| Volume 39 Issue 1 | September 1999 |
| Volume 39 Issue 1 | September 1999 |
I recently was surprised when I stopped for lunch at the Plaza Inn, a restaurant/truck stop on Ohio route 31, while on a run between Toledo and Columbus. While waiting to pay my bill, I spied a set of Mount Victory postcards, one of which caught my attention, both family and railfan wise.
The postcard of the old train station at Mount Victory on the old Big Four Railroad (the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad) is a godsend to me. My mother grew up in the Mount Victory area of Hardin County on the U.S. side of her family. The German side lived largely in Mercer County and the Canadian side settled in the Kitchner, Ontario area and traveled and moved (mostly by rail) freely between the three areas. In my school years, I spent many a weekend in Mount Victory and down the tracks at Ridgeway where the T&OC (Toledo and Ohio Central) crossed the Big Four.
Back to the postcard. This little station survivied into the late 1960's as I recall. When it was finally leveled, the Mount Victory Volunteer Fire Department expanded the firehouse by two bays, leaving a driveway between the house and the right of way.
While never having ridden the train to or from Mount Victory, I still have vivid memories of the station. My uncle, Richard Rizor, was Postmaster of Mount Victory from the mid 50's to early 70's and one of his responsibilities was to hang the mailbag, be certain it made it onto the train and pick up the inbound mail thrown from the train. If I didn't have to get a haircut that weekend, I would go with Uncle Dick to "hang the mail" and have plenty of time to get home to watch Twelve O'clock High and Wild, Wild West (the original).
In the 60's, the bag stand would have been about where the "B" in Big is. There was an alley that went from behind the station to Ohio route 274 that passed behind the Post Office. Uncle Dick would check the mailbox out front and the mail slot inside the Post Office for late mail. Anything going onto the train was cancelled with that day's date and placed in the bag. The bag was tamped to get all the mail settled, closed snugly with the drawstring then rolled into a tube shape. It was securely circled in the middle with a leather belt and a buckle that kept the bag in shape. If there were a good number of packages or a couple of big ones, all the mail had to be dumped, the packages loaded first and the mail (letters and such) packed around it. This was a much more common problem for Uncle Dick than you would imagine. Remember that this was in the pre-UPS days, at least in rural areas, and Fed-Ex was another 15 years away. Hardin County was a big farm area and the local International Harvester parts dealer was a couple of doors from the Post Office, right by the tracks. Other than REA, when a farmer had a breakdown and a part had to be shipped to Cleveland, Indianapolis, of Chicago for repair, parcel post was about the only option. Hence, on any given day, Uncle Dick had 3 to 4 packages that needed to go into the bag. Fragile items went by UPS truck to the Columbus SCF. The RPO hook was too rough on fragile items.
After loading and securing the bag, Uncle Dick and I would put the bag in the car and go park by the tracks beside Route 31. Normally, Uncle Dick walked to do this but when I went with him we took the car so we would have seats and could listen to the radio while we waited for the train. By Postal Regulations, Uncle Dick was supposed to observe the bag from the time he took it to the stand until it was in the train. Once hung, I could get us a soda, but Uncle Dick would not leave the bag unattended, even in those relatively crime free days. In winter, Uncle Dick would stand against the station out of the wind or across the street at Fred Kennedy's Ford dealership until the crossing gates lowered, signalling the train's arrival.
As the train approached the station, the RPO guys woud toss the mailbag for Mount Victory, aiming for the middle of the alley while aiming the hook for the middle of the bag. If all went well, the hook hit in the middle of the bag about the belt and wedged it snugly into the hairpin shape of the hook. If all went wrong, the bag dropped tore and scattered, and Uncle Dick would have to chase letters, inventory for possible damage and do a lot of paperwork. The recovered mail would the go into the next day's westbound bag. This only happened to Uncle Dick twice.
Uncle Dick would then recover the new bag and we would go to the Post Office and sort mail for Kenton and Ridgeway from Mount Victory. Uncle Dick and their Postmasters had developed a strategy, with the NYC's assistance, so that one of Uncle Dick's route carriers would meet with one of their carriers, swap mail to and from the train and eventually return to their home Post Offices. In this manner, it was possible for a letter to leave Kenton and be delivered in St. Louis the next day, all before jet planes.
More about the station itself. This picture shows the station shortly after it was built, I believe, which I think was in the 1920's. At this time the mainline was single tracked and the track to the right was an industrial spur. I know the Big Four was double tracked when I was born (1957) and I believe Uncle Dick said it was doubled sometime in the 1930's. I don't recall when New York Central obtained the Big Four. (CSX got it June1, 1999. Yeah!)
The photographer would have been standing a few yards to the east of what is now Ohio Route 31 (aka Main Street) and looking up the westbound main to the northeast toward Cleveland. The grain elevator would have been to his right and rear.
This line now has 150 pound rail, much heavier than either track in this photo. I don't believe these rails could even be used on a spur today. The signals had long since been moved east of town by the 60's, and most of the gingerbread had been removed by then. The station was all medium gray in its last paint job, with a red shingle roof. Note the reusable crates and old milk cans awaiting an express car to probably take them to Cleveland, though I don't think Indianapolis would have been too far for the milk.
I don't know if this was the only station Mount Victory ever had. I don't know when it was built or when it came down, but I know whom to ask. As I learn more, I'll try to do an updated article. As we all learn, too much of our history eventually slips away from us.
© 1999 Division 3, MCR, NMRA