R.J. Corman Two for Tuesday in Warwick

R.J. Corman GP 20E No. 4119 rolls a train southbound after interchanging cars with CSX in Warwick Yard on Oct. 6, 2021. A few days later Corman SD40-2 No. 7107 leads a northbound awaiting permission to enter the yard.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Getting Lucky in Lodi Two for Tuesday

Somehow the passenger station in Lodi, Ohio, built by the original Wheeling & Lake Erie survived for decades after passenger service ended. By the time I first encountered it, the Lodi depot no longer served any function for the railroad.

The two images shown above were both made on Nov. 22, 2006, and feature eastbounds on the W&LE Brewster Subdivision passing the weathered structure.

I made several photographs with this depot over the years including some with the Orrville Railroad Heritage Society Santa train.

The ORHS Santa trains are only a memory now, but the depot has fared better. A local group acquired it and has renovated it. Today it looks pretty sharp and serves as a railroad museum.

Amtrak Service Cuts Eyed for January

Amtrak now expects to announce this month if it will need to impose service reductions in the wake of crew shortages that may occur if not enough employees are vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine.

Trains magazine reported Monday on its website that employees received a letter stating that they are expected to have received their first vaccination shot by Dec. 8 and to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4.

Amtrak has said employees who failed to meet the Jan. 4 deadline will be terminated. Those who miss the Dec. 8 deadline will be allowed to remain in service until early January before being let go if they remain unvaccinated.

Unions representing Amtrak workers have sued the passenger railroad over the issue.

Any service reductions will be detailed in mid December and become effective in January.

Amtrak has indicated service cuts may be needed on routes that lack enough operating personnel to move the trains.

As of Nov. 22, 88.2 percent of Amtrak workers have received at least one shot.

The schedule expected to be released this month will be based on vaccination status of operating personnel at that time.

The article can be read at https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/amtrak-limits-track-friday-sale-service-reductions-possible-in-january-as-unions-file-suit/

Wabtec Seeks Zero Emission Locomotive

Pittsburgh-based Wabtec is seeking to develop a locomotive that will not have greenhouse gas emissions.

As reported by Trains magazine on its website, company officials said at the RailTrends 2021 conference that such a product may be a “moonshot”  but they are still aiming toward it.

“The big question is what’s possible?” said Gina Trombley, Wabtec’s executive vice president of sales and marketing and chief commercial officer.

A zero emissions locomotives won’t be developed overnight.

Trombley said a first step is to rehabilitate existing locomotives to lower their emissions and reduce fuel consumption. Another key will be the development of better batteries that will be used to power locomotives.

The article can be read at https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/wabtecs-moonshot-zero-emissions-locomotives/

EL Monday: An E8A in Akron

Erie Lackawanna E8A is stuck in the middle in the motive power consist of this EL train in Akron on October 1, 1972. The 813 was built in April 1951 for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western where it had the same roster number as shown here.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

ARRC End of Year Dinner is Saturday

The Akron Railroad Club will hold its final event of 2021 on Saturday when it conducts the annual end of year dinner.

The event will be held at the New Era restaurant at 10 Massillon Road on the east side of Akron.

It will begin with a cocktail hour starting at 5 p.m. with dinner orders being taken between 5:45 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Attendees will order from the restaurant’s menu and are responsible for paying for all food and beverages that they consume and a gratuity for the server. The ARRC is not collecting any money for the event.

The restaurant’s menu can be viewed at www.thenerarestaurant.com

The program will be digital images presented by Jerry Jordak of Macedonia. His program is titled A Railfan’s Life: My Life Trackside Behind the Camera.

Jerry has traveled extensively over the years, particularly in North East Ohio and the Eastern United States.

Many of the images he is likely to present were made during an annual trip he makes with two friends in the fall in connection with attending the Penn Central Historical Society convention.

Known as the “bogus adventure,” the trio explores the railroads in the region where the convention is being held.

Jerry has presented to the ARRC in the past, including a program at the December 2010 banquet focusing on his travels to document railroads that run parallel to or intersect U.S. Route 66 between Chicago and Los Angeles.

He also has presented at Summerail and his photographs have appeared in various railfan magazines and books.

Due to limited seating in the banquet room of the New Era restaurant, the end of year dinner will be limited to 40 attendees.

Reservations can be made by contacting Bill Kubas (330-928-7025 or bkuboose@gmail.com) or David Kachinko (440-537-6487 or dkachinko@aol.com)

Michigan Conference Seeking Presenters

The Michigan Railroad History Conference has issued a call for papers for its 2022 event to be held Sept. 17 in Ludington, Michigan.

Papers may focus on any aspect of Michigan railroad history with presenters giving a 30-to-50 minute presentation about their topic.

The presentation should be content oriented rather than photography oriented. Presentation proposals are being accepted through March 1, 2022.

Those interested in presenting should submit a suggested title, a brief description of the topic to be covered in the paper, and brief background information on the author(s) to MRHC16.2021@gmail.com or by mail to MRHC, PO Box 16325, Lansing MI 48901.

A selection committee will review all submissions and select presentations to provide a well-rounded quality program.

The conference will be held at the United Methodist Church of Ludington. Although the conference is usually held every other year, the 2021 conference was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This will be the 16^th conference with the 15^th conference in Ann Arbor drawing more than 100 attendees.

Coming Out of the Dark

With a background of dark green leaves and shadows it appears that CSX road slug 2252 is coming from a dark place. The back story on this image is that train Q394 had motive power problems while traveling between Clinton and Akron. The motive power normally used on the D750, which is based at Warwick Yard in Clinton, was sent to tow the consist of the Q394 to Warwick. The image was made on July 2, 2015. The 2252 was originally built in December 1962 as a GP30 for the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Shorty

The precision scheduled railroading era has ushered in super sized trains that are a mile or longer and contain blocks of freight that used to move in separate trains. Therefore, you might find a long cut of double-stacked containers in the consist of a manifest freight or manifest freight in the consist of a train carrying an intermodal symbol.

It has meant fewer and longer trains, which management likes because that means fewer crews to pay, hence lower expenses and an improved operating ratio.

The longer is better trend, though, has yet to be applied to locals although in some instances through freights have been assigned switching responsibilities once performed by locals that have since been abolished.

Shown above is Norfolk Southern train L82 sitting just south of Cowan, Indiana, on the New Castle District. Based out of East Yard in Muncie, it works as far south as New Castle Monday through Friday before returning.

When I ran across the L82 on a recent Friday afternoon, the give-car train was sitting short of a control point known as York Point, where a four mile passing siding ends on its south (railroad east) end.

The dispatcher had informed the L82 crew that it would be waiting on a 122, a daily manifest freight operating from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Decatur, Illinois.

Those plans later changed and the L82 was allow to do some work at Oakville.

But at the time I photographed the L82 it was doing was trains have always spent part of their time doing: waiting.

Steam Saturday: Cab Ride North of the Border

Bob Farkas and Paul Woodring were in Toronto on June 19, 1980, where they visited the Canadian National Spadina engine facility. Not only were they able to make photographs of CN 4-8-2 No. 6060 they also got a cab ride.

The 6060 was one of 20 Mountain type locomotives built by Montreal Locomotive Works for CN in 1944.

Retired in 1960, the 6060 was placed on static display in Jasper, Alberta. Restored to operating condition in 1972, the 6060 saw excursion duties for CN through the 1980s.

It has since operated at times and is now awaiting another restoration pending adequate funding.

Photograph by Robert Farkas