The Painesville Railroad Museum is "owned and operated" by the Western Reserve Railroad Association a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and was formed in '97
On February 18th, 1848, the Cleveland Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad (C.P. & A.R.R.) was incorporated by Ohio Legislature. The track was being laid as of November 20th, 1850. “The road will be finished by December of 1851. The first thirty miles from Cleveland to Painesville will be completed in august next.”
On March 5th, 1851 “The railroad, last week we noticed that the lot for the Painesville Depot had been surveyed. The depot is located on excellent building ground, as well as for yards and other necessary areas, being situated in a growing and desirable part of the village.” The lot was purchased from Col. L.G. Storrs and was donated to the C., P., & A. R. R. Company by the subscriptions of several of the most enterprising citizens of the village.
The railroad was to begin in 1851 as the sixth section of the road that was to run from Chicago, IL. to Buffalo, NY. This section would be built as the Cleveland Painesville & Ashtabula R.R. and was to be laid to the state line. The chief contractor was Alfred Kelley, the man who built the Ohio and Erie Canal. One of his minions was Colonel Jack Casement, he, having vast fame in our area.
Construction was started in July of 1851 in Cleveland and the rails reached Painesville in November of that same year. A celebration was held on November 20th, 1851 when the first train came to Cleveland. The festivities included band music, speeches, and picnics. These were held at the original station that was located north side of the tracks and were among the coaling and watering facilities and the mechanical and support buildings at the complex. This area is now an open field.
On November 19th, 1851, the first locomotive to ever enter Painesville arrived on Saturday last; of course everyone went to the depot to see it.
On February 16th, 1861 elected President Abraham Lincoln, on the way to his inauguration, stopped at the Painesville station and spoke in front of a crowd of several thousand people that assembled there. The locomotive, “William Case”, drew the train which bore Lincoln to his inauguration. Then on April 28th, 1865, “The remains of that late President [Lincoln] left Washington Friday morning… They will arrive at Buffalo this (Thursday) morning and at Cleveland Friday morning”. The mortal remains of Abraham Lincoln borne by cortege train from Erie to Cleveland with the “William Case” locomotive heading the funeral. This locomotive was later remodeled as the “188”.
The Lake Shore Railroad Company was formed in March of 1869 through the consolidation of the Cleveland, Painesville, and Ashtabula Railroad with Cleveland and Toledo Railroad. This name did not last long, for in May of 1869 the Lake Shore and Michigan Railway Company (L.S. &M.S.) was formed through the consolidation of the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad with the Lake Shore Railway Company. On June 22, 1869, the Buffalo and Erie Railroad Company merged and consolidated under the name Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Co.
During the Presidential excursion trains across the James A. Garfield farm from arranging a stop at a cow lane leading to the house leading to the house, Lawnfield.
The station that we are restoring is the second building to serve in that capacity for the lake shore & Michigan Southern Railroad in Painesville.
The lakeshore depot: shall the old one be repaired or a new one built? It was the talk of the town in 1891. On January 27, 1892, the Lake shore will build a new depot this summer. The new station will be made out of stone and brick; finished, it will be the ornament worthy of Painesville. The Lake Shore does nothing in halves; the cost of the depot will fun between $10,000 and $15,000.
In July of 1892, the ground is broken for the new Lake Shore Depot, which will be located just east of the present depot. February 1, 1893: New Lake Shore Station –A perfect model of beauty and convenience.
The plans for our station were made in 1892 as Painesville’s importance to the railroad grew. The design was printed in the July 20, 1892, Painesville Telegraph and read as such: The structure will be of stone throughout… the contractor will be the same as the one who built the Sandusky depot. The detentions are 111 feet long by 33 feet wide. The rounded east end was to be the ladies waiting room the squared off west end was the baggage and express package area, and the rounded center portion was where the Morse code telegrapher was located. Construction was started in September of 1892 and completion was in February, 1893. The exterior style of the architect is similar to what that most used by the railways of this country for depots and is broad and low with a wide overhanging roof. The walls are of fine sandstone; the roof is covered with slates and projects over the walls a distance of 12 feet, the exposed overhanging rafters and roof boards being smooth and oiled. A distance over 30 feet separates the building from the tracks the old station was only 12 feet distant.
The interior arrangements are most commodious and in finish is everything that could be desired. The rooms in which the public is most interested are the waiting rooms. The ladies room is a beauty. It occupies the east end of the building, is 21, 29 feet in size, and the semi circular form of the east end with its many windows and fine outlook makes the room very attractive.
The general waiting room, 44’ 8” by 29 feet in size, is the principal room of the station. This is well lighted and it’s vaulted and its vaulted roof with exposed frame of Georgia pine gives the impression that it is of vast proportions. On the north side of the room is the handsome telegraph office, while between the general waiting room and the ladies room is the ticket office on the north of the connecting passage and the lavatories on the south.
Both waiting rooms are finished in red oak, oiled and polished, wainscoting and seats being of the same wood and finish. The Lavatories are elegantly finished with marble and the plumbing of the very best materials and workmanship. Messers. Brohl & Appeil of Sandusky were contractors for the plumbing of the new depot. The lavatories cannot be used at present, as there is no sewer on Depot St. Ample baggage and express rooms are provided west of the general waiting room.
In addition to the gas fittings, the building is weird throughout for incandescent lighting and the handsome chandeliers and brackets are fitted for electric lights. The station is comfortably heated by steam. In fact it is furnished throughout with the most modern appliances and connivances. Inspector J.W. Leighton says it is the finest station on this line east of Cleveland, and that it is surpassed by none in convenient arrangement or elegance of finish.
We have every reason to be proud of the new station. The new station has certainly done well for Painesville. The opening was delayed for a few days because of some logistical problems, but was opened in late February of 1893.
On April 29, 1914, the New York Central Railroad Company was formed by the consolidation of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co. and about 10 other railroad companies.
In 1968, the merger of the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company formed the Penn Central Railroad Company. In 1970, the Penn Central went bankrupt. In 1976, the Federal Government under Conrail took over Penn Central’s freight operations.
16 daily trains, 14 of the Lake Shore, and 2 of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, B&O, served the station. The Painesville Depot was a busy place for many years, but as America’s dependence switched to automobiles, the number of trains dwindled. By 1970, there were only 4 trains that called on Painesville. Passenger service ended on May 1st, 1971 with the start up of Amtrak. The only passenger train now is the Lake shore Limited and it runs through Painesville overnight/early morning. The closest stops on the line are Cleveland, Ohio to Erie, Pennsylvania, and it does not stop here at Painesville.
The depot became a freight station for the New York Central and served in that capacity for many years through Penn Central, and Conrail. The last related function in the building was the Crossing & Signal department for Conrail. The C&S dept. closed the depot in December of 1992.
The depot was purchased by Edward Dunlap, a Painesville native, in the winter of 1993. The Western Reserve Railroad Association was formed in May of 1997 to restore and reuse the Painesville Depot. In the late summer of 1997, the Painesville depot was handed over to the Western Reserve Railroad Association; a new life for the depot begins.
To restore the Painesville Depot and to Return Passenger Rail to Painesville.
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