It’s Been Modified

CSX No. 2201 is a road slug in a modified GP30 body. It leads a westbound through Warwick Yard in Clinton on March 13, 2005.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Fine Day Railfanning in Wine Country

An eastbound CSX strack train passes a sitting westbound manifest freight outside North East, Ohio.

Ed Ribinskas and I got together last Thursday to do some railfanning in the wine country around North East, Pennsylvania, and in Conneaut, Ohio.

Our primary objective was to spend time at Bort Road just outside of North East.

The one lane wood deck bridge remains in place despite efforts by highway department officials over the years to remove it and replace it with a new bridge closer to North East.

I don’t know where those plans stand or even if they are active.

Bort Road long has been a favorite railfan hangout location where you can photograph trains on the CSX Erie West Subdivision from the bridge and on the Lake Erie District of Norfolk Southern. The lines are of New York Central and Nickel Plate Road vintage respectively.

We arrived around 9:45 a.m. to find the rear of a westbound CSX manifest freight sitting to the west of the bridge.

Although we never learned the details, it appeared that CSX was single tracking west of North East.

Shortly thereafter a relatively short eastbound CSX strack train came rushing through. The westbound manifest then moved on and to our displeasure CSX then went into a siesta that lasted for more than two hours.

CSX is by far the busier of the two railroads here so that was not good news.

However, NS came to life around 10:30 a.m. when a four-car eastbound local came by.

The crew of the local talked with the dispatcher about working in Ripley, New York. That conversation yielded the news that two westbounds were coming on NS.

The first of those showed up in relatively short order and appeared to be calling the symbol 18N, which we believed to be the Buffalo, New York, to Conway Yard near Pittsburgh train.

However, in looking at online listings of NS train symbols the 18N is shown as originating in Conway and operating to New Jersey. The Buffalo to Conway train is 15M so maybe we misheard the symbol. It sure sounded like 18 and not 15.

Behind that train was the 309 but the train that operates from East Binghamton, New York, to Elkhart, Indiana, was held while the local did its work in and near Ripley.

Whatever the case, we endured a lull that lasted until about 12:30 p.m. when the 309 came past led by a lone BNSF unit.

The CSX lull finally began to break at 12:45 p.m. the same time I had been planning to leave to go to the Lake Shore Railway Museum in North East to check out what was new before heading to Conneaut.

But CSX came back to life right around the time I planned to leave, sending the I002 eastward.

Shortly thereafter came a third NS westbound that caught us by surprise. We never got the symbol of that train.

Then came a long westbound CSX stack train that stopped west of the bridge. As I suspected, it was waiting for an eastbound which turned out to be the empty trash train for the East Coast.

As we arrived at the museum in North East, a westbound CSX manifest freight was passing by.

New to the collection since was my last visit was GEAC60CW No. 6002 in a GE livery.

We were dismayed to see how badly faded the paint was on the former Chesapeake & Ohio B30-7 No. 8272, which arrived at the museum in 2017 freshly repainted in a Chessie System livery.

Also looking the worse for wear was New York Central U25b No. 2800.

I suppose that locomotive that sit out in the elements all year long are going to lose some of their luster in time.

From the museum we made our way to Conneaut to check out the progress of the new bridge NS is building over Conneaut Creek.

During our time there we saw one eastbound leave town on NS. CSX sent an eastbound and westbound past us as we sat next to the Conneaut Historical Society across the tracks from the Conneaut railroad museum.

It was time for us to call it a day and head to Geneva where we met up with our respective spouses for dinner at the Old Mill Winery. While there we saw though the windows of the restaurant one of those NS westbound that we had photographed earlier in the day at Bort Road.

It’s always nice to get “one more” to conclude the day.

Article by Craig Sanders, Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

First Outing of 2023

My first railfan photography outing of 2023 occurred on Jan. 19 in Clinton. In a rare occurrence, there were three trains in about 20 minutes. Here are four images from the outing.

In sequence they are CSX 861 leading a westbound. CSX 521 in on the point of an  eastbound passing the westbound home signal.

CSX 521 is shown in a roster shot and CSX 6415 with train L20 is pushing two cars east perhaps on their way to Jones Chemical near Barberton.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

CSX in Winter Two for Tuesday

Here are two from Jan. 31, 2015. In the top image CSX 918 leads a westbound in Clinton. This sunny view is generally unphotographable at any other time of year because of the shadows from the trees and brush when they have leaves on them. 

In the bottom image, CSX 385 is on the point of a westbound in Clinton that will soon pass Warwick Park, the site of many Akron Railroad Club picnics over the years.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Hoping to Get the NKP PA and Settling For NS’s Southern, Reading Heritage Units

The Southern heritage locomotive passes BE Tower in Berea on Friday.

At Chatfield on the Sandusky District

North of Attica

Crossing the CSX Mt. Victory Subdivision in Marion.

The Reading heritage unit leads an NS stack train through the Cleveland area.

This past Friday I went to Berea in hopes of catching the Nickel Plate Road No. 190, a restored Alco PA1 locomotive on its trip to a new home in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Unfortunately that would not happen as it was still sitting in Indiana. However, I did have the Reading heritage leading a westbound train.

It had been recently repainted but has been out on the road for just over a month and is accumulating road grime.

About an hour behind it was the Southern No. 8099. It had just been rebuilt after being in a rollover derailment almost two years ago.  It was its very first trip hauling train 746 a unit coal train for Bellows Creek, North Carolina. It looked very sharp.

I got both at Berea and ended up chasing the Southern as far as Marion. Maybe the NKP PA will come this weekend.

Trains magazine reported on its website that the PA spent a week in Clearing Yard on the Belt Railway of Chicago.

It was spotted on Norfolk Southern in South Bend, Indiana, on Friday trailing four NS and BNSF units.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

CSX Doing in Clinton

Here is a series of CSX action in Clinton along the New Castle Subdivision.

In the top image CSX GP40-2 No. 6248 is in Clinton on Aug. 29, 2022. It was being used as power for a local operating out of here.

The next three images came from an old computer and had been scanned many years ago. At the time CSX still tolerated responsible railfans in locations that are now off limits.

In order we see CSX 6081 westbound on May 9, 2004; CSX 123 heading east on March 5, 2005; and CSX 6114 is on March 6, 2005.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

NS Two for Tuesday in Maple Grove

It is Sept. 9, 2010, in Maple Grove, Ohio. In the top image a Norfolk Southern train headed by NS 9495 is headed south on the Northern Ohio & Western where it crosses the NS mainline to Bellevue. In the bottom image, a covered hopper is on the connecting track between the NS and NO&W.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Out Inspecting

Sperry Rail Service No. 125 is eastbound in Clinton in August 1996. It is inspecting the New Castle Subdivision of CSX. This car has a long history. It was built by St. Louis Car Company as a Doodlebug in November 1925 for the Lehigh Valley. It later became a maintenance of way car.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Flooded Field

CSX GP40-2 No. 6145 is eastbound past a flooded field in Clinton on May 11, 1996.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Clouds Were My Friend on This Day

Under normal conditions clouds are not a railroad photographer’s friend. They result in flat lighting conditions. Indeed some photographers won’t even go out and make photos on a cloudy day.

But on this Sunday morning last October in Chesterton, Indiana, early morning clouds were my friend. Train 29 was on time on this day and had this been a cloudless day there would have been strong backlighting in this location.

But the clouds blocked the rising sun and I was able to not only get a nice image of the train but some fall foliage as well.

Photograph by Craig Sanders