The life of my small town changed forever when the railroad arrived

Fred Steiner, formerly of Bluffton and now of Cincinnati [and the founder of the Bluffton Icon and Ada Icon], presented a program in early November 2025 in a club member meeting held in the Cincinnati Union Terminal. Steiner has presented the program several times; it is now available on YouTube.

The presentation titled “The life of my small town changed forever when the railroad arrived” is a narrative of the three railroads that once passed through Bluffton. Those include:

• The abandoned Western Ohio Railway, an electric interurban, whose rails are still embedded in concrete under Main Street

• The abandoned Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad, whose station remains today as a business on North Main Street near the community swimming pool

• Norfolk Southern Railroad, which today has one local round-trip freight pass through town

Steiner’s presentation of about 40 minutes includes over 70 photos, 10 maps and several timetables, demonstrating the importance of the railroads in Bluffton. 

Some of the information in the program includes:

• In 1907, the Western Ohio Railway provided Bluffton with 14 morning passenger stops, 18 from noon to 6 p.m. and 10 after 6 p.m., five days a week.

• In 1893, over 100 Bluffton residents traveled by rail from Bluffton to attend the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

• Each summer in the 1920s, a special 10-passenger car train took over 600 Bluffton and area residents to Cedar Point and returned them later in the day.

• In the 1890s, Bluffton was one of the largest railroad shipping points in the United States for dressed poultry. 

The Cincinnati Railroad Club, formed in 1938, has several hundred members, has its home in the Cincinnati Union Terminal, and offers monthly programs and a variety of railroad events throughout the year.