The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad — known as the Nickel Plate Road — gave it to Canton in 1957.
CANTON The city still owns a steam train that spent three decades in Mother Gooseland.
The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad — known as the Nickel Plate Road — gave it to Canton in 1957 for "the purpose of constituting an historical and educational monument to the steam locomotive era of railroading," according to city documents. Canton agreed to preserve the train in a public location.
Today, engine No. 3960 and its coal tender (a fuel car pulled behind the engine) are in Minerva. Canton wants to sell them.
How did it get to Minerva?
After Mother Gooseland closed, the Silver Throttle Engine Association & Museum (STEAM) purchased the train for $1,001 under the condition that it'd be refurbished and publicly displayed in Canton, according to a 1991 agreement. It could not be sold without first offering the city the same option.
STEAM, however, "fell apart over the years," City Engineer Dan Moeglin said.
City officials said the nonprofit didn't deliver on its promise. The train's exact whereabouts between 1991 and 2009 were not closely tracked.
"I think it was, in part, just forgotten," said Public Service Director John Highman.
The locomotive and tender were rediscovered nearly a decade ago when Moeglin read a newspaper advertisement for a Kiko auction. The steam engine was mentioned, but not included, in the auction advertisement.
Moeglin said the city's park director "did a little digging" and, after consulting with the Law Department, learned STEAM sold the train without the proper authority.
John Corns, of the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, said late founder Jerry Jacobson traded about $70,000 of equipment with STEAM in the early 2000s. The train, stored in Canton and later Minerva, was part of the exchange.
The plan was to display the steam engine at the roundhouse, which was completed in 2011. Then, the city of Canton called and spurred "back and forth for several years," Corns said.
"We've been trying to get to the bottom of the whole thing since then," he said.
What happens now?
Moeglin said more urgent, daily city business derailed a swift resolution.
Canton also wanted to honor its original agreement with the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, which merged into the Norfolk & Western Railroad in 1964. The railroad provided a written release from the agreement in August 2017.
"So we're out of the original agreement from '57, and now we have a steam engine that we need to dispose of," Moeglin said.
The wheels began turning again when Ohi-Rail Corporation, the Minerva-area railroad where the train is located, wrote to the mayor's office earlier this year. Highman said the gist was, "Hey, your train is still sitting here."
Highman informed City Council of the train and the city's claim to it at a committee meeting in early June. He said it was "the single-most interesting scenario" he's encountered during his half-decade with the city.
Council members were asked to help the train reach a new destination and will vote June 18 whether to sell it. If approved, potential buyers should be able to start bidding by the end of July, Highman said.
Officials said the train is beyond the city's ability to repair but cannot be sold outright. State law requires municipalities to sell valuable unwanted property to the highest bidder, but Canton can stipulate that the buyer has to restore the train.
"We just want this thing protected and preserved and restored so that it can essentially serve the intended purpose," Moeglin said.
That's what the Age of Steam Roundhouse wants to do, Corns said.
The steam train in question once ran on the nearby railroad. Corns said its last run was from Zanesville to Brewster, where it was built, past the future site of the Roundhouse.
"We would like to see that historical connection maintained here in Sugarcreek," he said.
Reach Kelly at 330-580-8323
or kelly.byer@cantonrep.com
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