AAO Newsletters Archived Online

The rail passenger advocacy group All Aboard Ohio recently completed a project to scan and post on its website all back issues of its newsletter.

The website address is http://allaboardohio.org/

The newsletters can be found by clicking on the “Library” tab and then clicking on “AAO/OARP Newsletters (1974-present).”

Although founded in 1973, the group did not publish its first newsletter until spring 1974.

At the time the group was known as the Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers and its newsletter was named The 6.53. It has since been renamed The Ohio Passenger Rail News.

The archive presents an overview of Amtrak history of much of its history, particularly about trains that served Ohio.

In its newsletter, AAO noted that the newsletter archive also documents the history of the non-profit rail advocacy organization as well as changes in Ohio rail transportation.

Text of the newsletters was scanned with an optical character reader, thus making them searchable via Google. Text can also be copied and pasted digitally into other documents.

In looking back on more than 40 years of chronicling the rail passenger scene in Ohio, AAO commented: “While much of the news, especially on the political side, was disheartening, the newsletters reveal a lot of behind-the-scenes machinations of why events played out as they did.

“Some of OARP’s defeats were cases of bad timing while others were the result of interests seeking to protect the status quo. But there also were successes in saving, improving or restoring rail services and stations. Most evident from these nearly 200 newsletters (and counting!) is that OARP, later doing business as All Aboard Ohio, has never given up the fight for better trains and transit for Ohioans.”

The newsletters have a series of editors over time including Tom Pulsifer, Ron Bergen, Ken Wilt, Stu Nicholson and Ken Prendergast.

Many of the archived publications were donated by past-Chairman Bill Hutchison.

Tags: All Aboard Ohio, Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers, rail advocacy groups, rail passenger groups