Epilogue

With the Lake Shore Electric out of business, the task of dismantling the system began. Crews worked from the cut made by the subway project at Bellevue eastward toward Ceylon Junction, removing overhead wire, pulling up rails and ties, dismantling bridges, and hauling all of the materials to Sandusky and Fremont. The Monroeville substation passed to Toledo Edison, the public utility company that inherited most LSE property. The building was being used as an office and tool storage in 1939, while the electrical equipment in the yard behind continued to supply commercial electricity to the town. In later years the building was used for storage only.

Retired agent Irv Williams, the face of the LSE in Monroeville for the railway's entire existence, died at the home of his daughter in Ashtabula on October 6, 1948. His funeral was held in Monroeville and he was laid to rest in Riverside Cemetery, across the street from the abandoned LSE right-of-way.

Among the many LSE cars that were sold for new purposes was steel passenger coach number 171, built by Jewett in 1917. It was purchased by Monroeville merchant Carl Tyler on July 26, 1939, probably for the same $140 that most LSE car bodies were sold for (about $2560 in 2019.) It was hauled to Monroeville by truck and placed on a small lot in front of the Bartler Hotel (formerly the Commercial House and Railroad Hotel, built in the 1830s) where it was converted to a diner. In 1942 both the hotel and the diner were purchased by Frank Rinello, who continued to operate them until his death in 1986. By then the diner had become increasingly dilapidated and there was no interest in preserving it in that role. Instead it was purchased by Ben Minnich of the Seaside Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine in August 1987. Minnich paid $775 for the car and planned to spend a much larger sum to fully restore it for addition to the museum's collection of nearly two hundred other cars. Unfortunately, the sponsor who was to provide the funds for restoration passed away and the project languished. As of 2010, car 171 had severely deteriorated after twenty-three years of outdoor storage, and its current status is unknown. The hotel was renovated by new owners and re-opened as a tavern style restaurant with plans to operate the upper floors as a bed and breakfast. On the night of December 29, 1997, however, the historic building was partially gutted by a fire that was suspected to be arson. After several years of debate and failed proposals to restore the hotel, it was finally demolished in 2003. Today only a vacant lot remains where the hotel and diner once stood, a site steeped in two hundred years of history.

The LSE's Monroeville substation has been more fortunate. Sometime after the early 1960s ownership of the building passed from Toledo Edison to the village of Monroeville. While it has continued to be used for storage over the decades, the city has also made repairs and maintained the structure. The residence and lunch restaurant next door went through several renovations over the years, surviving until sometime between 2013 and 2016.

The railroads which had once brought prosperity to Monroeville's grain industry remained much longer than the interurbans, but have since mostly disappeared as well. The New York Central's southern division was abandoned in 1968 and the track removed, leaving many grain elevators along the line without rail service. The B&O was mostly abandoned between Sandusky and Mansfield in the late 1970s, ending railroad operations over a line that had begun 140 years earlier. A short section of B&O track was retained and became a siding from the W&LE to serve the grain elevator located on US 20. As of 2019, the W&LE is the only railroad still operating in Monroeville. The passenger and freight depots of the NYC are still standing, and in recent years the former was renovated and now serves as headquarters and meeting place for Firelands Rails to Trails, and is also open as a railroad museum on select weekends. The depot shared by the B&O and the W&LE was moved to The Coupling Reserve, an Erie County Metropark north of Milan, in May 1979, where it has been restored as a meeting hall available for rent.

Present Relics

No tour of the LSE territory today would be complete without the sites and relics that can still be found in the quiet village of Monroeville. While the LSE roadbed along US 20 between Norwalk and Monroeville has been thoroughly erased by the modern four-lane highway, surprisingly there are still a few traces of the SBM&N along Washington Road. At some spots, the mound of the roadbed can be seen, as well as fills made in low areas. Near Drake Road, where the road crosses the east branch of the Huron River, a bridge abutment is still in place. The large vacant lot at the corner of River Road and Hamilton Street is the location of the never-finished powerhouse. The foundation appears to be gone, but may still be in place under a thin layer of soil. In dry weather a large rectangular plot of grass on the lot turns brown much sooner than the surroundings. Just north of the site is the former factory of the Edna Piano & Organ Co., now a warehouse store selling vintage furniture, architectural salvage items, and commercial equipment and furnishings.

At the south edge of town, where the rerouted US 20 veers away from the old Norwalk Street, is Riverside Cemetery. This is the final resting place of longtime LSE station agent Irv Williams. Among the graves are other former LSE employees, and many Heymans, Armstrongs, and Van Horns, important names in Monroeville's history.

