PIX#1 - This 1915 post card from the collection of Ray Dell depicts an interurban trolley. Orange was the trademark color of the Fostoria & Fremont Railway’s interurban cars. (And, yes, we think life is good in Fostoria!)

“Tickets, please. Tickets, please. Toledo, Fostoria and Findlay Railway service to Risingsun, Pemberville, and Toledo. All aboard!

Strange as it might seem today, a cry something like that was once commonplace here in Fostoria and right on Main St., too, when the Toledo, Fostoria & Findlay Railway provided electric interurban train service from Findlay to Fostoria and on to Toledo.

In an era before the widespread use of private automobiles, interurban train service was a preferred mode of transport from about 1900 to 1930.

Three interurban lines operated in Fostoria during that period - the Findlay, Fostoria & Toledo Railway, the Tiffin, Fostoria & Eastern Railway, and the Fostoria & Fremont Railway.

The Tiffin, Fostoria & Eastern was the first line to operate in Fostoria. Beginning in 1892, eleven companies made bids to open the Tiffin line. T.F.& E. finally begain service on August 29, 1898.

Interurban trains were basically trolley cars that got their electricity from a buried third rail or an overhead line. The powerhouse for the T.F. & E. was located in Bascom and had a 112 ft. smokestack, quite a structure in its day.

Fostoria’s railway station was initially located in the Foster Block, the building that houses the Focus today. Upon completion, the 13 mile line between Fostoria and Tiffin was the longest in Ohio.

The Toledo, Fostoria & Findlay Railway opened on August 1, 1901 when the first trolley left the “switch” in front of the Hays House and headed for Findlay. Approximately 30 of the railway’s principals, employees and some leading citizens were on board. It was reported in that week’s Review-Dispatch that county treasurer McDonel brought along an “abundant supply of Singed Cats and the men in the party did their best to exhaust the supply.” We’re curious to know just what a “singed Cat” is. Anyone out there know?

The Street Railway Journal of Sept. 27, 1902 reported that the T.F. & F. was “one of the most promising interurban lines of Ohio. . .” connecting “the prosperous cities of Fostoria and Findlay.” At the time Fostoria’s population was roughly 8,000.

In 1905 the T.F. & F. extended service north to Pemberville and connected with a line serving that town and Bowling Green. The rails finally reached Toledo in 1908. Running north the T.F. & F. served Findlay, Fostoria, Longley, Risingsun, Bradner, Pemberville, Luckey, Stoney Ridge, Moline and Toledo.

The Fostoria & Fremont Railway opened in 1911 and was a joint project of the Western Ohio and Lake Shore Electric Railways to provide speedier passenger and freight service between Lima and Cleveland.

The interurbans handled both passengers and freight, including farm produce. Interurbans were an economic boon to farmers since perishable goods could be gotten to markets more quickly.

The T.F. & F. gained a major competitive edge when it snatched the mail handling contract betwen Fostoria and Findlay from the Lake Erie and Western, a steam road whose line the T.F. & F. paralleled

The interurbans were very convenient, with 18 departures from Fostoria for Toledo each day beginning a 5:25 a.m. The last train for Toledo left at 9:33 p.m. According to the 1910 timetable, the Fostoria to Toledo run took one hour and 33 minutes. In 1909 the one way fare to Toledo was 65 cents - round trip $1.20.

Eventually, all three interurban lines used the same station located on Main St. where Bill’s Men’s and Boys’ Wear is today. In addition to the general office and ticket office, there was a waiting area, shoeshine stand, refreshment stand and restrooms.

The car barn and the coal-fired powerhouse for the T.F. & F. were on Findlay Rd. That site was home to Kerr-McGee before fire destroyed it in 1976.

At the outlying stops, passengers would signal if they wanted to board the train. The timetable offered this advice.

“Local trains pick up passengers at all stops if signaled. Signal should be given by extending the arm across the tracks. The motorman will answer with two short blasts of the whistle.

At night hold a match if possible. Or hold a newspaper across the track so that the reflection of the headlight would be seen by the motorman. As the car approaches, step back from the track a safe distance.”

Safe distance? You bet!!

In spite of their popularity and an occasional coup like T.F. & F.’s mail contract, the interurbans had a difficult time vying with the regular steam railroads. But the interurbans had on interesting competitive advantage - they sometimes owned their own recreational parks.

Some of our older readers might recall Sam Reeves Park in Arcadia. The T.F. & F. purchased the 55 acre sight from Jacob Karns. On that land the railway built what it hoped would be the “finest inland resort in northern Ohio.”

It was a remarkable place. Opened in August 1901, it operated until 1925 by which time it was known as Midway Park. The centerpiece of the park was a 1200 seat pavilion similar to the one at Bascom’s Meadowbrook Park. J.E. “Sam” Reeves was president of the T.F. & F.

