Recently, I had to run into Sugarcreek on an errand. As I was leaving town, the crew of this southbound train was preparing to leave town.
The scene could represent communities across the continent. Yet, there’s the subtle things that only someone from the area may notice. Reflecting on this, a couple quotes come to mind when I look at this picture. One says that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Many of us have also heard that a picture is worth a thousand words. On that last one, I’ll try to spare you from an endless ramble.
I don’t have any definitive memories of trains passing through Sugarcreek before the Ohio Central acquired the line from Norfolk Southern. However, one of my earliest “railroad memories” involved going with my father to the station. For a period of time in the early 1980’s, the Ohio Swiss Cheese Association rented part of the station – the onetime freight/baggage area, as a small warehouse for supplies that were housed there for the co-op’s members. Dad, working for a local cheese house, went there on a few occasions to pick up supplies. There was at least one time when I had the opportunity as a young child to tag along on a trip that he made there. A few years later, I spent a summer doing mowing and weed-eating – and the depot area was one of the places where I worked.
Now passing the depot, one can almost remember the days when steam excursions were leaving the station. Before the lights and gates were installed, it was fairly common to watch a ticket agent or train crew member flag the crossing as tourists would stand near the tracks trying to take pictures and videos of the departing trains.
Before the excursion trains arrived, Sugarcreek was like many small, agricultural communities. There was the normal, day-to-day activity of the local businesses. Once the excursion trains started, tourists came downtown and flooded the area around the depot, making it a busy place from May through October – the months when the passenger trains ran.
Sugarcreek has long been known as the “Little Switzerland of Ohio” – due to the many early settlers that came from that region of Europe. Like many small towns, businesses come and go. Goshen Dairy, which once had a small store across Main Street from the depot, is no longer in business. (Who wouldn’t enjoy a steam train ride, then after returning to town, would want to wander over there to buy a pint of their favorite ice cream?) Going up Main Street, a former automobile dealer remains busy doing repair work. The one business that was open on Sundays in downtown – the Swiss Hat Restaurant, is long gone. Other businesses have come and gone. This isn’t a unique phenomenon to Sugarcreek – but instead part of life in many small towns. Even the local Belden Plant office seen in the picture is no longer open. It’s now the home to a dog grooming business.
During the summer months, one could hear soft music coming from some of the Swiss-inspired storefronts along Main Street. Other businesses had large Alpine-inspired murals done by a local artist with mechanical trains and skiers incorporated into the paintings.
The station is still there. While it no longer welcomes passengers during the warmer months of the year, its small waiting room occasionally greets visitors who come to visit during special events held during local activities. Today, an occasional whistle can still be heard – coming from a steam engine moving around the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum, which is located about a mile south of the village. On the rare occurrence, the museum will even send a locomotive to the station as part of a community event.
While tourists still visit the community for its local Amish and Swiss heritage, the village has returned to much of its local, earlier small town roots. While the train seen here is largely made up of cars of stone, it’s still a reminder that although things change, they also remain the same. The Ohio Central is still there moving railcars of locally-produced brick and other freight through Sugarcreek, doing what the line was originally built to do. Likewise, the village’s agricultural roots continue to play a role in the community with the weekly auctions at the local livestock sale barn, and feed trucks still can be seen serving farmers from local milling operations.
Reflections from the Road 