20th Century, Whoops, I Mean Lake Shore Limited

Penny always gets me up between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. On Friday morning I checked to see if Amtrak P42DC No. 145, a Phase III heritage unit, was on Train 48. Since it was I figured I would get it at 6:20 a.m. at the Painesville station. With this pandemic 48 is very consistent on being on time.

It reminds me of stories from adults from the past telling stories of the New York Central’s 20th Century Limited. Many said you could set your clocks to its passing their homes. Just about every morning I hear 48 at exactly 6:20 a.m.

Note that the eastbound Lake Shore Limited on this day had two Phase III heritage units in the motive power consist.

Article and Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

We Interrupt Your Daily Routine for an Amtrak Train

The Thursday morning plans of Ed Ribinskas did not include railfanning.

He planned to drop his wife, Ursula, off at a dentist appointment in Willoughby at 9:40 a.m., doing business at the post office on the way.

There were also plans to stop at the bank and a couple other places.

Then he saw that Amtrak’s eastbound Lake Shore Limited was running late and not due out of Cleveland until 8:30 a.m.

He also saw that No. 48 was being led by the Phase III P42DC heritage unit No. 145.

That got his mind to doing some figuring. If they left home at 8:40 a.m., they could hit the post office and make the one minute drive over to Railroad and Elm streets just east of the former New York Central passenger station in Painesville.

He got to the crossing at 9 a.m. and five minutes later No. 48 came charging past.

They made it to the dentist appointment with two minutes to spare.

No. 48 was late because it was stuck behind Amtrak’s eastbound Capitol Limited, which struck a vehicle at West Perry Road in Ligonier, Indiana.

Police reported that the driver of the motor vehicle, William Sanford, 41, of Warsaw, Indiana, was killed.

No. 30 was given a new crew at the scheduled station stop in Waterloo, Indiana, and arrive in Cleveland at 8:07 a.m., six hours and 22 minutes late.

No. 48 arrived in Cleveland at 8:20 a.m., two hours and 42 minutes late.

The police report said Sanford drove onto the railroad crossing in front of the Amtrak train at about 10:50 p.m. No Amtrak crew members or passengers were injured.

It Was Worth Getting Up Early For

Ed Ribinskas got up early last Friday, real early.

Amtrak’s eastbound Lake Shore Limited was running on time and the sun would be rising in Lake County near his home by the time No. 49 passed through.

The early trip to trackside in Perry was worth it as Phase III heritage unit No. 145 was on the point.

On the rear was private rail car Promontory Point. Ed quipped that he didn’t have to travel to Utah to see Promontory Point because it came to him.

The morning also saw a layer of clouds filtering the rising sun, which created a nice effect in the going away image.

Ed also got lucky that the Lake Shore made it through Perry before a westbound CSX freight did that would have blocked his view of the passenger train.

Truck was on Crossing at Time of Crash

An on-board camera has shown that the garbage truck that was struck by an Amtrak special on Jan. 31, had entered a grade crossing after the crossing gates had gone down.

The National Transportation Safety Board said this week that the forward-facing camera in the lead locomotive showed that as the crossing came into view, the gates were down and the garbage truck was on the tracks at the grade crossing.

The NTSB said that witnesses to the crash reported the truck had entered the crossing after the gates were down at the crossing near Crozet, Virginia.

The special was carrying Republican members of Congress to an annual political retreat at the Greenbrier resort hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

A passenger in the truck was killed and another suffered serious injuries. The truck driver came away with minor injuries.

Three Amtrak crew members and three passengers also suffered minor injuries.

The preliminary NTSB report said that the crossing has advance warning signs and pavement markings on its approach. It is equipped with crossbuck signs, warning lights, bells and gates.

The collision caused the front axle of the lead P42DC locomotive to derail, although it remained upright.

The NTSB will later release a finding of probable cause and issue safety recommendations.