Scenes from Cleveland’s National Train Day

An overview of the equipment display at Cleveland’s National Train Day event as seen from the parking deck next to City Hall. on top of the bluffs overlooking Lake Erie.

Cleveland held its first National Train Day celebration on Saturday, May 9 at the Amtrak station along the lakefront. Other events were held at the roundhouse of the Midwest Railway Preservation Society in Cleveland as well as in Sebring and Alliance. At the Cleveland Amtrak station, Norfolk Southern had a pair of locomotives along with a caboose painted in Conrail colors and markings. Reportedly, this was the last caboose built for Conrail. Also on hand was a locomotive used by the Cleveland Harbor Belt, which is a subsidiary of the Cleveland Commercial Railroad.

Photographs by Roger Durfee

You wanted trains on National Train Day? There were several trains to be seen.

Norfolk Southern ran several trains past the NTD festivities. Although not shown, the Southern Railway heritage locomotive made an appearance, albeit in a trailing position.

NS 4658, an Operation Lifesaver unit, is a GP59. It was accompanied by slug No. 615, which is now classified as an RP-E4C.

Conrail caboose 21313 as seen from the parking deck.

Cleveland Harbor Belt 2639 is a former Missouri-Kansas-Texas GP39-2.

A Waterfront line RTA car cruises past the Cleveland Amtrak Station and in the background) First Energy Stadium.

A Conrail EOT.

Some railfans record the passage of an RTA Waterfront train.

Amtrak passengers must cross the RTA Waterfront line tracks to board their train. These grade crossing flashers warn them of an approaching RTA train.

John Barnett, a former Conrail dispatcher and operator at Berea Tower, is all smile as he poses from the cab of NS 615.

Paul Berg, one of the co-organizers of the Cleveland National Train Day, is interviewed by WJR-TV in Cleveland.

Ryan Durfee, the son of ARRC member Roger Durfee, tries out the controls of an NS locomotive.

Don Wetzel was one of the men connected with the New York Central’s M-497 jet powered Rail Diesel Car project in 1966. He was on hand to talk about his involvement in the project.

A helmet worn by crew members during the test run of the jet-powered RDC.

Renovation of ex-EL Caboose Finished

The Conrail Historical Society has completed renovating former Erie Lackawanna caboose 21165 and placed it on display.

Overall, volunteers spent seven years working on the car, which included replacing the oil stove with a coal burning stove, replacing the original worn out wheels with new wheels, cleaning and repairing the interior of the car, replacing the brake shoes on the car with all-new shoes. The caboose was built as EL 368 and was conveyed to Conrail in 1976.  It served Conrail until 1984. The car was sold to a private owner who in 2007 listed it for sale on eBay.

The caboose failed to receive any bids so the owners donated it to Conrail historical group.

Along the way, the car served on the Pennsylvania-based tourist railroad Middletown and Hummelstown.

The caboose now sits in Topton, Pa., where the Conrail group hopes to use it as part of a tourist operation that it wants to develop on the former Kutztown Branch.

Conrail Historical Group Restoring Caboose

A former Erie Lackawanna C-368 caboose is getting a coat of Conrail blue courtesy of the Conrail Historical Society.

The car was originally Conrail N7E caboose No. 21165, which Conrail inherited when it began operations on April 1, 1976.

One of 20 cabooses built for the EL in November 1970 by the International Car Co. of Kenton, Ohio, Conrail reconditioned the car in September 1976.

By the end of 1984 No. 21165 was stored in Reading, Pa., awaiting sale. A private owner purchased the caboose and moved it to Sands Point, N.Y., on Long Island where it sat until 2007 when it was donated to the Conrail group. The car was then moved to Pennsylvania where the it is being repainted.

The caboose, among the last new cabooses acquired by the EL, is being restored to its early 1980s appearance, including trust information painted on the upper portion of the car in small lettering.