Springfield Big Four Depot was a Springfield, Ohio passenger train station of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, commonly referred to as the 'Big Four Railroad.' Construction on the station began on November 22, 1909 and it opened for service in 1911, The brick structure was located at 202 Washington Street and Spring Street, east of the Big Four's previous station on the south side of Washington Street. The

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

in 1906 had acquired the Big Four. However, the Big Four operated as a separate entity until 1930 when the Big Four was fully absorbed into New York Central operations. Many politicians, such as

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

in his 1968 presidential campaign, used the station as a place for campaign stops.

Passenger trains

In 1924 an average of 3,000 freight cars and 40 passenger and express trains passed through the depot each day. By 1926 the station was accommodating 26 passenger trains a day. Two years later, the depot was being used by 123,000 passengers. In 1947, in the postwar period, the station remained busy with New York Central trains bound in multiple directions: *Cincinnati - Columbus - Cleveland route: **''Cleveland Special,'' ''Midnight Special,'' ''New York Special'' (section connecting with main part of the New York-bound train in Cleveland), ''

Ohio State Limited The ''Ohio State Limited'' was a named passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad (NYC) between New York City and Cincinnati, Ohio, via Buffalo and Cleveland, Ohio. Service began in 1924 and continued until 1967, with some vestig ...

'' (bound for New York after Cleveland), ''Water Level Route'' (section connecting with main part of the New York-bound train in Cleveland), plus a six day a week unnamed train and two daily unnamed trains on the same route *Cincinnati - Toledo - Detroit route: **''Michigan Special'' and a New York Central extension of the '' Ponce de Leon'' (Florida - Cincinnati) *Indianapolis - Springfield route: **local unnamed motor train service, six days a week

Decline

The last trains on the Detroit - Cincinnati route, ''Michigan Special'' (northbound) and ''Ohio Special'' (southbound) had their final runs in 1958. In 1967 the ''Ohio State Limited'' had its final run, as did the ''Night Special,'' both on the Cincinnati-Cleveland route. The New York Central sustained a local unnamed remnant of the ''Ohio State Limited'' on the Cincinnati-Cleveland route. The

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

(formed from the New York Central-Pennsylvania Railroad merger) carried on this service in the final year of the station's existence. The Big Four Depot was ultimately demolished in February 1969 to make way for the Spring Street bridge, for State Route 72's bypass. The Penn Central reduced trains for the final months of service through Springfield to a Cincinnati - Columbus train, as a feeder to a Columbus connection with the St. Louis - New York ''

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlant ...

'' The last trains through the station ran on April 30, 1971.Passenger trains operating on the eve of Amtrak http://ctr.trains.com/~/media/import/files/pdf/f/7/7/passenger_trains_operating_on_the_eve_of_amtrak.pdf

References

{{Ohio-railstation-stub Railway stations in the United States opened in 1911 Former New York Central Railroad stations Former railway stations in Ohio Buildings and structures in Springfield, Ohio