- Allen
- Auglaize
- Crawford
- Darke
- Defiance
- Erie
- Fulton
- Hancock
- Hardin
- Henry
- Huron
- Logan
- Lorain
- Lucas
- Mercer
- Morrow
- Ottawa
- Paulding
- Putnam
- Richland
- Sandusky
- Seneca
- Shelby
- Van Wert
- Williams
- Wood
- Wyandot
The museum located in Bellvue's railroad hub was formed in 1976. It was named for two different rail companies. The Mad River and Lake Erie was the first chartered railroad to operate in Ohio and the first railroad line to connect Bellevue with Sandusky and Lake Erie. The other half of their name comes from the a term that a newspaper in Norwalk, Ohio used in referring to the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, it called "a double-track nickel-plated railroad " a phrase that struck a cord with the public and the owners of the railway. The phrase stuck and became the nickname of the railway: Nickle Plate Road. The term as it originally implied, was that the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway had a bright future for prospects and financial backers.
The Museum has a wide variety of rolling stock for visitors to see, plus museum artifacts that include historic memorabilia of all sorts including an impressive array of lanterns and other light fixtures dating back to the 1890s.
The Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad dates back to the beginning of railroading in Ohio. In fact, this was the first chartered railroad in Ohio. Ground was broken in September of 1835 in Sandusky, Ohio. On hand was Governor Joseph Vance and General William Henry Harrison (who begin his presidential run the following year). In 1835 steam locomotives were not easy to come by. That's why the first steam engine of the new railroad took some time to arrive in Sandusky Ohio by boat.
The Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad ordered two locomotives from Thomas Rogers who was best known at that time for his textile machinery. But in 1837 when the pair of locomotives were ordered, Rogers had built one previous locomotive that was shipped to England.
With the arrival of the new locomotive they apply named the "Sandusky" railroading in Ohio had officially begun. The first completed stretch of track was from Sandusky to Bellevue and the first train carried one open air railroad car with benches and a single flat bed care used to haul freight.
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