About Us

                                                                                                Progress Updates

     When the planners began working on this project, they had hoped to break ground in the summer of 2021. This is the part of the plan that they thought would be fairly easy, but it turned out to be a much bigger obstacle than expected.

The team spent months looking for a parcel of land that would be large enough to fit The Little Railroad, be easily accessible to visitors, and be affordable. After some rejected offers, deals that fell through, and many miles driven in search of a location; a deal was struck for some property. 

      The land is the lynchpin for the entire project, and in November of 2022 that obstacle was overcome with the purchase of 41 acres in Springfield, OH. The project that has been in a holding pattern can finally begin to move forward.

                                                                                                      January 2023:

     In January, the first steps were taken to start clearing the land. The initial goal was to clear and prep enough land so that the locomotives, passengers, rail, ties, and other heavy equipment can be moved to the site and stored.  Another small area will also be cleared and prepared so that a maintenance building can be constructed in the spring. This will be a 40ft x 100ft building that will hold the locomotives and be a placed where they can be restored and maintained for the time being.

     As weather permits through the winter and spring, additional land will be cleared and prepped in anticipation of the tracks being laid. The goal is to have 1000 to 1500 feet of track on the ground by Oct. 1, 2023.

     On our homepage there is an aerial view of the site and you can see that the property consists of a lot of overgrowth that will need to be cleared throughout 2023 and 2024. More track will go down as land is cleared.  We will upload a proposed track layout soon. We anticipate that it will continue to be tweaked as we move forward. 

     The other big news for January is that one of The Little Railroads’ locomotives was delivered to Ohio Electric Motor Service, a repair facility in Columbus, OH. This EMC Model 40 has already been moved inside and the process of restoration has begun. While at the electric motor facility, volunteers will rebuild the two diesel engines, remove and recondition the two traction motors and main generator, replace the wheel sets, and other items will be restored as needed. 

     There is plenty of work to do on the site over the next few months. The property will need to be secured for security reasons, electric needs to be brought in to the site, equipment will need to be moved to the site, and clearing of overgrowth will be ongoing for some time. 

     In preparation of the land there are some drainage issues the need to be addressed due to some sitting water in several locations throughout. We will be working with the local Township and State Soil and Conservation offices to address these issues.

     Please come back and visit our website. We will continue to inform you with updates as major goals are reached.