(The following story by Malcolm Hall appeared on the Canton Repository website on October 15, 2009.)
MINERVA, Ohio — Aging locomotives and train cars are getting a second life as a Coshocton County railroad man came to town and agreed to buy much of the Steam Railroad Museum’s assets.
During the auction Thursday afternoon, Jerry Jacobson of the Coshocton-based Ohio Central Railroad System had the winning bids for two locomotives, two passenger cars, a baggage car and a red caboose.
The Minerva-based Steam Railroad Museum, a nonprofit group devoted to railroad memorabilia preservation, sold its assets. Among them was the train that carried passengers on short rides into Columbiana County’s West Township.
“I will probably spend about $80,000 here,” Jacobson said during the auction, which was conducted by Kiko Auctioneers & Realtors.
The two diesel-powered locomotives remain functional. Jacobson plans to take them south to Tuscarawas County, where he will launch a project.
“They are still quite efficient, even though they are old,” Jacobson said. “They will go south of Sugarcreek. We are building a roundhouse there and a museum. I bought those for $27,000 apiece. That is a great deal. They will be around for a long time to come.”
The auction attracted a sizable crowd to the museum site on the south side of Minerva at 177 Curry St. Along with train parts, the auction offered maintenance equipment and train memorabilia.
“I have never sold a locomotive in my lifetime,” Kiko said while preparing. “I will probably never sell another one. This is an opportunity to put one in your backyard. Your neighbors will love you.”
Officials with the Steam Railroad Museum decided to sell their assets because they found the cost of operating the museum and excursions too prohibitive.
“You hate to see it go,” said Emerson Roth, who had been president of the Steam Railroad Museum. “I had 22 years invested in this. We have been down here 12 (years).”
Roth declined to say how much money will be brought in by the sale.
“That is between us and the (state) attorney general’s office,” Roth said.