Part I

by Ken Lahmers

Editor

With gasoline prices nearing $4 a gallon, I've been apprehensive about continuing -- in 2008 -- the road trips I started last year and have shared with readers.

During cold weather months, I waited for warmer weather so I could revisit some more places I haven't been to for a while, and explore new ones.

On May 10, I couldn't resist the urge to take to the road. It was a sunny spring day, with temperatures in the mid 60s, and the bright green terrain beckoned me.

After shooting some photos of the annual bicycle rodeo in Aurora, I returned home to Kent, grabbed a little extra money and my route list to Carroll County.

I left at 2:25 p.m. Six hours and 137 miles later, I returned home after another satisfying trip through Atwater, Alliance, Minerva, Carrollton, Dellroy, Magnolia, Mineral City, Sandyville and East Sparta.

Heading down Routes 43, 224 and 183 through Portage County, I arrived in Alliance about 40 minutes after I left.

The gates were coming down at a railroad crossing, so I quickly pulled into a parking lot to get a photo of the train approaching for my rapidly expanding collection.

Alliance is the home of Mount Union College, but my route didn't take me past its campus. I haven't been past there in more than 30 years.

For three or four years in a row back then, I traveled through Alliance on my way to horse shows at the Mile Branch Grange on Route 62 east of town and to the Youngstown Charity event.

Entering Carroll County

Twelve miles down the road I rolled into Minerva, which is on the border of Stark and Carroll counties. At one time years ago I frequently passed through the town of 4,000 people.

I walked through the downtown, and a four-faced clock in front of an old bank building caught my attention.

On the side of bank building are a half-dozen murals depicting old buildings in town. I was told only one of the buildings still stand.

I walked by a couple of old-timers sitting on a bench and asked if it always was that quiet in town on a Saturday afternoon. "It's that way every day!" said one man.

I went past a former Tastee Freeze ice cream stand where I bought cones in years past, and found the building is now serving as a pizza shop.

On the way out of town, I snapped a photo of the old train depot -- now a business -- and the STEAM Train Museum.

The latter isn't really a museum that's open to the public. It's a Quonset hut-shaped building where railroad enthusiasts work to restore old locomotives and railroad cars. It was founded in 1985.

Outside were the museum's two locomotives, a diesel switcher and a steam loco formerly owned by the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad. The latter currently is missing its cab. It was built in W&LE's Brewster shops and is the only one of its kind still in existence.

The museum is part of the Minerva Scenic Railway, which until 2007 operated a weekend excursion train between Minerva and Carrollton. It formerly was called the Elderberry Line.

Heading toward Malvern on Route 183, I turned south on Route 43 toward Carrollton, the Carroll County seat, where I passed the county's bicentennial barn about 3 miles north of town.

The railroad line which I just mentioned runs along Route 43 part of the way to Carrollton, then goes around the east side of town past the county fairgrounds.

Carrollton has a former train depot, part of which is occupied by a pizza/ice cream shop. A couple of customers were sitting out on its patio.

The line going past the station is now operated by the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway, and appears to serve Fusion Ceramics, a feed mill and a plastic pipe company.

I headed down Route 9 to the fairgrounds, which I hadn't been to in about 25 years. I attended fairs and many horse shows there in the 1960s and 1970s.

Several of the old barns are really showing their age. The high school football team used to play in the infield of the harness track, but now plays at a new stadium. The infield was all torn up, but the old pressbox is still there.

I recall finding a $10 bill in the grass at the fairgrounds during a horse show. The 4-H riding ring is in the same place on the backside of the harness track, and a tunnel for pedestrians and vehicles goes under the track.

I parked my car in front of the tunnel just for a unique photo opportunity.

One unique thing about the Carroll County fairgrounds is that the county road department is adjacent to it on the north end.

After driving through the downtown area and past the courthouse, I headed west on Route 39 toward Dellroy and the Atwood Lake region. Next week, I'll pick up the trip from that point.

E-mail:

klahmers@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3155