By Charlie Gstalder, Opinions & Editorials Editor

While much attention has been given to the planned extensions of the Wasson Way trail, there has been no conversation about the remnants of old train tracks said trail will be built on and around.  

The railroad tracks that are visible near the Innovation Center Parking Lot, Listermann Brewery Parking Lot and Xavier Parking Lot H, were originally constructed and used for transporting the goods developed in the factories and businesses that had existed near campus. 

Perhaps the most famous of those businesses was King Records. King Records was started by Syd Nathan in Cincinnati in the mid-1900s. 

King Records served as one of the most influential record labels of the 20th century, producing tracks for icons such as James Brown and Bootsy Collins. 

At King Records, production was all done under the same roof, meaning that after the artists were done recording, the vinyls were pressed and shipped out of the building. 

While it cannot be said for sure or confirmed, these vinyls were potentially shipped along those very same train tracks that now lay buried on campus.

In photo No. 3, you can clearly see the difference between exposed track and track that has been buried for some time. You can see the eroded qualities of the eroded track versus exposed track in photo No. 3. In No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 you can see the remnants of track still on trails and driveways in and around Xavier’s campus.

Newswire photos by Charlie Gstalder