The trains in Greenville’s history
By Bob Rhoades

In addition to the Lincoln Funeral Train moving through Darke County, lots of other trains moved people to and from the Greenville Area over time, especially during WWII. I have no knowledge of how many, if any troop trains left from Greenville Station on Front St., but do remember one train in particular after the war.

Two months after my arrival on Feb. 3, 1945, my father, 1st Lt. Eugene F. Rhoades was killed In the Battle of the Bulge near Lutzel, Germany. Because of the urgency of the war effort and keeping the living functional, many soldiers were buried in other places and some remain there even now. My dad was buried in the Netherlands. This particular town assigned a person to always look after each soldier’s grave and I remember my mom getting letters from the lady assigned to my dad. When I was almost four, my Dad’s remains were transported back to the United States and shipped home for proper burial here with other family members.

His remains arrived in Columbus on the Pennsylvania RR, and were then loaded on the train that headed towards Richmond, Indiana, making a stop, as it did every day in Urbana, Piqua and finally Greenville. Per Military Protocol, his remains were assigned an escort, always of equal rank or greater. In this case it was a Greenville native, Capt. Herman Brown.

I always enjoyed seeing the passenger trains going through Greenville as a kid, their stop at the Pennsy Station was always accompanied by a lot of individuals scurrying about, mail trucks and the Railway Express trucks as well. A lot of mail from the East was sorted on the train and ready to be off loaded when the train got here. The area beside the tracks from Washington Ave. was paved in brick which gave the trucks their access to the train. You could see the people on the train who were going on from Greenville, next stop, Richmond and connections to such notable trains as the Spirit of St. Louis and others.

But this day I didn’t get to go to the station, but spent the day at Zechar Bros. Funeral Home on East Third St. who had been entrusted with the final service for my dad. Since I was only 4 at the time some things have faded from memory. But I remember that around 3 in the afternoon, Capt. Brown, the Zechar Bros. and my dad’s casket arrived back at the funeral home. I have pictures of the service and his final internment at Harris Creek Cemetery, where other family members rest as well.