Photo of the Month - February 2011

OSU's Diner

       The Ohio State University's dining car sitting next to the McCracken power plant on the OSU campus in Columbus. There are two versions of what OSU was doing with ex-B&O dining car #2025. One version has it that the dining car was purchased to use for overflow student dinning. Another that it was used as temporary offices and conference space. There may be some truth in both stories. In any case when these photos were taken by Edward Miller in February, 1969, the car had not been altered. It looks like you could get some wood or coal for the stove, supply the pantry and be in business.
       Some of the members of the Ohio Railway Museum tried to obtain the car for the museum but that didn't work out and in 1970 when the OSU track was removed, 2025 and the crane were sent to a Cleveland scrapper.
       You can learn more about the OSU's little railroad at Kyle Montgomery's website. The Fall, 2010 issue of the C&O Historical Society magazine has an excellent article - The Ohio State University Railroad Spur by Clifford Clements - that is another rich source of information about the OSU railroad.