Rail shops served as Norwalk's largest employer in 1879

Norwalk's first railroad was completed late in 1852 and followed the right of way now used by the Rails to Trails folks starting at North West Street.The line continued east through the town to Ohio Street and east past the Freight House on North Prospect and farther east just north of the St. Paul Parish Social Hall on Milan Avenue and then south of Whitney Field and on east in Townsend Avenue, where hard-working volunteers are clearing some of the right of way for more Rails to Trails facilities.This 1852 rail line was known as the Cleveland and Toledo; then the Cleveland, Norwalk and Toledo; then the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, which became the New York Central, and in its last years was a part of the Penn Central system. (I might have missed one or two name changes, but the several names are not the chief object of my story.)Soon after the railroad began operating in 1853, it was decided to locate the repair shops in Norwalk, I suppose because it was centrally located between Toledo and Cleveland. Most of the block between Whittlesey, Franklin, Prospect and Railroad was purchased and a substantial brick building built.The accompanying photo shows the shops from the south, where 10 bays opened onto a turntable where the engines could be turned to head into the proper repair area. Norwalk's new fire station is on the north part of the "shops property." There also was a boxcar/passenger car repair area and a paint shop on the south corner of North Prospect and Rule. The passenger depot and Railway Express was on the north side of Railroad Street near Whittlesey, and the freight depot stood where it still stands on North Prospect.By 1879, the monthly payroll for the shops was $18,000 per month; it was the town's largest employer. The company also operated a free drafting school for those interested, and compulsory for apprentice machinists.All of this was fine until consolidation prevailed and the shops were moved from Norwalk to Collinwood, east of Cleveland. The shops stood vacant for a time but soon were taken over by the G. S. Stewart Co. to manufacture wood products.While the shops were still young in 1863, a complete railroad engine was built here in Norwalk. There had been many repairs, of course, prior to that time, but this was the first time an engine was built from the ground up. Its name was the Monitor, and it was hailed as a genuine accomplishment for the Norwalk shops. An 1879 account tells us that in the past four years, six engines had been built in Norwalk. There also was a passenger coach built in the Norwalk shops as early as 1865. No doubt others were built there in those early times.You'll notice in the photo a water fountain to the left. For a long time, the railroad supplied itself with water from a reservoir near Townsend Avenue and Perrin Road. The water was piped along the tracks to the shops, and long after the shops were history, a pipe still emitted water on the south side of the old shops.* * *REMEMBER: My "Just Like Old Times" books are on sale at New Directions Design, 20 W. Main St., in downtown Norwalk. These contain my earlier columns fully indexed and in permanent book form.Henry Timman, an authority on Firelands history, resides in rural Norwalk.Henry Timman, an authority on Firelands history, resides in rural Norwalk.This photo shows a railroad shops operation that included 10 bays opening onto a turntable where the engines could be turned to head into the proper repair area. Norwalk's new fire station is located on the north part of this "shops property."Timman