History of the rotating trophy between Canton McKinley and Massillon Washington football rivalry game
Canton Repository – Wednesday, November 13, 1957 (Page 44) … Research provided by McKinley Alum, Michael T. George
LOCOMOTIVE BELL IS NEW TROPHY FOR GRID CLASSIC SUPERINTENDENTS APPROVED
The nations college football powers annually battle over trophies, an Old Oaken Bucket and Shillelaghs, but they will have nothing on Canton and Massillon. When McKinley’s Bulldogs and visiting Tigers square off in the 62nd game in the rivalry they’ll be shooting for the first time for possession of a 50 year old bronze locomotive bell.
THE TROPHY will become a symbol of the classic. It has been approved by the respective superintendents of the schools, John Niederhauser of Canton and L. J. Smith of Massillon. Donor of the bell is the Wheeling and Lake Erie District of the Nickel Plate Railroad. The announcement was made by R. J. Snyder, assistant master mechanic for the road at Brewster. Mr. Snyder will present the bell to the two superintendents at Saturday’s game. Each year it will be retained by the winning team for display in it’s trophy case. Mr. Snyder said the bell was removed from engine 922, a steam locomotive retired after 2,000,000 miles of service. This particular engine was used exclusively for freight service and traveled the equivalent of 800 trips coast-to-coast or 80 times around the world.
The bell is being processed in Nickel Plate shops at Brewster and mounted so it will ring. It will be placed on a carriage for convenient transportation.
