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Quick News
(ELKHART, IN)— Two twenty-two year olds were killed May 31, 2003, in Osceolla when the van they were travelling in was slammed into by a 70 mph eastbound Amtrak train. Witnesses say that the crossing gates and lights were operating at the time when the two pulled the van around a vehicle at the gates. They then proceeded to attempt navigation around the gates when they pulled into the path of the train. The two were ejected from their vehicle and died immediately.
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Editorial
Treasure Under Your Nose
Who'd have thought it? I thought I had discovered all of Grandpa's old Nickel Plate treasure by now. Was I wrong! While working through some things recently, I stumbled upon an old box that contained a great surprise. What was inside? Nothing much...to the layman, anyway. But I found a box full of mint condition, never-even-used 1925 date nails.
"A what," you say? A date nail was commonly placed in the center of railroad crossties when they were put down on the road bed. It was a common method of communicating to other track gangs the age of the tie in question. It was used for maintenace reasons. Since not all ties were replaced at the same time, this was an easy and effective way to "date" the tie.
As exciting as that was, I also recently came across some other date nails that were still in place in the center of several railroad ties. While recently crossing the tracks of the former Pennsylvania Railroad that crossed northeastern Indiana I happened to notice several ties still had their 1962 date nails in tact. Most had half the head mauled over but a couple were still ledgible. What a find from a historical sense. I had never looked before because I figured that they would have been long gone. After all, this line was Penn, then Penn-Central, Conrail, Norfolk Southern, and now CSX. Sure, the line has been downgraded in importance over the years, but I really thought they would have been replaced little by little until they were all gone.
Then, a tinge of sadness overcame me. I was standing dead center on what was the "Standard Railroad of the World" and finding reminders that it had been neglected since a few, surely proud, track workers laid down those ties more than 40 years ago. And today, most don't know or think of the relavance of that stretch of neglected property.
You never know what you might find. My next expedition will be along the old Vandalia right of way. Hopefully, a new treat will present itself, but it is unlikely. They cleaned it up rather well. Get out and see what you can find. You might surprise yourself and others!
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Feature
Discovering Your Communities Past--A Strange Happening
Because I love local history and look at anything for past, local railroading, I found myself perusing the local library a few months ago hoping to find something new. This time, I was drawn to the video section where I was pleasently surprised. A video with the name Columbia City-1938 caught my eye.
Now, this video was interesting for many reasons. First, the history of the video itself was interesting. It seems that there were companies that travelled to smaller towns and shot film. They then tried to sell those films to the communities. This one was found by the local fire department in the 1980s and handed over to a local video store who then transferred it over to video. The video store, the now defunct Hividex Video, had the foresight to gather several elderly locals to watch the silent film and identify many of those citizens within the film.
Great Grandpa as discovered in video: Columbia City-1938
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Secondly, my grandmother grew up in this featured town and was married in 1938. I then figured that she would really enjoy seeing my new treasure. I packed up my 19" portable television and the video and headed out to her house. It just so happened that relatives were in from Louisianna so there was quite a family gathering. All of us sat down to enjoy the video. As the film rolled on, it's rather long, an old local appliance dealer was shown. Grandma remarked right then that her father had worked there at one time. And in the very next frame, she exclaimed, "Well, there he is!"
We were all astonished! I rewound the tape and we watched it again several times. My grandmother is 86 years old and I don't know the last time she saw her father; at least not like this...in 1938 fashion. It meant a lot to me and I think quite a bit to her.
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Well, there was little in the film in the way of railroading. Nothing more than a Pennsylvania caboose sitting on the old Eel River (Vandalia) Railroad as the Memorial Day Parade marched past. Never-the-less, it was very interesting to see my small town the way it was when it was the center of the community and when downtown was vibrant. Some buildings are still here serving newer purposes while others are long gone and little more than vacant lots or sites for newer buildings. Towns were then important to everyones existance. It was the rarity to drive 20+ miles to the big city where today it is commonplace. The town provided everything that the citizens needed and the community was very close knit; something missing from most towns today.
So be sure to search your town for lost or misplaced treasures such as this. One never knows what is there until they look for it; or stumble upon it as I did. Thanks to Hividex Video for having the foresight and taking the initiative to preserve and make available this fine video. It should be noted that overall, the film was in very good condition given its age. Thanks to those that brought it together. I hope others find their local treasures and I hope Grandma got a bit of joy from it, too.
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