04/24/2026
Then and Now –There are two railroad tunnels that were built for the set of tracks on the east side of Republic, Ohio. One tunnel is there for the Marion Road (SR 19), and the other tunnel is for Rock Creek. There’s been a long standing story that the engineer in charge of the tunnel project had mistakenly switched the location of these tunnels. The narrow tunnel was to be for Rock Creek and the wider tunnel for Marion Road, but it was reversed. After the tunnels were built, the engineer committed su***de due to the embarrassment of that mistake.
Today’s photos are rare views showing the tunnel over Rock Creek. The top vintage photo was published in the “History of Republic, Ohio” by the Scipio-Republic Historical Society and we’re seeing an early locomotive speeding west into Republic and then towards Tiffin, Ohio beyond that. The bottom photo is how this view looks today, showing a modern locomotive crossing over the Rock Creek tunnel.