Opposite the cemetery, on the northeast side of Norwalk Street, a faint remnant of LSE roadbed can be seen, especially in the fall and winter months. The LSE tracks followed the edge of Norwalk Street, then crossed South Main Street and paralleled the W&LE railroad tracks to the west. This is the spot known as Cone's Crossing, named for Thomas Cone, whose home stood here from 1866 to 2005. In 2012 the LSE roadbed between Cone's Crossing and the river became a link in the North Coast Inland Trail, a bikeway that will eventually span 105 miles between Lorain and Toledo, mostly over former railroad right-of-ways. Approaching the river from the east, the trail ascends an earthen ramp and crosses the river over the former NYC railroad bridge. From here, the east abutment and piers of the LSE bridge, built in 1901 and dismantled in 1938, are clearly visible. The east pier has been severely eroded and washed out of place in recent years, but the west pier is still in place and mostly intact. The west abutment is most likely also in place but is obscured by overgrowth on the steep riverbank.

Directly across the street from the bridge is the Monroeville substation, well-preserved much as it was during the interurban era. Public power for Monroeville is still provided by a modern electrical substation immediately behind the building. A careful inspection from the outside reveals many details of the building's construction and hints of the equipment changes made over the years. The windows in the foundation near the rear of the building are evidence of the basement where the transformers were originally located. The clay pipes through which the high-voltage AC lines entered are still in place above the rear window on the south wall, while the much larger AC insulators added later are visible in the west wall. Above the overhead door are the small pipes which conducted the DC feeder wires out of the building to the overhead wires that powered the cars. The interior of the building has been used for storage ever since the end of the LSE in 1938, first by Toledo Edison, and to the present by Monroeville's street and electrical departments. The waiting room is visible through the slightly wavy antique glass of the original doors, through which many an LSE passenger, employee, and a couple of armed robbers have passed. Even the potbelly stove used to heat the waiting room is still in place. The ticket window where passengers paid their fare to the station agent can be seen in the wall separating the waiting room from the substation room behind, where the rotary converters, switchboard, and other equipment operated, all of which was removed when the railway was dismantled. Clues as to where the machines were mounted can be seen on the concrete floor, and near the rear wall an opening in wood floorboards gives a peek into the long-disused basement.

The Star Creamery, later the Monroeville Creamery, was located just south of the substation on Ridge Street. A warehouse building connected to the former mill and grain elevator sits on the site today. Across the street, hidden among the brush and weeds, are the remnants of the Belle-Vernon milk depot, where LSE freight cars loaded and unloaded milk cans. All that remains are the foundation blocks, a few steels beams, and crumbling slabs of the concrete floor. The wooden loading platform has long since disappeared.

A modern high-tension line still follows the LSE right-of-way. To the west it crosses Monroe Street and accompanies the W&LE tracks to Bellevue. Along the way, concrete culverts and bridge abutments can still be found. One such set of bridge abutments is at Megginson Creek near Young Road, which was LSE stop 212. It was common practice for the LSE to attach grounding cables from their rails to an old car wheel, then sink the wheel in a stream or river to help conduct the returning electrical current back to the substation. These wheels were not retrieved when the tracks were removed, and collectors have occasionally found them in the decades since. Railroad historian and collector Fritz Kuenzel found one such wheel at this bridge site in 2007. It measured thirty-six inches in diameter and weighed over seven-hundred pounds. How many others may still remain to be found throughout LSE territory is anyone's guess. East of town the modern transmission line still follows the path of the line built by the LSE in 1902 from Monroeville, north to Milan, and east to stop 171 at Wells Corner outside Norwalk.

Monroeville was once a small town overflowing with railroad activity, and remains a quiet, small town today. The lack of urban renewal or modern commercial development has helped preserve a good deal of that history, whether in extant structures put to new uses or the remains of others that are gradually being reclaimed by nature.







1939 Sanborn map showing the former LSE
substation used as an office and storage,
while the former Monroeville Creamery
was used for storage by the milling co.
(Drew Penfield)

Irv Williams died in October 1948 and was
buried in Monroeville's Riverside Cemetery.
(Norwalk Reflector-Herald)

LSE car 171 was converted to the Monroeville Diner in 1939 by
local merchant Carl Tyler. This photo shows the diner as it
appeared in the 1950's.
(John A. Rehor photo)

The diner was located on Main Street/US 20 in front of the
historic 1830's hotel. This photo is from 1978.
(Dennis Lamont photo)

The diner had fallen into further disrepair when this photo was
taken in 1985. The diner closed in 1986 when owner Frank
Rinello died. It was purchased and removed in 1987.
(David Wilson photo)

