, but it's what the modern day version of it is. I also want to thank you for the links to the pictures of the Belmont bus barn. I had none and was thrilled to get the four you linked your message to. Talk more later. Peace Barry" There's several comments here, I think. "Ewalt Circle" is the loop formed by Springmont, Ewalt and Culver. It was the original trolley bus loop for the D-X Rt #10 (later City Transit #7) south loop, after the service to the carbarn was cut in 1940. This loop is still wired today, and was last used regularly when the bridge over a creek on Patterson Road was torn up several years ago. At some point after purchase by City Transit and prior to 1962, the #7 line was extended to loop at the SE corner of Patterson and Woodman via Rainbow, Woodman and then back to Patterson. The trolley bus rollsigns called out "7 EWALT" or "EWALT CIRCLE", even when they looped at Woodman. For a short time in the late 60s due to road construction, the line looped temporarily via Flesher, Pauline and Barney. I think the bar you're thinking of is today called "Lefty's Village Tavern", and is at the NE corner of Patterson and Bauer. Approximately 2614 Patterson Rd. It's an awfully big parking lot just east of Lefty's -- could that be your lumberyard? Street views in Google Maps (maps.google.com) might just bring back some memories for you. The Kingston loop I talked about would be at approximately 1242 Watervliet Ave. Those two buildings which don't face the road cry out "I was built after all the other buildings were built, because my lot is a different size than the other lots". Try entering 1242 Watervliet Ave Dayton OH into Google Maps. C'ya etb
trolleyfan 3 posts Jul 02, 2008 5:25 PM	Thanks for all the info. I still have lots of information in my head, but a lot of specifics are gone. Remember, I haven't lived in the Dayton area since 1966. I still come up to visit family once or twice a year, and ride the trolleys and try to keep up with changes, but a 5 or 6 day visit just doesn't give me near enough time. It sounds like you live off Watervliet. My Uncle Russ and Aunt Bernice lived 7 houses off Watervliet on Kennedy, and my Uncle Lamar started and owned Tobias Funeral Home, And I was born on the corner of Colwick Drive and Martel Ave. just one block off Smithville. Keep in touch and thanks for the info. Barry
csgiscombe 1 post Sep 27, 2008 1:37 PM	Dayton Railroad History I’m writing about railroads in Dayton. I recall that the PRR maintained two manned crossing towers in west Dayton (at W. Third and W. Fifth) and also employed a watchman to guard the Germantown Street crossing (even though that one was equipped with automatic protection) until 1969 or 1970. Does anyone know why these towers remained so long after the advent of automated gates and lights? Does anyone have anecdotes about them? Are there other interesting Dayton crossings that I’m not remembering? My thanks for any responses.
Pushall 11 posts Dec 18, 2009 11:33 PM	csgiscombe, there was a watchmen on the railroad crossing between Springboro pike (rt 741) and Drydan road just South of the Dorothy lane crossing in the early 60's. He was gone I think by 1969 when I worked at McCalls. This crossing is where the Northlawn ave railroad overpass is today
Andy 3 posts Dec 19, 2009 7:34 AM	Pushall, What did you do at McCall's? I worked there in the pressroom in 1969 also. It is depressing to view 2219 McCall st. on google maps.
Pushall 12 posts Mar 29, 2010 11:03 AM	Andy I worked in the mail room as a bagger. My father worked there as an Electro Typer. Sorry it took so long to get back to you. My internet usage is extremely hit or miss.
Nile 16 posts Feb 24, 2011 6:02 PM	After my parents passed away I was going through some of Mother's papers and she had cut out an article from the Dayton Daily News about the model railway in the station. A man salvaged the old railroad, engines, cars etc and built a model railroad in the basement of his house. I believe there was a model railroad club. He lived, I believe, in the southeast part of Dayton. I'm sure I don't have the article any longer. I believe the public library would have the article in the archives. I'm guessing this was maybe 1970-75.

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