Book tracks RR at bottom of lake
When man-made Lake Arthur in Moraine State Park began to fill with water, railroad tracks were among the things left at the bottom of the lake.
"There are all these little towns beneath the lake, coal mining towns along a railroad," said author Wayne A. Cole of Darlington.
The former Ellwood City resident taught English for 35 years in the Blackhawk School District in Beaver County.
His book, "Ghost Rails II," deals with the Western Allegheny Railroad. This is Cole's sixth book and his second in a planned series of five.
"I guess they all have to do with railroads, but there are all these other little stories in there, business, industry, side stories," Cole said recently.
Since these towns and railroads are gone, Cole got his information from census reports and maps, lots of maps, but he had human help, too.
Gary Moser of Butler "dug up a lot of material and shared what he had," Cole said. Moser's father worked on the Bessemer-Lake Erie Railroad, Cole said.
"And Joe Curran from Bradys Bend dug up a lot of material up there. I've met a lot of really great people."
Since Cole has already gathered the photos and put down on paper the written history for volume three, it will probably be out by next summer, he said. "'Ghost Rails III' is about Ohio Valley electrics that ran along the Ohio River, so it's a little bit different," he said.
Butler County also will be part of the fourth and fifth books in the series, if all goes according to Cole's plans.
"I have a semi-plan. It's a little bit fluid," he said. "'Ghost Rails IV' will deal with the Butler branch that ran down to Freeport. The Winfield Railroad provided special manure that came up from Louisville, Ky., for mushroom mines."
The fifth volume will deal with industrial railroads, Cole said.
The cover of the newest volume shows two train photographs: one of a steam engine in Kaylor, Pa., and the other of a diesel train near Queens Junction.
The hardcover book is available for $45 at the Butler Public Library. This second volume has 244 pages, 16 of them of color photos.
<b>WHAT: </b> "Ghost Rails II" by Wayne A. Cole of Darlington, published this year by AtlasBooks<b>WHERE:</b> Available at Butler Public Library<b>COST: </b>$45 for the hardcover book
