Lima is a historic former

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing s ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Built for the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1887, it is a brick Queen Anne structure that rests on a sandstone

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

, 2007. Accessed 2010-05-13. The Lima station is located 261 miles west of Pennsylvania Station in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, PA, 705 miles west of

Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station (often abbreviated Penn Station) is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) to several of its grand passenger terminals. Several are still in active use by Amtrak and other transportation services; others have been ...

in New York, NY, and 228 miles east of

Chicago Union Station Chicago Union Station is an intercity and commuter rail terminal located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station is Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest. While serving long-distance passenger trains, it is also ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, IL along the former Pennsylvania Railroad's mainline between New York City and Chicago. Lima station was formerly served by the Pennsylvania Railroad's ''Pennsylvania Limited'' and by its flagship ''

Broadway Limited The ''Broadway Limited'' was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995. It was the Pennsylvania's premier train, competing directly with the New York Central ...

'' daily passenger trains between New York City and Chicago in its later years.

Railroad history

Allen County's first railroad line was built by the Indiana Railroad in 1854 and later subsumed into the Pennsylvania Railroad system.Rusler, William, ed. ''A Standard History of Allen County, Ohio''. Vol. 1.

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and New York: American Historical Society, 1921. By the early twentieth century, Lima was a transportation center located at the confluence of five major American railroads: Pennsylvania Railroad;

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

(a.k.a. B&O); New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad (a.k.a.

Nickel Plate Road The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road", the railroad served parts of the states of New York, Pennsylva ...

);

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Er ...

; and Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad (a.k.a. DT&I), and its economy was highly dependent on the industry-leading, world-famous

Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shop's location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between ...

.Hopkins, Phyllis G. '.

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

, 1980-05-15. Accessed 2010-05-13.

Free Serviceman's Canteen

From 1942 to 1970 the station hosted the Free Serviceman's Canteen, assisting troops in transit during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

Trains at mid-20th Century

Several of the above mentioned railroads had passenger trains making stops at the station. *Baltimore & Ohio **''Great Lakes Limited,''

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, until 1950, when it was replaced by: **''

Cincinnatian The ''Cincinnatian'' was a List of named passenger trains, named passenger train operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). The B&O inaugurated service on January 19, 1947, with service between Baltimore, Maryland and Cincinnati, Ohio, ca ...

,'' Detroit-Cincinnati, 1950-1971 **'' Night Express,'' Detroit-Cincinnati, 1960-1971 *Nickel Plate **''Blue Arrow'' (Cleveland-St. Louis)/''Blue Dart'' (St. Louis-Cleveland) *Pennsylvania **'' Admiral,''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

- New York, until 1964 **''

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

,'' Chicago-New York, until 1967 **''

Manhattan Limited The ''Manhattan Limited'' was a passenger train of the Pennsylvania Railroad which served the Chicago—New York City route. History The ''Manhattan Limited'' was originally the ''Seashore Limited'', an eastbound-only train which was rena ...

,'' Chicago-New York (only eastbound), both directions in

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 ...

era, 1968-1971) **''Pennsylvania Limited,'' Chicago-New York, until 1971 **''

,'' Chicago-New York (only in Penn Central/

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

era, 1968-1990)

Declining operations

In 1990 the last remaining passenger train, the ''Broadway Limited,'' was rerouted out of Lima. Through consolidation of class I railroads and subsequent abandonment and downgrading of redundant lines, the railroad industry in Lima has declined significantly: by the 1990s all passenger train service to Lima was discontinued and the former Pennsylvania's mainline through Lima had been relegated to branch line service by the Norfolk Southern Railway. As a result, Lima's Pennsylvania station went vacant, the rest of the city's passenger train stations, freight depots and other railroad buildings had long since been demolished, and by the late 1990s all of the 67-acres of buildings that once housed the Lima Locomotive Works had also been demolished.

Recent history

Unlike much of Lima's railroad-related structures (e.g., the Baltimore & Ohio, Nickel Plate Road and Erie Railroad train stations and roundhouses), the Pennsylvania Railroad station has survived in good condition. Its well-preserved historic architecture and its place in local history qualified it for addition to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2003 as the Lima Pennsylvania Railroad Passenger Depot. One year later, the station was renovated for

adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an existing building for a purpose other than which it was originally built or designed for. It is also known as recycling and conversion. Adaptive reuse is an effective strategy for optimizing the o ...

: although a new entrance was added and modern restrooms were attached to the station's rear, its historic integrity was little changed, and the yard surrounding the station was kept in its previous state. Working for a Lima business association, the LJB construction company completed the renovation project in May 2004. Today, the station is used as the offices of the customer service center for the Lima utilities department.Utilities Department
, City of Lima, 2010. Accessed 2010-05-13.

References

External links

{{PRR Main Line stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1887 Former railway stations in Ohio Buildings and structures in Lima, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Allen County, Ohio Queen Anne architecture in Ohio Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations Former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stations Railway stations closed in 1990 Former Amtrak stations in Ohio