Ernest "Mooney" Warthers was the "World's Master Carver", best known for his ebony and ivory steam engine carvings. He was born on October 30, 1885 to Swiss Immigrants, his father died at age three and he attended school only through the second grade then worked as a herdsman.
During this time he acquired his nickname Mooney, which was short for Moonay, which in Swiss means "Bull of the Herd". On one of his daily treks, he found a penknife which became his instrument to fame and took up whittling which led him to carve the Round Tower and Pliers Tree which was displayed at the 1923 Chicago World's Fair. In 1899 at age fourteen, he got a job at a local steel mill, the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company and worked there for twenty-three years. While working there he did a walnut and ivory carving of the steel mill he worked at and in 1905, made his mother a small paring knife. This was the start of the Warthers Kitchen Cutlery which is still the family business today. On October 29, 1910, Mooney married Freida Richards and one hobby they both shared was collecting Indian arrowheads. Freida, at age ten, had started collecting buttons and did so for her next eighty-three years. In 1912, Mooney built a small workshop on a bluff overlooking the Calico Ditch.
At age twenty-eight, Mooney stopped whittling and started carving the "History of Steam" as he loved trains. He felt that the steam engine was the most wonderful invention of all time and completed 64 carvings of steam engines which starts in 250 BC with Heros Engine and ends with a Union Pacific Railroad Big Boy Locomotive in 1941. For his first fifteen carvings, he used walnut and bones. In 1923, ivory became affordable and he then started carving in walnut, ivory and ebony. Also in 1923, the New York Central Railroad discovered Mooney and offered to display his works on a special train. He quit his job at the steel mill after 23 years and toured the country with the train for six months.
After that his carvings were displayed at Grand Central Station in New York City for two-and-a-half years. On January 1,1926, Mooney returned home to Ohio and the couple decided he should devote himself to carving and they would make their living making and selling knives as well as travelling with his carvings. These were the "Golden Years of Mooney's Work."
Mooney's favorite work was of his Great Northern 4-8-4 2577 completed in 1933. In 1941, with the country involved in World War II, he took another hiatus from carving and made 1100 Commando Knives for the local servicemen. In 1953, at age 68, he completed his 54th Carving in the Age of Steam, the Big Boy locomotive. When the American Railroads officially dieselized, Mooney declared that he would never carve a diesel locomotive even if he lived to be 1,000. He retired at age 68.
In 1957, his son Dave encouraged his father to start carving again which led to the Great Events in American Railroad History. These carvings included "The John Bull", "Great Locomotive Chase", "Lincoln's Funeral Train", "The Driving of the Golden Spike", "Casey Jones Locomotive" and the "Empire State Express". With this all done, Mooney died at age 83. The first display building was built in 1936 and that was the home for the carvings until 1963 when son Dave built a larger building adjoining the original workshop. In 1987, Mooney's family expanded Warthers to what it is today.
Our Visit to the Warthers Carving Museum
Chris Parker and I arrived here later than planned and we had less than twenty minutes to tour this fantastic museum of Mooney's work. If I came all this way to Ohio, I was not going to miss seeing it, so sit back and enjoy a brief tour of this unique American museum.
Greer Steel Corporation 0-4-0T 7 built by Vulcan Iron Works in 1917. It was donated to E. Warther & Son, Incorporated, in 1963.
Baltimore & Ohio caboose C212 built by the railroad in 1927.
Pennsylvania Railroad/Baltimore and Ohio one-storey cabin from Dover.
On the track are a handcar and small flat car. We walked up the stairs to the lobby of the museum and I gave the lady behind the counter one of my business cards and told her I was here to write a story. She said there would be no more tours and that I had only twenty minutes left until closing. I responded that I could be quick and she let me in. I started looking around, wishing I had more time but, like that old saying "You only live once, so make the most of it".
Chicago and North Western 4-2-0 "Pioneer", the first locomotive brought to Chicago built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1836.
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway 4-4-2, a prize-winning engine at the St. Louis World Fair in 1904. It was the first engine to reach a speed of 90 miles an hour.
New York Central and Hudson River locomotive.
Baltimore and Ohio 5800 16 cylinder constant torque steam locomotive built by Baltimore and Ohio in 1938.
Erie Railroad 2-8-8-8-2 2603 built by Baldwin in 1913. A triple compound locomotive and the model steam locomotive and tender is made by Black = ebony wood, White = elephant ivory.
