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The Best of the Season. C. T. V. & W. R’Y Excursion to Niagara Falls and Toronto Going Wednesday, Aug. 25th, 1880…

Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Terminal & Valley Railroad, 1880. Illustrated broadside, 20.875” x 8.125”. 1 b&w wood engraving, 4.5” x 6”. CONDITION: Good, one .75” wide chip at upper margin, three repaired horizontal creases, two repaired 5.5” vertical tears at lower third.

A broadside advertising a special offer for residents of northeastern Ohio to visit Niagara Falls and Canada on the Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley & Wheeling Railway. 

With 400 tickets available, this “Niagara Train” was scheduled to depart from Uhrichsville, Ohio on the evening of August 25th, making several stops in nearby towns on the C. T. V. & W line before continuing overnight to Niagara. The train is described as safe and luxurious, with “an elegant new hotel and refreshment car.” The excursion was offered in partnership with the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway, which provided an on-site “Excursion Agent.” 

The itinerary is described as follows: Upon arriving, visitors were to meet at Prospect Park, then a privately-run viewing area on the American side. After checking luggage, they could spend time on the Niagara River islands connected by footbridge, return for lunch, and then “pass down the inclined Railway to the river below the American Fall.” In the afternoon, an optional visit to the Canadian side is suggested by way of the Suspension Bridge. After returning for supper, visitors would by then “have seen all there is of Niagara Falls.” Prices for carriages and other add-ons are listed, as well as a warning to avoid tourist traps (i.e., activities not affiliated with the Prospect Park Company). In the evening, the president of the Company, H. Neilson was scheduled to deliver an “Exhibition of the Electric Light.” 

Visitors wishing to extend their stay were given the option of a day trip to Toronto for an additional $1 by way of the New York Central Railway and the Toronto & Niagara Navigation Co. steamship across Lake Ontario. After spending four hours in the city, visitors would then return to Niagara Falls and promptly catch another overnight train back to Ohio. The advertisement concludes with agent contact information at three locations in Ohio. 

A large wood engraving depicts tourists at an observation deck in Prospect Park overlooking the American Falls, with Goat Island and the Canadian Falls visible in the background. The work is discreetly signed “Bureau of Illustn. Buffalo N.Y.” The Bureau of Illustration was a printing firm active in the 1870s and early 1880s, specializing in commercial wood engraving. 

The Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley & Wheeling Railway (1875–1882) was a short-lived regional railway serving eastern Ohio. It was organized to take over the bankrupt Lakeshore & Tuscarawas Valley Railway. After expansion, it consisted of one main line running between the shore of Lake Erie and Wheeling, West Virginia. Financial difficulties led to the company being reorganized as the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railway, eventually becoming part of the Baltimore & Ohio system. 

Not in OCLC.

A scarce broadside promoting a railway excursion to Niagara Falls from eastern Ohio. 

REFERENCES: The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio (Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1884), p. 397.

Item #10375

On Hold

Price: $575.00

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