Photo: Amid billowing steam, TriMet’s WES train chugs into romantic Ohio mural
Except for the 850 or so lucky west-siders who ride it each day, Washington County’s $161 million WES commuter rail line is a transit service that lots of Portland transit lovers love to hate.
The view from Gahanna, Ohio, though, turns out to be pretty different:
Yep—heroically representing the Age of Diesel in a hand-painted mural on the wall of a suburban Columbus golf clubhouse, that’s our boy.
Local WES photo by Thomas Le Ngo of TriMet.
Here’s a detail version of the photo, which is by Steve LaConte of rail advocacy group All Aboard Ohio. Check out the color-matching on that grass.
Thanks to Tigard-based rail writer Alex Craghead for forwarding the photo, here published with Steve’s permission.
How did TriMet’s little WES car come to grace an Ohio golf course? After Colorado Railcar, the maker of TriMet’s WES vehicles, went broke in the middle of the manufacturing process, its assets were acquired by Columbus-based US Railcar. US Railcar’s chairman is attorney Barry Fromm … who, according to LaConte, also happens to own a Gahanna golf course whose clubhouse is a relocated rail depot.
Writing by email this morning, LaConte adds:
“Mr. Fromm and his team have done a great job on this course and the buildings, and the view from the clubhouse towards downtown Columbus is fantastic. Too bad we don’t have commuter service out to the suburbs, or intercity rail to Columbus, yet.”
Here’s to the future, Steve.
Post by michael at 2:07 pm June 1st, 2012. Like what you see? Get future posts by email.
