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It’s a foggy night on the Little Miami trail, and you’ve just crossed the bridge across the river at Miamiville, heading north. Something’s moving ahead—a human shape, fuzzy in the swirling mist. A light swings at his side. And then he’s gone.

On the morning of July 14, 1863, a passenger train transporting 115 new Union Army recruits to Camp Dennison, heads south toward Miamiville. Suddenly shots blast through the countryside, and the train picks up speed, entering a section of track called the Dangerous Curve. No one on the train sees what is around the bend: Two thousand Confederate Morgan’s Raiders, crouching in a cornfield, watching to see the results of their early morning handiwork.

Rounding the curve at full speed, the train roars into a blockade of railroad ties the Raiders had wedged into a cattle gap on the tracks. The locomotive derails, and a coupler breaks, leaving the passenger cars on the track. The Confederate soldiers rush in, taking the passengers hostage and setting the train on fire. None of the new recruits is seriously hurt, but the locomotive engineer is badly injured, and one man—Cornelius Conway, the train’s fireman—is dead.

A boy walking home along the tracks on a foggy night in 1905 sees a man walking about 20 yards ahead, swinging a lantern. “It’s the ghost of Cornelius Conway,” says his father, when the boy tells of the mysterious figure. “He’s warning travelers of the fog that hinders their view ahead.” In 1932, the engineer on a late-night train out of Cincinnati sees someone walking the tracks, blows the whistle and stops the train. But he finds no one there. In later years, people fishing the river on foggy nights report seeing a figure on the trail holding a lantern as though to warn them of something.

This Halloween season, if you encounter a ghostly figure near Miamiville on a foggy evening, you need not fear. It’s only Cornelius Conway, holding a light so you won’t run into trouble.

Information for this article comes from the Miamiville Historical Marker along the trail just north of Beechmont Avenue; Richard Crawford, both on the Clermont County Historical Society website and in "The Trainman's Ghost Still Walks the Line" from his booklet Uneasy Spirits. Top photo from the Miamiville Historical Marker. Photo at left from Uneasy Spirits.

Article by Janet Slater
October 2023

You can find a lot of interesting folks on the trail—just ask FLMSP volunteer Don Hahn. Last month at Avoca Park (at the southern end of the Little Miami State Park) he met Dodger, a cyclist from San Diego, California. Dodger had stopped at the park with his “mobile camper”—a bicycle that has been his home for three years.

Named by his British father for the Artful Dodger from Dickens’ Oliver Twist, Dodger is 61 and single. He had been living and cycling in the Cincinnati area for the past month when Don encountered him. He’s familiar with this area, and gets his mail delivered to the Terrace Park post office. He has even visited a Cincinnati dentist while here. As he travels, he takes on local jobs to earn the money he needs to live; he also sells his blood plasma twice a week.

Dodger carries about 100 pounds of gear, including repair parts such as sprockets, spare chain, and tools, packed in various bike bags and in his backpack. The bike’s front wheel hub is fitted with a small Dynamo generator to provide electricity for his phone and lights. He carries a tent, but prefers to look for a shelter or a lean-to when he’s ready to rest. He says he has been assaulted for no apparent reason in the past, so he tries to keep a low profile.

On Dodger’s handlebars sits a little mascot bear he named Navi. He explains that carrying a mascot is common among those who live on their bicycles; the rule is it must be something they have found along the trail. Navi now wears a mask because his face was partially chewed off by some animals that ate the food Dodger carried in the bike’s front bag.

We’re not sure where Dodger is now, but we certainly wish him well and hope that Navi continues to guide him to pleasant trails.

September 2023

Cyclists typically compete in only one discipline. In recent years, several high-profile riders have emerged who compete at the highest level in multiple disciplines including road, cyclocross, and mountain biking. Among these riders are Tom Pidcock of Great Britain, Wout Van Aert of Belgium, and Mathieu van der Pohl of the Netherlands. In the 2023 UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale), van der Pohl won the 271.1km (168.5mi) road race and was favored to win the mountain bike race. In the first kilometer of that race, van der Pohl crashed, completely unexpectedly, as he rounded what looked to be a routine turn. He was injured badly enough that he had to abandon the race.

During my outings on the Little Miami Scenic Trail, I encounter many cyclists riding without helmets. Were I to ask why, I would likely hear a variety of explanations. “I just haven’t gotten around to buying a helmet.” “Helmets are too hot.” “Helmets are too expensive.” “I don’t ride fast or far.” “Helmets are for serious cyclists, and I just ride occasionally.” “Helmets are great for kids to wear, but adults don’t need them.”

I would respond by sharing what happened to Mathie van der Pohl. If one of the best bike handlers in the world can crash unexpectedly, then so can you, too. In the event of a fall, a helmet may well make the difference between scrapes and bruises and a serious head injury.

While preparing this article, I participated in a Zoom call with Matt, a work colleague who is an extremely experienced cyclist. He shared the story of his recent unexpected fall and showed me the scars from his broken collar bone. He also shared the picture of his Smith helmet, which absorbed the impact and spared his head. A friend of his told him, “If this can happen to you, it can happen to anyone.”

Bicycling can be very enjoyable, but bicycling involves risk for you, for me, for Matt, and for Mathieu. Respect your head. Always wear a helmet when riding.

by Erick Wikum
September 2023

With the days growing shorter, walking your dog early or late in the day, in darkness or semi-darkness, poses safety risks for both you and your dog. A prior Safe Trails article explains how products including headlamps, reflective clothing, and LED reflecting bands can allow humans to see and be seen in the dark, but what about our four-legged friends? Fortunately, inexpensive but effective solutions for dogs are readily available. Equipping your dog with an LED collar and/or leash will ensure that not even the Wicked Witch of the West will “get you my pretty, and your little dog too!”

(Note that pets on the Little Miami Scenic Trail—which is only 10 feet wide—must always be on a leash no longer than 6 feet and under control. Please remove all pet waste.)

Article by Erich Wikum
Photo: Amazon

October 2023