2010 Dave McKay Day

Dave Mangold gives a greeting from NS 15N passing through Olmsted Falls. (Photograph by Richard Thompson)

Variety was the order of the day at the sixth annual Akron Railroad Club Dave McKay Day at Berea on Saturday, April 3. It was hot and cold then hot again. And that was just the weather. The train action was pretty varied, too.

Members saw 67 trains over a nearly 12-hour period. Twice three trains were in the area at one time. Junior members Richard Thompson and Cody Zamostny were the first to arrive, shortly before 6 a.m. Ron McElrath showed up shortly thereafter. They were treated to a flurry of 13 trains in the first hour and a half.

By noon, Norfolk Southern and CSX had put 30 trains through Berea. Traffic dried up for about 45 minutes at mid-day before picking up to a steady pace throughout the afternoon.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was when ARRC member David Mangold came through Berea just before 2:30 at the throttle of the 15N. Mangold, who attended a part of the McKay day in late morning, had a 1 p.m. call at Rockport Yard. His train was ready to leave the yard a half-hour later, but had some switching to do.

Not long after 2 p.m., the 15N got the OK from the Cleveland Terminal Dispatcher to head west. Mangold and his conductor were to take the train to Elkhart, Indiana.

In all, 14 ARRC members turned during the day, which is set aside to honor McKay, who served as ARRC president between 1993 and 2004. McKay died in late December 2004 and the ARRC helped raise money to purchase a plaque that was placed at Berea in his honor.

Now about that weather on Saturday. The early birds were greeted to high, thin clouds that provided plenty of filtered sunlight. But the temperatures were zooming into the 70s. As forecast, clouds began increasing about midday and by early afternoon the cloud cover was pretty heavy. By late afternoon, the winds had picked up, sending some club members scrambling to put on jackets as the temperature plummeted and the wind chill made for more early April-like weather.

There was a 40 percent chance of the front moving through producing showers, but by the time the front reached Cleveland it has pretty much dried itself out. The only precipitation were some widely scattered sprinkles. By 6 p.m., the back of the front was passing through Berea and the sun broke out just in time for late day sunlight to illuminate a pair of BSNF “pumpkins” on the point of westbound CSX Q393.

Another highlight was the passage of NS eastbound M8A with a BNSF “war bonnet” in the lead. Unlike most “war bonnets” these days, this locomotive still looked good in its red and silver colors.

Shown below is a list of trains kept by Richard Thompson.

21T – NS 9264 – 6:24 AM

34N – NS 2687 – 6:25 AM

20R – NS 8325 – 6:41 AM

Q378 – CSXT 7918 – 6:42 AM

Q113 – CSXT 115 – 6:53 AM

Q149 – CSXT 5206 – 7:01 AM

K635 – CSXT 7617 – 7:12 AM

28M – NS 9132 – 7:14 AM

Q114 – CSXT 7756 – 7:17 AM

69Q – NS 9402 – 7:30 AM

424 – NS 9439 – 7:45 AM

310 – NS 7592 – 7:55 AM

364 – NS 5018 – 7:59 AM

Q380 – BNSF 4642 – 8:23 AM

Q381 – BNSF 5053 – 8:57 AM

206 – NS 9048 – 9:24 AM

Q160 – CSXT 231 – 9:29 AM

Q164 – CSXT 5501 – 9:51 AM

242 – NS 7514 – 10:04 AM

35N – NS 9941 – 10:04 AM

Q364 – CSXT 5362 – 10:07 AM

21Z – NS 9336 – 10:22 AM

262 – NS 9224 – 10:40 AM

K645 – CSXT 165 – 10:41 AM

E457 – CSXT 33 -10:57 AM

Q163 – CSXT N/A – 11:27 AM

20Q – NS 9846 – 11:31 AM

Q227 – CSXT 114 – 11:38 AM

Q386 – CSXT 5440 – 11:38 AM

412 – NS 9649 – 11:41 AM

Q122 – CSXT 5398 – 12:33 PM

22K – NS 9848 – 12:49 PM

Q268 – CSXT 7897 – 12:57 PM

Q390 – CSXT 7696 – 1:21 PM

309 – NS 9089 – 1:42 PM

20K – NS 9872 – 2:14 PM

L161 – CSXT N/A – 2:17 PM

15N – NS 9210 – 2:22 PM *DAVE MANGOLD*

Q123 – CSXT 5401 – 2:25 PM

24M – NS 9742 – 2:31 PM

K678 – CSXT 271 – 2:42 PM

Q377 – CSXT 5463 – 2:47 PM

Q108 – CSXT 5285 – 2:57 PM

261 – NS 9533 – 3:18 PM

20E – NS 9583 – 3:41 PM

21Q – NS 7593 – 4:21 PM

Q110 – CSXT 5267 – 4:39 PM

558 – NS 9186 – 4:40 PM

859 – NS 7506 – 4:50 PM

M8A – BNSF 767 – 4:57 PM

15E – NS 9537 – 5:02 PM

25Z – NS 9917 – 5:38 PM

Q117 – CSXT 5383 – 5:39 PM

16E – NS 6703 – 6:04 PM (LATER PICKED UP A CN DASH 9)

Q109 – CSXT 5250 – 6:11 PM

Q393 – BNSF 4896 – 6:31 PM

——DINNER——

Q351 – CSXT N/A – 7:40 PM

Q156 – CSXT N/A – 7:55 PM

K684 – CSXT 8849 – 8:20 PM

14N – NS N/A – 8:25 PM

912 – NS N/A – 8:35 PM

11K – NS N/A – 8:55 PM

L150 – CSXT N/A – 9:04 PM

19A – NS 2618 – 9:12 PM

Q366 – CSXT 7683 – 9:32 PM

Q381 – CSXT 5221 – 9:39 PM (4 SLRG F40’S IN TOW)

21E – NS N/A – 9:50 PM

ARRC members and guests form a photo line to capture a westbound NS train.