Train depot takes on new life

FT. JENNINGS - The Fort Jennings Train Depot was a lively place last Sunday. A telegraph machine tapped out messages. Occasionally a train whistle would sound. A continuous stream of people stepped into the lobby looking at train schedules. In the baggage room Dr. Wesley Klir greeted visitors to the depot.

Reminiscent of the early part of the 20th century the depot that had once been a busy place took on new life during an open house.

“My dad always had an interest in railroads and trains,” said Dr. Klir. “I was always interested in preservation.” The two men began working in 2005 to disassemble, then rebuild the depot.

The depot was constructed in Fort Jennings around the turn of the 20th century by the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, later known as the Nickel Plate Railroad.

The station served passengers and freight until it was abandoned and later moved in the late 1960’s.

“A gentleman bought it and moved it to the country. He eventually donated it to Fort Jennings,” Dr. Klir said. “The town had no interest in it since it would have taken quite a bit of money to fix.”

In 2005 Dr. Klir became the private owner of the depot. “When I looked at it I realized I would not be able to move it in one piece,” he said. “It was going to have to be taken apart one piece at a time.”

Dr. Klir and his father Joe Klir began using their spare time to take the depot apart. “It was a slow job,” Dr. Klir admitted. “You have to realize there are probably about 100 boards on each wall. We had to label them and store them.”

By 2007 the two men had removed all the interior walls and taken out the windows.

“Then we realized we needed help to take the exterior down or it would possibly fall down.” A 12-member crew of volunteers came to help take off the siding and store it.

About two weeks after they did this the remaining part of the building fell down.

In 2007, the Klirs were waiting for corn to be taken off in the field where the depot was to be located. “Shortly after the corn was taken off my father died,” Dr. Klir said.

“Then the project took on a whole new meaning. We had been doing it together, now half of the team was gone.” After a short period Dr. Klir decided he had to complete the depot.

‘My dad had put so much into renovating this building,” he said. “He had taken out every nail to take the depot apart.” Dr. Klir said taking the building apart was difficult work. “It was dirty hard work,” he said “And at the end of the day all you had was a pile of boards to show for your work.”

With the help of many volunteers Dr. Klir reconstructed the depot at 15153 Township Road 22K. He put a basement under the building.

After the work was done Dr. Klir used the memories of many area people to reconstruct the inside to its original condition.

Old benches sit inside the lobby. A pot bellied stove can be lit to warm the interior of the depot. A window opens into the operator’s office where passengers bought their tickets and checked on schedules.

Inside the operator’s office are a working telegraph, an old typewriter, and a place for levers to change the signals on the track.

The baggage room has been made into a museum with railroad and Ft. Jennings memorabilia.

‘My dad had collected a lot of train items,” Dr. Klir said. “He went to garage sales, auctions and even checked on EBay to find railroad signals, lights, and even the telegraph machine.

On Sunday, the son of a former operator of the Fort Jennings Depot sat at the telegraph machine tapping out messages.

“My dad Edmond Bidenharn worked as an operator for 50 years,” Bidenharn said. “Most of his career was here as a Ft. Jennings agent. Bidenharn also had a 41-year career as a telegraph operator working in Toledo.

In the basement is a working model of a train station. ‘This is a work in progress,” Dr. Klir said.

Outside the depot is a track. Dr. Klir hopes to extend the track and eventually put on a hand car on the track. He also owns a caboose he hopes to renovate and put on the site.

“I think history should be a hands-on experience,” Dr. Klir said. “I hope children can come to this site and learn about Fort Jennings and railroad history in a special way.”