New York Central 2-6-2 5200 built by American Locomotive Company and the Lima Locomotive Works between 1927. It was the very first Hudson built for the New York Central. These engines are used for high-speed passenger train work, the Hudson locomotives were famously known for hauling the New York Central's crack passenger trains, such as the 20th Century Limited and the Empire State Express.
Pennslyvania Railroad 4-6-2 8661 Pacific type from the 1910s. Brown = wood, white = elephant ivory, black simulated coal = ebony wood, iridescent trim = abalone shell. This is a representation of a coal-burning steam locomotive. The original was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Company in 1913, which was the 40,000th locomotive built by them.
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad 2-4-2 694 "Columbian" Type Locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1891.
Baltimore and Ohio 4-4-0 "Lady Baltimore", which was the last work created by Mooney. Although not a significant engine in steam history, it was significant to him. This engine ran on the rail line that inspired Mooney to love steam engines since his youth. As Mooney was working on this carving, he would suffer a stroke, leaving one size paralyzed and no longer able to carve. With just a few hundred pieces left to completion, Mooney set his knife down for the last time. His son Dave offered to complete the work for him. But Mooney shook his head to decline. His son Dave stated "As long as I can remember, Pop always said he wanted to leave a carving unfinished on the work bench. He believed everyone should do something creative and should do it as long as you can". Mooney's hobby ended after over 80 years with a knife in his hand, whittling and carving.
Abraham Lincoln's Funeral Train. Now some of the other locomotives in display cases.
There are many other carvings at this fantastic museum that everyone should see.
I visited the gift shop, found Chris, then walked back to thank my wonderful hostess for such an incredible experience.
Dover, OhioWe walked back to the car when I spotted a boxcar further down and we went to investigate.
A wooden boxcar was next to the RJ Corman Line. I looked down the track and spotted a locomotive and we decided to find it. We drove through Dover and I selected the correct road that took us straight to the tracks.
Chris parked in front of the Cleveland, Lorain and Wheeling Railroad Dover station.
RJ Corman GP20E 4121, ex. Southern Pacific 4121, nee Southern Pacific GP20 4075 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1962. I spotted some additional locomotives sitting down the track and went into the office to ask permission, which was given, to walk along the tracks to photograph the engines, so Chris and I did just that.
RJ Corman GP16 1806, ex. CSX 1806, exx. Seaboard System 4760, nee Atlantic Cost Line GP7 196 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1951.
RJ Corman GP9B 2009, ex. BNSF 3966, exx. BNSF 36, exxx. Santa Fe 1125, exxxx. Santa Fe 125, nee Union Pacific 158B built by Electro-Motive Division in 1954.
I returned to the office and thanked them for letting us do that then we drove back to the Knights Inn to get ready for the NRHS banquet.
NRHS 2006 BanquetChris Parker and I drove over to the McDonald/Marlite Conference Center for the event and I had signed us up at Table 4. We were joined at this table by Dan and Christine Winters, G. Patrick Molloy, Joe Smith, Ed Schmitt, Bob Brewster and Jim Replogle.
This was not the perfect hall for a banquet but we made do. Salads and rolls were the first call of the evening.
Carl Jensen, Convention Chairman, welcomed everyone.
The Invocation was given by Rev. Howard Walker. For dinner, I had a decent Prime Rib and red skinned potatoes then the program started after dinner.
Carl took back the microphone and remarked that this was a true national convention run by the National Committee. How did this convention happen? By three things: people who had run conventions before, by on-site volunteers and with Orrville Depot car hosts. The following places had been visited before the convention: Ohio Central Railfair in Dennison, Orrville Depot, who had a working relationship with the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad, Jerry Jacobsen who, without the Ohio Central Railroad, there could not have been a convention here, the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and the Visitor's Center in Tuscawaras County. There were 452 members registered, but there were about 700 at the convention. He then gave examples of humorous frequently asked questions which gave everyone a good laugh. Classic Trains and Trains Magazines donated the car attendants' red vests, which could be used for future conventions.
A raffle was then held which had the following prizes: two books, one complete Ohio Central plate setting and one Trains Unlimited Tours Camas Prairie Railroad trip in September.
Greg P. Molloy, President of the NRHS, congratulated Carl Jensen on the job he did at this year's convention and thanked all the national members. Carl then introduced our speaker for the evening, John B. Corns, of the Ohio Central Railroad System.
John presented a slide show of photographs he took when he was with the Chessie System and later at CSX. It was an interesting insight and look into the CSX. Once the banquet was over, Chris and I returned to the Knights Inn for a good night's rest before our last convention trip, which would be the Morgan Run Shop Tour and the Buckeye Circle excursion.
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