B&O Depot Gets New Home in Dayton Park

A former Baltimore & Ohio depot once located in Bowling Green, Ohio, has a new home in Dayton.

The depot was moved on Oct. 27 to another location within Carillon Park to serve as the boarding site for a 3-foot gauge railroad being built around the park.

Built in 1894, the depot was located on a B&O line that ran from North Baltimore to Tontogany. The line’s primary purpose was to host B&O passenger trains between Detroit and Toledo to the Washington and Baltimore.

The last passenger train to use the line was the Detroit section of the Capitol Limited, which ran for the last time on Aug. 11, 1966.

Carillon Park acquired the station in 1977 and situated it at the far end of the park where it served the Carillon Park Rail & Steam Society.

In its new location, the station is closer to the park’s entrance.

The new railroad being built in the park will have a locomotive powered by batteries and capable of pulling 100 passengers in two open air coaches.

The locomotive is designed to resemble a steam locomotive used in the 1850s by the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton.

The train and locomotive will be stored and maintained in a former horse barn that was moved from the Montgomery County Fairgrounds.

Dayton Rail Festival Canceled

The 2021 Carillon Park Rail and Steam Festival in Dayton has been cancelled.

An announcement of the cancellation cited “events beyond our control” but did not elaborate.

The event was to have been held Aug. 21-22 at Carillon Historical Park. The festival expects to return in 2022 on June 25-26.

The 2020 festival also was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dayton Rail Festival, Galesburg Rail Days Canceled

The annual Carillon Park Rail Festival in Dayton has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The festival will next be held June 26-27, 2021. The announcement of the festival cancelation noted that checks sent by vendors for tables at the festival have yet to be deposited and will instead be destroyed.

In a related development, officials in Galesburg, Illinois, have canceled that city’s popular annual railroad days celebration.

It was to have been June 25-28 and included events at the Galesburg Railroad Museum and a model train show.

It would have been the 43^rd Galesburg Railroad Days. The railroad museum still plans to open on June 2.

Rail Festival Set in Dayton on June 23-24

The 13th annual Rail Festival at Carillon Park in Dayton will be held on June 23 and 24.

There will be live steam engines, historical exhibits, railroad collectables vendors, free miniature train rides and food vendors.

Carillon Park Rail & Steam Society operates a 1/8th scale railroad as a working, interactive exhibit of the Carillon Park Historical Museum. There is no charge for train rides during the festival.

Admission to the festival is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors (age 60 and above) and $5 for children ages 3 to 17. Children age 3 or younger are admitted for free.

The park is located at 1000 Carillon Boulevard. Further information is available at http://railfestival.com/