At the Start of the Restoration

It is a late November day in 2006 in Lodi. I’ve been waiting for the eastbound Wheeling & Lake Erie manifest freight to show up so I could capture it passing the depot built by the original W&LE in the late 1880s.

It amazed me that that structure was still standing. It probably only survived as long as it did because it was used for maintenance of way purposes. The original W&LE had discontinued passenger service on July 17, 1938.

By the time I discovered this station it was in dilapidated condition. But at least it was still standing and I worked it into several images of W&LE freight trains and Orrville Railroad Heritage Society excursion trains.

The sign on the side of the station when this image was made is the first inkling that a restoration movement was afoot.

The restoration has since been completed and the depot is now the home of the Lodi Railroad Museum.

Article and Photograph by Craig Sanders

Tags: Lodi Ohio, Lodi Railroad Museum, W&LE Brewster Subdivision, Wheeling & Lake Erie, Wheeling & Lake Erie locomotives, Wheeling & Lake Erie motive power, Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway, Wheeling & Lake Erie trains