One of My Dad's Favorite Things: Locomotive No. 2776 at Eyman Park



Locmotive No. 2776 at Eyman Park
Photo by Senath Rankin, 2010


Almost thirty years before Julie Andrews made the phrase popular with the song she sang in The Sound of Music, my Dad, Richard Post Rankin, put together a photo album he titled, “My Favorite Things.”

Dad was an Ohio State law school student in 1937 and an avid photographer, and in this album of his own photographs he captured three things: planes, trains and Ohio State football.

(Oh! And just for good measure, he added a few shots of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist, as she appeared on the Palace Theatre stage with her fans of feathers. But that really is another story!)

It’s hard for me to say which one of these things he loved the most. Dad was a pilot and part owner of a private plane. He attended all of the home and many away games of the Ohio State football team, from his student days until his death in 1971, and some of my happiest and strongest memories of him have something to do with OSU football.

But today, September 16th, is the 50th anniversary of the dedication of Locomotive No. 2776 in Eyman Park. And this blog post is about commemorating Dad’s love of trains and specifically how this man’s passion was the impetus behind No. 2776 finding its final home in Washington Court House.

In a 1990’s article in the Columbus Dispatch about restoration efforts for No. 2776, reporter Don Baird wrote that one day Dad called Earl Dunaway, who worked for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, to ask if an old locomotive he’d seen at a Columbus railroad yard could be secured for Eyman Park. And Dunaway is quoted as saying, “When they released that thing to Washington Court House, I caught all kinds of h-e-double-l from railroaders in Columbus.” They were upset because they hoped Engine No. 2776 would end up on display in Goodale Park.

The dedication for No. 2776 (Friday, September 16, 1960 at 2 p.m.) was considered by many to be the signature event during the weeklong 1960 Sesquicentennial celebration in Fayette County. As emcee for the dedication, Dad said, “It would be impossible to thank everyone who assisted in securing the locomotive and placing it in the park.”

Here’s thanks to you, Dad, for sharing one of your favorite things with the whole county.

I would love to have readers post their memories of the train being moved into Eyman Park: how temporary tracks were built from the regular railroad tracks across the street and into the park to move the engine into its present location; any memories or photos from the dedication ceremony; or photos of the train.

1976 Tour Stop #1 - The Court House

Judge Harry Rankin
Photo property of Senath Rankin

It's the county's icon.  The center of the city.  The reason that the town of Washington evolved into being called Washington Court House: to distinguish it from another Ohio town by the same name.  When the four SCOPS/Fayette County Historical Society members organized a tour of landmarks around the county, to commemorate the country's Bicentennial in 1976, they started off here. 

But in their handout they don't have any comments about the court house.  They simply wrote that once the tour guests were inside the building, its history would be told.  So I can only speculate that they viewed the famous murals, discussed the various offices housed there and most likely toured the court room.

As I thought about what I could write that would anything new to the history of this building, I realized it would have to be something personal.  And, to me and my family, the court house was my grandfather's office. 

Harry Rankin was appointed by Governor Cooper to be the judge of Common Pleas on February 1, 1930 and held the office until his sudden death in April 1953.  This photo is pretty close, or may be identical, to the one that still hangs in the court room.

Before he was judge he was in private practice with his father, Lee Rankin. The offices of Rankin & Rankin were located on the second floor across the street at 107 1/2 Court Street. He also served two terms as City Solicitor and two terms as County Prosecutor.

In his first few months in office, Harry was faced with presiding over the liquidation of many banks that had failed in the county following the stock market crash of 1929.   One of his first court dockets also listed cases involving bootleggers and a domestic dispute.  His decisions ran the gamut from custody battles to bankruptcies to applying the death penalty.  

In his obituary, which was on the front page of the Record-Herald on May 1, 1943, it stated that his record as judge was remarkable in that only one of his cases in 23 years was overturned by a higher court.   His career was also praised for the cases which established legal precedents in Ohio law; notably the triple murder case of James Collett in 1945.

One of my strongest memories of the court house happened when I was a 7th grader at Eber School. 

Photo by Senath Rankin, September 2010

I had decided to create my own field trip.  I went home one day and told my father that I was bored and asked if there was a trial going on that I could observe.  He told me there was but that I would probably be bored sitting in the gallery. 

Being the outspoken girl I was, I replied, "Well, not as bored as I am in school right now!" 

So, in a day or two Dad drove me to Eber and waited while I ran in to give my teacher, Mrs. Wilson, an excuse note.  I ran back to the car and off we went to town.  At that time Dad's office was across the alley from the court house; one he shared with  his partner, Rollo Marchant.  (138 East Court Street now part of Advantage Bank). I was familiar with the court house and he had no problem sending me off on my own.

I don't recall the trial I watched that day; it wasn't that memorable.  But I do remember, very vividly, looking at my grandfather's portrait hanging behind the bench and wishing I'd had the chance to know him.

Harry, (or Papo as the family called him) died the year before I was born.  But I always enjoyed hearing stories about his ironic sense of humor (which my father inherited); how many people still referred to him as "the judge" long after his death; and how well respected he was in his profession. 

The court house has been renovated and an observance is planned this month.