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Columbus Delaware & Marion Electric Co. - 1932

       

Note: you must allow "pop ups" to see the movie.

        In 1932 the Columbus Delaware and Marion Electric Co. interurban line (CD&M Railway) was just one year from abandonment.  Luckily a company official made this movie and luckily it has been saved.  This silent 6-minute film is fuzzy and red hued from being copied a few too many times, yet, with a little patience it gives a very good overview of this 49 mile country interurban line in action.  If you wish to study a particular scene just pause the video.

        The film is divided into three parts.  The short beginning seems to be scenes that didn't fit the story line yet were too good to cut out.  The second and longest section shows the journey of parlor car #500 from the Marion depot to Columbus.  The third section is the return trip.

The beginning - The Marion freight Station; Marion Depot with CD&M interurban #500; a view of the employee timetable; two men getting on the car in front of the Delaware car barn; and a very hard to see interior view of #500.

The trip to Columbus - An interurban ride; leaving the Marion Depot; a happy motorman; the Scioto Power Station including scenes of two signs; a bridge over the Scioto River; alongside route #203 and the Scioto River between the CD&ME Co. / Marion-Reserve Power Co. Scioto Power Plant and Prospect; Delaware sign; street scene in Delaware (passing car #501, 500's twin, preserved at the Ohio Railway Museum in Worthington); Ohio Wesleyan University; Delaware business district (this scene is out of order and the car may even be going in the northbound direction); Delaware car barn with an interurban car; motorman;  along the Olentangy River between Delaware and Stratford; Perkins Observatory (scene out of order); climbing Kingman Hill just south of Stratford; Glenmary Park station on the north side of the Glenmary trestle; Glenmary trestle; Josephinum College; Columbus' AIU (now Lincoln-Leveque) Tower; birds; State Capital from High Street; and the State House squirrels. 

The return trip to Marion - The Interurban Terminal in Columbus; car exits the terminal facing south turns east on Rich Street and turns north on Third Street; Glenmary trestle with the Flint station on the south side the trestle and a small building  in the ravine;  bridge over the Olentangy River and the start of highway 315 at Stratford (The stone abutments for the bridge can still be seen and the small church in the background is still standing in 2008); crossing over the C&O RR north of Delaware; passing a southbound C&O freight south of Prospect; Car #501 in the country north of the Scioto Power Plant; Center Street in Marion; and back to the Marion Depot.

Film from the Ryan Hoover Collection