On May 10, 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in Utah, as the first rails spanning the entire continent were joined with the driving of a symbolic golden spike completing the project.
The 150th anniversary of that event will be honored as part of Toledo’s 12th annual National Train Day celebration at Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza Saturday, May 4.
“We are planning a small reenactment of the driving of the golden spike, when the railroads opened up an unprecedented era of growth and prosperity, as the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads were joined together in Utah,” said Diane Reamer-Evans, Train Day committee member.
History and heritage
The commemoration of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad is just one part of Train Day, a free, open house event designed to teach attendees about the history and heritage of the area’s railroads, as well as providing information about safety around the tracks.
“It celebrates all things rail— past, present and future. And the educational part really helps people realize the important role both passenger and freight rail plays for our region,” said Reamer-Evans. “We like to stress safety near or around railroad tracks,” said Steve Rathke, locomotive engineer for Norfolk Southern. Dubbed “Engineer Steve,” Rathke has been a staple of Toledo’s Train Day celebrations for over five years.
A growing event
For Reamer-Evans, who has been a part of Toledo’s Train Day since it began in 2008, seeing the celebration became a major event has been a thrilling experience.
“It’s just grown every year. It started off being a fairly small event, and at this point we’ve got almost 50 different participating organizations— everything from people that are selling railroad memorabilia to the community libraries that have historical information. There are some wonderful model railroads with operating layouts.”
While Rathke began working with Toledo Train Day’s safety exhibits, now his responsibilities include some of the event’s biggest attractions: Bringing in the actual locomotives for attendees to see, up close. “It’s pretty neat for them to walk up next to a locomotive engine that’s running. I get up on the locomotive, I blow the horn, I ring the bell, I talk about how the engine works, how much it weighs, how much fuel it consumes,” Rathke said.
“It’s very difficult for people, not at a Train Day event, to get close to something this big, and this loud, to talk about how it works.”
A greater appreciation
Inspiring a sense of awe for these amazing machines and their impact on American history is one of the main aims of Train Day, Rathke said.
“I hope they walk away with a greater appreciation for what the railroads have done — not only for Toledo, and this part of Ohio, this region, but for the country. When you take a ride on Amtrak, every little town you go through, those little towns are in existence because of the railroad. They were built on the railroad as the railroads built the country.”
9:30am-4pm | Saturday, May 4.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza/Amtrak Station (trackside)
415 Emerald Ave., Downtown Toledo.
toledotrainday.org | Free
