LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Families and train history buffs took advantage of a rare opportunity to get up close to the last steam engine built in Lima.
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the construction of the locomotive on display at Lincoln Park, an open house was held on Sunday. Visitors could explore the depot, caboose, and passenger car. They also heard from experts about how the conductors shoveled coal to power the steam engine, how the depot was moved from Uniopolis to Lima, and just how big of an impact the trains and refinery had on our economy, shaping Lima into the manufacturing town it is today.
"They were considered to be the finest steam locomotives in the world. Not just US but in the world, and I think people should be proud of that. Also, one of the things that went along with the industry in Lima was the refinery. John D. Rockefeller built the first refinery, which took crude oil in the front and product out the back. That was the first one, and the two worked together really well," explained Neil Winget, the chairman of the John Keller Foundation.
According to the Allen County Historical Society, Lima Locomotive Works was the third-largest locomotive manufacturer in the country.