LSE 171, the former Monroeville diner, at Kennebunkport, Maine
in 2010. It suffered greatly from decades of outdoor storage
and may no longer exist.
(Thomas Bailey photo)

With the diner removed in 1987, and the fire damaged hotel
demolished in 2003, only a vacant lot remains at a site
steeped in 200 years of history.
(Drew Penfield photo)

Site of the never-completed Sandusky, Bellevue, Monroeville &
Norwalk powerhouse, which was demolished in the 1930's.
Building in the background was formerly the factory of
the Edna Piano & Organ Co.
(Drew Penfield photo)

This sandstone bridge abutment along Washington Road be-
tween Monroeville and Norwalk is one of the only remains
of the SBM&N Traction Co.
(Dennis Lamont photo)

Volunteers with Firelands Rails to Trails enjoy a day outside the
organization's meeting place, the former LS&MS passenger
depot. LSE substation is in the background.
(Josh Wyrick photo)

Monroeville's B&O / W&LE depot was moved to The Coupling
Preserve Metropark north of Milan.
(Dan West photo)
 

Riverside Cemetery along the LSE right-of-way, is the final
resting place of several railway employees and many of
Monroeville's important citizens.
(Drew Penfield photo)

Headstone of longtime LSE station agent Irv Williams at
Riverside Cemetery.
(Drew Penfield photo)
 

LSE roadbed can still be seen alongside
Norwalk Street, across from the cemetery.
Modern US20 curves away to the right
just out of frame.
(Drew Penfield photo)

Cone's Crossing was named for the home
and farm of Thomas Cone. This monument
next to South Main Street marks the
site of the house.
(Richard A. Egan)

View east from Cone's Crossing at South Main Street. Pole line
follows LSE right-of-way along Norwalk Street toward US20.
(Drew Penfield photo)

View west from Cone's Crossing. North Coast Inland Trail is
built on the LSE roadbed here. W&LE railroad at right.
(Drew Penfield photo)

Approaching the river the pole line follows the path of the LSE
while the trail ascends a ramp to the former NYC bridge.
(Drew Penfield photo)

The east abutment of the LSE bridge is easily visible, still in
place nearly 120 years after it was constructed.
(Dennis Lamont photo)

The east abutment and two piers of the LSE bridge as seen from
the NYC bridge in March 2005.
(Jim Mihalek photo)

As of 2013 the east pier has severely eroded and been washed
out of place. The west pier remains mostly intact.
(Drew Penfield photo)

The Monroeville substation as it appeared in 1978. Overhead
door was added years before. Brick chimney was still in
place. B&O tracks were present but abandoned.
(Dennis Lamont photo)

A Monroeville substation has existed here in one form or
another from 1901 to the present day.
(Dennis Lamont photo)
 

Summer 2013 and the substation building looked better than ever
with repaired brick, painted doors and windows, and landscaping.
(Drew Penfield photo)
 

By 2016 the residence and former lunch counter next to the sub-
station had been torn down. Blue building in the background is
the former NYC freight house.
(Drew Penfield photo)

View through the front door in 2013. Original doors with antique
glass are still in place. Interior is used for storage by the
village street and electrical departments.
(Drew Penfield photo)

Potbelly stove that was used to heat the
waiting room.
(Jim Mihalek photo)

Missing floorboards reveal opening to the basement where the
transformers were originally located.
(Jim Mihalek photo)

Basement windows are clearly seen from outside the building.
(Drew Penfield photo)
 

High-tension AC wires originally entered through these clay tile
pipes on the south wall of the substation.
(Jim Mihalek photo)
 

Rear view of the building clearly shows the large holes with
plate glass insulators for the AC wires that were added
later, probably during upgrades in 1916.
(Jim Mihalek photo)

DC feeder wires to power the cars exited through these smaller
pipes on the north wall, above the overhead door.
(Jim Mihalek photo)

LSE right-of-way at left. Trees and brush at right conceal
remains of the Belle-Vernon milk depot.
(Drew Penfield photo)

Crumbling remains of the milk depot foundation and concrete
floor in 2014.
(Drew Penfield photo)

Site of the Star/Monroeville Creamery Co. Building in background
is former mill and grain elevator.
(Drew Penfield photo)

LSE bridge abutments over Megginson Creek near Young Road,
which was stop 212.
(Dennis Lamont photo)

LSE wheel used to aid grounding of rails discovered by
historian and collector Fritz Kuenzel.
(Fritz Kuenzel photos)

View east from bridge remains at Megginson Creek. Another
example of the modern pole line following the LSE right-of-way.
(Dennis Lamont photo)

East from Monroeville the modern power lines follow the old
"cut-off route" where the LSE built a transmission line in 1902.
(Google Earth)




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