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Traveling the trail between Foster and Loveland, you may have often passed the Ohio Historical Marker at the location of Butterworth Station, and looked across the field to the house where the Butterworth family hid slaves and transported them to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Now another part of that history has been marked along our trail.

Between 1820 and 1850 hundreds of runaway slaves were guided out of Cincinnati through Warren County by Underground Railroad conductors. One of the most unlikely but devoted conductors was Lawry Rankin, a 20-year-old student at Lane Seminary who began conducting a month after he arrived on campus in 1836.  Asked to take a runaway slave hidden in the free black community to the home of William Butterworth right away as a $500 reward had been offered for his capture and several parties were hunting him down, Lawry consented even though he was told he had to wade across the Little Miami River to get there.

This story was uncovered by Dr. Karen Dinsmore of Friends of the Twenty Mile House during her research that led to the placement in 2015 of the Butterworth Station historical marker. When she learned that conductors bringing runaway slaves to the Butterworths had to cross the river, she wondered where that fording location might be. Recently FLMSP volunteer Don Hahn, also a member of the Friends of the Twenty Mile House, set out to find that location with the goal of placing a marker there. Last month that goal was reached as Don and fellow volunteers Dan Kindel and Jerry York installed a wooden marker behind the three benches near mile 39.5, about a quarter mile south of the Butterworth Station marker. With wood donated by Dr. Dinsmore, etching done by Don’s cycling buddy Richard Cocks, and the support of ODNR, the marker represents a real community effort that promotes the rich history along our trail. We think Lawry Rankin and the nearly 300 runaway slaves he helped ford the river would be pleased.

Note: One of the slaves who passed through Butterworth Station was Josiah Henson, whose 1849 autobiography is believed to be the inspiration for the title character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. More about the Butterworths

Thanks to Dr. Karen Dinsmore for her contributions to this article.

November 2022

by Rick Forrester

Keeping the trail free of fallen trees or overhanging branches routinely requires the use of chainsaws and powered extendable pole saws.  With weekly use, the saws routinely need servicing, especially carburetor cleaning and adjustment. Adjustments change based on the condition of the saw, grade of gas used, oil/gas ratio, elevation of where the saw is being used, and even the time of year when the gas is purchased.  One of our tools of the trade is a carburetor service kit that contains the specially shaped wrenches, reamers, and brushes used by various saw manufacturers such as Stihl, Echo, Ryobi, Poulan, etc.  It also has a tachometer to measure engine RPM (revolutions per minute). 

There are typically three screws on a two-cycle engine that need adjustment: L for low speed, H for high speed, and I or LA for the idler jet. The different manufacturers have different letters for the three screws but the carbs generally perform the same way.  Although many people can hear the various sounds of a properly running saw when idling, cutting, or running at high speed, the use of a tachometer gives you an extremely helpful visual display of the rpms.  It is especially if you have bad hearing!  For an RPM example, many Stihl saws run at a high-speed rpm of around 10-14,000 and low idle around 3000 each depending on the model.  The various manufacturers often don’t put the target RPM values in Owner’s Manual in order to force you to use their service departments, but they can be found in the “Service” manuals which you can buy separately from either the manufacturers’ website, authorized dealer service centers, or from independent service manual providers.  However, a little internet searching can dig up the proper values for your saw. The kit the Fosters work crew uses has all the necessary tools and can be purchased from Amazon for about $30. 

Keep those saws running great down on the trail!

by Erick Wikum

My typical column provides tips to address a specific safety concern you may encounter when using the Little Miami Scenic Trail. In this month’s column, I would like to provide you with a tool you can use to determine which of the many, many potential safety issues deserve your attention.

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) provides a step-by-step method for identifying, analyzing, and preventing or mitigating potential failure modes. FMEA includes the following steps:

• List potential failure modes.
• Analyze each failure mode as to its effect or consequences based on both its likelihood of occurring and its impact.
• Develop plans to prevent or mitigate the failure modes having greatest effect.

To understand FMEA better, consider the following list of potential failure modes and corresponding effects.

Now, let us consider how to prevent or mitigate the first four failure modes, which have highest effect in the worst case. We can prevent collisions caused by ourselves by slowing around others, announcing our presence (“on your left”), and giving others a wide berth, and avoiding unexpected movements (like suddenly turning around on the trail). We can mitigate the effect of collisions caused by others primarily by being alert. To mitigate the potentially life-threatening effects of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, we can avoid the trail during the hottest hours of the day, hydrate, and dress appropriately. We can prevent or mitigate the effects of a slip, trip, or fall by exercising care when the trail is uneven, wet or icy, algae- or leaf-covered, wearing proper footwear, and wearing a helmet. To mitigate the effects of a crosswalk accident, we can come to a complete stop, check carefully, and proceed across a street only when it is completely safe to do so.

The effects of failure modes vary from person to person based on activities pursued, physical condition, etc.  I encourage you to construct your own list of failure modes and to conduct your own analysis to determine which failure modes deserve your attention.

Fortunately, just a few actions can mitigate the effect of many potential failures and those actions include (a) paying attention to what’s happening around you, (b) exercising caution around other trail users, and (c) wearing a helmet when engaged in wheeled activities.

Identify, analyze, and mitigate.  Add FMEA to your toolbelt and you will be equipped to use the trail safely.

October 2022

Photo, L to R: Bruce Cortright, John Telintelo, Mike Dresch, Fritz Buschmann, Bill Brown

There’s little chance the historic Little Miami Railroad will return to service, but it may seem that way as train signal towers are restored with replica signal lights on the south end of the trail. 

Bruce Cortright and his South Maintenance Crew have completed the restoration of another tower on the trail near the new Moeller Athletic fields in Miamisville. The previous restoration was done on the tower near Terrace Park. 

This job took a little more pre-work, more scaffolding and more help to complete. The foundation for the scaffolding was set up a week in advance and it took three sections of scaffolding to reach the signal lights 20 feet high.  Five members of the FLMSP South Maintenance Crew were on hand to do the job. Many of the crew spent the morning answering questions from curious trail riders and walkers. 

The signal tower, 50 to 100 years old, is original. The lights on the replica signal face are not functional, but a former engineer on the railroad informed the crew what the original lights signified:

     3 vertical lights:  Safe to proceed
     3 diagonal lights: Proceed with caution
     3 horizontal lights: Stop, track occupied ahead

There are no plans to bring the trains back, but these signals help retain some of the railroad ambiance along the trail. If you listen closely, you can almost hear the steam whistle of a train from 100 years ago.

Article by Bill Brown

November 2022