Brookhart to present B&O Doodlebugs

Published:  Tuesday, October 20, 2009 (5 months ago)
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The Allen County Historical Society is pleased to present J. Douglas Brookhart of St. Marys, who will present the story of the B&O Doodlebugs at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Folsom Auditorium at the Allen County Museum in Lima.
The B&O Railroad utilized gas-electric motorcars on small routes from the 1930s until 1953. The “Doodlebug” was designed to compete with the bus and the automobile. In the end, the Doodlebug lost the contest. The B&O Railroad operated these gas-electric, and later diesel-electric, cars in a number of states including New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Illinois and Indiana.
Brookhart rode the B&O Doodlebug many times between Zanesville and Belpre, Ohio, enroute to visit his grandparents’ home near Parkersburg, W.Va. At the age of 12, he and a friend, rode the Doodlebug to Belpre during one of its last runs in the summer of 1953.
Brookhart has been interested in Doodlebug history for many years and has collected over 300 photographs of the train.  For ten years, the Brookharts were involved with running a “Doodlebug Convention” along the Ohio and Little Kanawha track. Annual meetings were held at locations along the O&LK including Zanesville, Malta and Belpre.
Brookhart’s presentation will include slides and memorabilia from his personal collection.
This program, which is free and open to the public.