Like Turning Back the Clock

It was a Wednesday. Akron Railroad Club member Peter Bowler noticed online that Norfolk Southern heritage unit 8098 was leading a westbound intermodal train.

He had enough lead time so he headed for Olmsted Falls to intercept the ES44AC paying tribute to Conrail as it led train 21Q.

According to HeritageUnits.com, the 21Q was reported through Olmsted Falls at 3:05 p.m.

It would continue to Chicago where it apparently flipped and came back east the next day when was reported to be leading the 20Q.

The 8098 spent a few days out east before coming back through Northeast Ohio and then making another return trip shortly thereafter.

It can be interesting to track the travels of a heritage unit. In the case of the 8098, since Peter photographed it the unit has been in 10 states, assuming that all of those reports on HU are accurate.

During much of its travels in the past month the Conrail H unit has burnished former Conrail  routes — such as the one shown here — and had its photograph taken who knows how many times.

The fascination with NS heritage units is still going strong more than four years after No. 8098 because the first of those locomotives to be released from the shop for duty.

Photograph by Peter Bowler

NS Conrail Heritage Unit Hits the Road

The old and the new are on display at Massilon on the Fort Wayne Line of Norfolk Southern. (Photograph by Roger Durfee)

The first known operation of a Norfolk Southern 30th anniversary heritage locomotive occurred Tuesday afternoon in Northeast Ohio. Akron Railroad Club  member Roger Durfee managed to get off of work and school respectively to travel to Massillon to photograph the maiden operation of Conrail, oops, NS, No. 8098.

For its first revenue service assignment, No. 8098 helped pull a coal train.

In the first two images, the train is shown passing under the position light signals at MP PC 103 on the Fort Wayne Line in Canton. Roger then chased it to Massillon and caught it passing through the ex-Pennsylvania Railroad truss bridge. The super elevation is very evident in that first shot at Massillon.

Photographs by Roger Durfee