The pavilion featured “high class vaudeville,” with a new show each week. The basement was home to billiards and bowling. Outdoor attractions included a golf course, tennis courts, a baseball diamond, a merry-go-round and even a small zoo. Professor Leon Wineland of Findlay obtained the contract to provide music. Band concerts were given each afternoon and evening. There was even a shooting gallery. Tickets to the ball games cost 10 or 15 cents.

In the late 1920's the pavilion was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Eventually, the other buildings were demolished.

Opened in July 1902, Meadowbrook Park offered similar entertainments and for about 20 years was operated by the Tiffin, Fostoria & Eastern. Much of the interurbans’ business derived from these parks.

A ride on the interurban was a memorable excursion. The park’s season ran from mid-May into the fall and during the nicer weather passengers rode in “open cars.” The T.F. & E. also operated the country’s only “double decker” car.

In the past Northwest Ohio had working oil and natural gas fields. The Street Railway Journal said, “A trip over this road at night is an interesting sight for one who is unfamiliar with the oil districts. The country for miles around is illuminated by hundreds of small flames from escaping oil and gas, and the clank of the pumping machines, mingled with the steady hammer of the drills, makes a fitting accompaniment to a scene which is weird in the extreme.”

The through fare to Findlay was 25 cents and included admission to Reeves Park. Service was hourly except on Sunday when cars left every 30 minutes. The trip to Findlay took about a half hour though once, in order to accommodate some late-leaving baseball fans, the run was accomplished in 25 minutes. On a test run, Car no. 10, an over geared car, once attained a speed of 55 mph.

The interurbans also spawned a short-lived bus service here in the area. Beginning around 1905 Ural Buck of North Union St. was a driver for the T.F. & F.’s bus service between the Billman’s Station stop in Bradner and the town of Prairie Depot (now Wayne). Bus fare was a quarter.

A still existing piece of interurban history is the Log Cabin Hotel in Bascom, now a private home. A pretty spiffy spot in its day, the Log Cabin was a popular way station for salesmen traveling via interurban. It also hosted parties, conventions, meetings and other social get-togethers.

In is heyday the T.F. & F. employed over 50 people including mechanics, bookkeepers, freight agents, motormen, dispatchers, conductors and track and line men. One of the freight agents was a fellow named Frank Kinker who, as a retiree, was instrumental in inaugurating the tradition of Fostoria Day in Florida in the early 60's. The general manager of the Fostoria & Fremont was R.C.Guernsey, the father of the late Fostoria attorney James Guernsey.

The life of a motorman was a tough one. They often worked 10 hours a day seven days a week for their pay.

But they received other compensation. Folks in the outlying areas, appreciative of interurban delivery service, would present motormen with farm fresh produce or a dressed chicken.

Traveling via interurban produced some interesting memories. There are probably some folks who can recall riding the interurbans in from farms to attend school here in Fostoria. One poor woman, afflicted by motion sickness, became ill into the open-bottomed container in the rest room and lost her dentures. They were later found along the rails by a trackman.

Ohio was the first state to have an interurban line. It opened in 1889 and connected Newark and Granville. Eventually, interurban lines connected Toledo and Cincinnati. That 217 mile line was the nation’s longest for a number of years. At its peak the interurban system had 69 lines linking Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Indiana. The total investment reached $100 million.

Compared with steam and diesel engines, motor busses, trucks and autos, the era of the interurbans was brief indeed. The country was rapidly falling in love with the convenience of the personal automobile.

Where hundreds of people turned out in Findlay when the first interurban arrived in 1900, only some 50 were on hand to mark the departure of the last one on the night of January 18, 1932 with the temperature hovering around zero.

Al Bryan, editor of the Fostoria Review, recalled the end of the Fostoria & Fremont line. “Curt Guernsey set up a bar in one of the cars . . . and offered refreshments to all that rode the line the last day. They had quite a time.”

Twenty years ago F&F freight car No. 159 was spotted in a Fremont junkyard, a lonely relic from a different era. F&F Car No. 40 was restored and placed in the Trolleyville USA Museum in Olmstead Falls, Ohio.

Former Fostoria Mayer Ray Coburn supervised a Depression Era WPA crew that took up the rails from the city’s streets. Some cars were sold to cities for use in municipal trolley systems. Others were sold for sums as low as $50 for use as farm buildings, houses and diners.

It was a melancholy ending for the interurbans. But though they’re long-forgotten by all but a handful of folks today, they were state-of-the-art transportation for a score of years. The interurbans were enthusiastically used and much admired in their day.

(A tip of the Focus Fedora to Ray Dell for the use of his photos. Many articles, conveniently available at the Kaubisch Memorial Public Library, from the Review-Times, Advertiser Tribune, Courier, Review-Dispatch, Street Railway Journal and Seneca Sentinel were consulted to prepare this piece.)