Early Years (1938-1964)
A group train ride aboard a steam train in 1938 started our continuous shared journey. Several enthusiasts (railfans) aboard a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad excursion passed around a paper asking those interested in forming a club in Cincinnati to sign their names.
Less than a year later, members of the new Cincinnati Railroad Club were meeting monthly inside Cincinnati Union Terminal (CUT), starting a long-running relationship with the city’s iconic passenger station. The first club meeting inside CUT was in room S-117. The club’s logo incorporating a streetcar and steam locomotive on either side of CUT was created the same year. It’s the same logo in use today.
In the early years, riding trains and excursions was a primary activity for the club with passenger train service still readily accessible. The club took excursions on the Cincinnati & Lake Erie interurban, to the Southern Railway’s Ferguson Shops in southern Kentucky, Portsmouth, Ohio on the Norfolk & Western, and many other destinations. In June 1940, the club started a 17-year romance with central Kentucky short line Frankfort & Cincinnati Railroad with a special charter.
By March 1943, more than 15 members of the club were serving in the armed forces During World War II. The club’s newsletter, Headlight & Markers, listed their names. Meetings continued in CUT after the war’s end, but a clubroom would have to wait.
The first post-war fan trip was May 18, 1947. This round trip on the B&O’s streamlined train “The Cincinnatian” took club members from Union Terminal to Parkersburg, West Virginia. The group was allowed to tour the B&O’s shops in Parkersburg, or take a traction ride to Marietta, Ohio. Cost for the fare was $13.
In 1948, club meetings were held in the private dining rooms of the Gateway Restaurant within CUT. This arrangement lasted until 1965. In May 1948, the club took the Southern Railway to Georgetown, Kentucky, for another interlude with the F&C to Frankfort. The Cincinnati Enquirer printed extensive photos of members on the trip in its Sunday magazine. There were trips to Louisville on the “Pan American” in 1950 and more trips to the F&C in the coming years.
Nonprofit Status Achieved
In 1954, the club took the important step of becoming incorporated as a nonprofit organization in Ohio.
In March 1965, the Union Terminal Company leased room N-116 to the club. This was the first headquarters for the club. The club’s extensive library and memorabilia collection was brought to CUT. Annual dues in 1965 were $6.
Club-Hosted Train Excursions (1965-1995)
The club helped reintroduce tens of thousands of people to the magic steam locomotives bring by sponsoring and operating excursions out of Cincinnati to points including Portsmouth, Ohio, Danville, Kentucky, and Muncie, Indiana among other locations. The hiss of steam from a steam locomotive’s cylinders and the thunder of smokestack talk was etched into the memories of countless onlookers who lined roadsides and station platforms to see an “old steam train” go past again. The locomotive numbers 4501, 2819, 610, 765, 611, and 1218 are among those that fans remember well from these steam trips.
There were trips powered by diesels sometimes too, and the last trip in 1995 was hauled by Amtrak to Maysville, Kentucky.
Tower A Restoration and Tours
In 1989, club members took out a loan to pay more than $100,000 to restore Tower A, the original control tower for the Union Terminal train yard, with the opening of the new Cincinnati Museum Center. The club made Tower A its home, welcoming in the public at no cost for more than 25 years.
In May 2016, necessary and much-needed restoration and renovations to CUT, including Tower A, came with the requirement for the club to move out of Tower A. Everyone in the club thought this move would be temporary, but it wasn’t. How to make Tower A accessible again remains a topic under serious discussion. The club temporarily held their meetings in Spring Grove Village. In February 2022, the club reached a deal with Cincinnati Museum Center to move back into Cincinnati Union Terminal.
This has enabled the club to curate our library and collection of photo negatives, slides, and railroad antiques. Club meetings are once again held inside the Terminal at the easy-to-access Newsreel Theater near the front doors to the Terminal’s grand and colorful rotunda. The club has met inside CUT for the majority of its existence, and walking inside what many consider one of the grandest railroad stations and Art Deco architecture ever built is truly a treat for visitors and longtime members alike.
