Painesville Railroad Museum sees renewed interest during Hobo Day
Published by: The News-Herald
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The Painesville Railroad Museum once again kicked off its Hobo Day event on July 25. Although the event has been going on for many years, there were a few more upgrades to the museum for visitors to enjoy.
Tom Pescha, vice president of the association, said that they were lucky enough to get donated new steps leading up to their red caboose so that people of all ilks could get a peek inside instead of having to climb up the side like they had to do previously. Additionally, Pescha said, they got a donation of a modified lawn mower which was converted into a mock train engine with a trailer attached, because it doesn’t have an official name; part of the festivities for the day was having a naming contest for the little engine.
“We now have easy access and steps to go up to the caboose which is a big benefit; anyone that was slightly handicap, they couldn’t climb the ladder,” Pescha said giving a tour of the grounds. “It was also kinda risky and we were worried someone would fall so we had this made and now it’s much easier to get up there.
“ …We got the (new engine) about a month ago. It wasn’t working so we did some repairs to it… I didn’t think it was that normal but we have two of them now.”
He said the Collinwood High School Alumni Association was coming by during the event because the school is soon closing down, the connection between Collinwood and the railway museum, stemmed from when the alumni association originally owned their 999 Engine which is a reproduction of the famous 999 which broke the land speed record in the early 1900’s.
“They are coming out to see the 999 engine and the murals that we reproduced in the engine barn,” Pescha said. “Even though the school is going away we still have a memory of it. In fact the grand-daughters of the guy that built it are members here.”
He said getting younger people to join the historical organization was always on the forefront of their goals as they wanted to share what the significance of the depo, now turned museum, was and still is.
“Helping preserve history and knowing what was here in the past,” Pescha said. “Just like how many men went to war during World War I and II from the depo. A lot of them didn’t come back, well they came back in a box, there was a lot of activity back here in the day because we were a passenger station until 1971 when Amtrak took over.”