All aboard: ORHS hosting Mother’s Day train rides

The Orrville Railroad Heritage Society will host a train event on Mother’s Day, May 11. The event will take place concurrently with the group’s National Train Day Celebration, with both designed with activities for the whole family.

The rides will be offered on two different types of rail cars. The first option is car No. 501, which is an open-air passenger car. The previous life of this car was as a 50-foot crane boom idler car used in wreck train service, with the conversion to an open-air passenger train completed in summer 2021. The rail car conversion project was funded by a grant from the Wayne County Community Foundation and from private donations.

The second option is car No. 208, built by Pullman in 1920 and originally a 12-section, one drawing room sleeper named Phantom that ran on the Atcheson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. The car was downgraded to a tourist sleeper in 1941 as newer cars were purchased.

“In December of 1952, the car was pulled from passenger service and used in maintenance of way service,” ORHS board member Anna Davidson said. “It went through several iterations before being sold to a private party in 2022 and was then acquired by the ORHS.”

The rides will run at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Pricing is $20 plus online ticketing fees for seats in open-air car No. 501 and $25 plus online ticketing fees for seats in the Pullman coach No. 208. Moms also get a free gift while supplies last.

Rides will leave from ORHS’s rail yard, 2174 S. Crown Hill Road, Orrville, between Scotts Miracle-Gro and Catrone Trucking. The depot events for National Train Day will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Orrville Depot, 145 Depot St., Orrville.

Tickets are available online via Etix, an online ticketing website, which allows one to purchase tickets and reserve seats on the respective passenger train cars.

The ORHS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1978 to promote the preservation of Ohio railroad heritage in Orrville, which owes its very existence and development to the railroad industry. The ORHS has ramped up its train offerings, rekindling the Santa Train and now offering a series of rides throughout the summer. The Mother’s Day rides are the first of many upcoming events and train rides.

For more information about both events and the 2024 schedule, visit the ORHS website at www.orrvillerailroad.com.