CVSR Tracks Almost Ready For Service

Track equipment is idle on Sunday afternoon just north of the Bath Road crossing of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad tracks.

The washout near Bath Road on the tracks used by the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad is just about repaired. I ventured over to the site on Sunday afternoon to take a look after seeing a news release on the CVSR website saying that service to Akron will resume this Wednesday (July 2).

The damage occurred on May 12 during a heavy thunderstorm that caused flash flooding. Initially, CVSR trains operated only between Rockside Road station and Peninsula. That was later extended to Indigo Lake.

The tracks used by the CVSR pass through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and are owned by the National Park Service. Flooding has washed out the tracks at this location before.

You would not know that there had been a washout here. The rails have been replaced or straightened and the ballast has been replaced. Ballast that had been washed over to the nearby towpath trail through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park has been scooped up and removed. Here are some before and after photographs.

Photographs by Craig Sanders

The flooding left the tracks looking like a roller coaster ride.

The roller coaster profile is gone with the mainline now straight and properly ballasted.

This switch leads to a stub end siding just north of Bath Road. After the May 12 storm, it looked like this, but now . . .

. . . it looks like this, which is how it should be.

Tags: Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad