When you reach the bike path, pause for a moment.  Looking west beyond Alpha Seed & Grain elevator were three parallel railroad tracks that merged at the west edge of Alpha Road.  The center track was the through-line, the northern track was the pass-line and the southern was the load-line for the grain elevator.

This collection of tracks became known as the Alpha Panhandle due to their close proximity.

The angled building at the south east corner of the bikeway and Alpha Road is former Alpha Bed & Breakfast.  Long ago there was a hook on a post at the loading platform where passing trains would grab the mailbag and toss another onto the platform.

• The Most Dangerous Tracks In America The Most Dangerous Tracks In America
• The Alpha Bed and Breakfast The Alpha Bed and Breakfast
• David Holman Obituary David Holman Obituary
• Near Miss Near Miss
• 1903 Article 1903 Article
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Make a right out of the parking lot, heading north.  Crossing the highway on Factory Road brings you upon the location of another local tragedy.  

March 18, 1959 eight girl scouts eight Girl Scout and their two leaders were killed in a collision with a train. On March 18, 1959 the troop went to the Xenia Library to work on a badge. They were on their way back, crossing the railroad which intersected Factory Road when their car was hit by a freight train. All eight girls and the two adults died from the collision. The girls were in 6th grade all but one of them were twelve years old, one was eleven. This website contains pictures of a newspaper article from the crash http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/574515.

The girls Sharon White, Paulnetta Randall, Ann North, Patricia Lipinski, Cynthia Moorman, Ann Wilvert, Linda Ward, Connie LaPrise, and the leaders Mrs. Jeanette Randall, Mrs. Lucille White are remembered today at Angels Pass. Angles Pass is a memorial park on Factory Road. There is a memorial stone placed next to a flag pole at the center of the park. There are eight benches circling the stone, one for each girl in the troop. The park is connected to the Creekside Bike Trail, which was converted to a bike path from a railroad track. This was the same railroad track that the train that hit the girls was traveling.

The accident was made worse by the fact that it could have been prevented if the crossing had contained flasher signs. The school board had pushed for the flashers in order to prevent a crash such as this earlier but had not gotten them. The tracks were later made into a bike path, which provides a safe way for people to bike across the area.

On March 29th 2009 a memorial ceremony was held for the girls and leaders at Angels Pass. Family and friends of the girls gathered along with many current girl scouts to honor the lives of the girls who were lost.

Memorial Site

The eight young ladies, all sixth graders from the BHS class of 1965: 

• Sharon White
• Paulnetta Randall
• Ann North
• Patricia Lipinski
• Cynthia Moorman
• Ann Wilvert
• Linda Ward
• Connie LaPrise

The two scout leaders:

• Mrs. Jeanette Randall
• Mrs. Lucille White

• Beavercreek Community Park Beavercreek Community Park
• Beavercreek Community Park Beavercreek Community Park
• Memorial To The Ten Lives Lost Memorial To The Ten Lives Lost
• Newspaper Article Newspaper Article
• Photo Of Car Photo Of Car
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Head south and turn into the parking area of Beavercreek Station at the 9/11 Memorial.  This basin was previously known as Shoup’s Station, on the Pennsylvania rail line.  Just south of the tracks was the Dayton and Xenia Traction Company Line, which traversed farmlands east to Xenia and followed what is now Patterson Road into Dayton.  On the east side of North Fairfield Road is an access road that crosses the Little Beaver Creek.  This leads to the Schantz-Hagenbuch Home, originally a small one-room brick house which George Shoup built for his son Solomon in 1810.

George had brought his family from Frederick, Maryland in the very early 1800’s to continue his milling trade.  He constructed a large three story, three stone undershot water wheel mill on the south side of the creek with a daily capacity of forty barrels.  Over the years, both the Shoup and Hagenbuch families added numerous additions.   An enormous fireplace had a handwrought crane that swung over the fire.  The bricks were all fired on site, just west of the home.

• September 11, 2001 Memorial Dedication September 11, 2001 Memorial Dedication
• John Schantz Home and Mill John Schantz Home and Mill
• 1874 Map of Zimmermansville 1874 Map of Zimmermansville
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Prior to the construction of I-675, this area was largely undeveloped, save for a few residential streets that traversed the current highway land to the north, to the south was once a horse track! On the west side of the highway was a train trestle, now an overpass of the Creekside Trail Bikeway. For decades, Beavercreek High School and Carroll High School students (allegedly) would alternate painting the bridge and concrete supports in support of their school’s athletic teams. The beautiful white home with the green roof on the south side was the center of the 160 acre Aaron Coy farm.

Turn around in the parking lot of Walnut Grove Country Club and return west past the 5/3rd Gateway Park and Ride Facility.

• Article of I-675 Construction Article of I-675 Construction
• Article about the graffiti on the train trestle Article about the graffiti on the train trestle
• One of the final pictures of the train trestle One of the final pictures of the train trestle
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