From 1942 until 1946, members of local churches and two railroad auxiliaries operated a community-based free canteen for passing troops on the platform of the Pennsylvania Railroad station in Crestline. Staffed and funded entirely by volunteers, it welcomed approximately 1.2 million of the nation’s sons and daughters with sandwiches, pies, cakes, cookies, fruit drinks, other sundries, and words of greeting. Donations came from many communities in eight counties, and Crestline’s children gave their pennies to help pay for construction of a larger canteen in 1943. Volunteers met as many as 25 trains daily, serving troops on passenger trains, troop trains, and hospital trains, as well as new recruits, returning veterans, and troops from allied countries traveling to and from Europe or the Pacific during World War II. Like many other canteens created across the nation, including many in Ohio, this effort greatly enhanced the reputation of the Crestline region.