Rome History

Some of us have been here for quite some time and may take the past for granted. In conversation the other day someone mentioned uthe tracks”, with the response, what tracks”? In about 1672 the tracks” were laid and the first steam engine train ran through Rome. This was going to be a great service. People came from all over the area to see the big event. My father was a small baby then and his mother took him upstairs and they could faintly see the black billowing smoke of the steam engine as it moved down the tracks about a mile away. That train line and the depot were where the Greenway trail is being built now. Both freight and passenger trains passed through the area and a telegraph service was available also. Some of the original Station Agents were Arthur Reeves, Lee Archibald and Richard Johns. By the 1940 the service had dwindled and the Station was only open a few hours a day. Then in the 50’s the last steam engine was replaced by diesel engines. ln1955 the agent no longer reported to Rome and in 195 the Station was torn down. Trains continued to use “the tracks” until the late 1960’s. After that, the tracks crossing Route 6 and the hump in the road were about all that remained. In 1983 the hump was removed because it was a dangerous spot for people driving too fast. Later there was talk of a high speed train using the tracks to run from Ashtabula to Youngstown but nothing ever developed. Then in the late 90’s the Green Way Trail become a popular idea for “the tracks” and the section through Rome should be the final section to link the north walkway to the southern walkway.