Ron Simon's Stuff: Bucyrus man produces book about the history of rail
Kevin Kohls has a thing for trains. well, maybe a "thing" isn't strong enough.
Obsession? Fetish? Recreation run amok?
"I've always liked trains," Kohls explains simply.
Kohls' residence is, one Bucyrus resident said, the only place in town that has a huge railroad semaphore sitting on one side of his driveway on Southern Avenue. Close by Kohls' garage door is a white, wig-wag rail crossing signal.
Both come from the now defunct Erie Railroad.
Kohls found the semaphore in Allen County, not far from Lima.
A sign tacked on halfway up the semaphore's thin, black stem reads "802.2" which means it was located that many miles west of the Erie's starting point in Jersey City, N.J.
The crossing signal also came from Allen County and was once Erie property.
Kohls, 51, admits that steam locomotives are his passion.
While he makes tin cookie cutters for a living, he spends his free time on a photo history of the super power steam locomotives built by Lima Locomotive Works.
That plant, one of the big three steam locomotive builders along with Baldwin and ALCO, is gone.
Kohls said Lima, which came up with the steam super power concept, never was able to make the transition to the diesel engine era.
But in its day, the name, "Lima" was huge in the world of American railroading.
Kohls' hobby was and is collecting data and photos of steam locomotive construction at Lima from the 1920s, 30s and 40s when steam ruled the rails.
That collection is a big part of a new book entitled "Lima Super Power Steam Locomotives."
The author , Thomas W. Dixon, Jr., is a well known rail historian.
The introduction was written by another celebrated rail historian and photographer, Eugene L. Huddleston.
Karen Parker, of Columbus, put the graphics and words together and TLC Publishing put this coffee-table sized book on the market.
For railroad fans, one of Lima's best known super power products was the "Berkshire" that ruled the grades on the Boston and Albany and tore across the northern Ohio flatlands on Nickel Plate rails.
The book explains how super power was developed and designed to speed up rail operations. the key was faster, more powerful locomotives.
The book features Kohls' graphics and construction photos as well as some stunning action shots of Lima power at work on railroads as far away as the Southern Pacific, Central of Georgia, the Soo Line and the Chesapeake and Ohio.
The book sells for around $32. I picked up my copy at John's Hobby Shop on North Main Street.
It's a wonderful addition to my railroad library. while I have plenty of books authored by Dixon and Huddleston, this is the only one with a local man's name on the jacket.
"I've provided research for other books, but this is the first one that has my name on it," Kohls said. "Steam locomotives have always fascinated me even though I never did see one at work except for steam excursion trips."
At 51, Kohls is simply too young to have seen steam power in action since the steel fleets had largely disappeared by the end of the 1950s.
Kohls said he had an uncle who worked in Erie's roundhouse in Galion. So he heard the stories.
He collects more than must steam power information. Kohls once had enough material to do a book on some of the diesel engines built by Baldwin.
"But somebody beat me to that," he said.
Although Kevin and Janet Kohls live in a spacious, two-story home on Southern Avenue, there is no room to store all his railroad books. Most of them are packed away in boxes.
Someday he hopes to create a library to hold them. When he does, I would love to see what he has.
Now one of those books has his name on it. It won't make him rich. Cookie cutters will have to keep the bills paid.
But as a hobbyist, Kohls has made his mark in the profession of rail history.
Next to having an authentic Erie semaphore sitting in the driveway, nothing could be better.
Ron Simon is a retired reporter, award-winning columnist, and veteran of the United States Armed Forces. he can be reached at ronsimon@neo.rr.com.
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