This Time I Was Not Upset

Early in November I saw the Canadian Pacific ES44AC No. 8781 was going to be heading east on CSX. It had recently been given an orange Hapag-Lloyd  Saint John Express scheme.

Ursula and I had stops to make in Willoughby. Around 12:30 p.m. it was reported near Cleveland so I decided to wait in Mentor at the parking lot of the restaurant in the former New York Central passenger station.

The sun was shining in the perfect spot for an eastbound. About 1 p.m. a headlight appeared. I did not have my camera but was going to use Ursula’s iPhone.

By not having it ready to shoot, I did not get a photo. The lighting was ideal and the locomotive was spotless. I think I was upset.

Just before Thanksgiving No. 8781 was leading a CSX train again and I saw a post that it was passing through Collinwood yard in Cleveland.

I immediately hopped in the car with my camera to head to Perry. The post on HU was not close to the actual time it was seen since the train passed me on the way. I think I was upset.

About 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday I saw a post that it had passed through LaGrange as the DPU on the I 166. However, its nose was facing west.

There was no sun, but I did not care. I went to Perry and waited. The only train I saw was the one I wanted. I was not upset.

Article and Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

CP ‘Orange Crush’ Cruises Through Cleveland

On Friday Canadian Pacific ES44AC No. 8781, the Hapag-Lloyd unit – already nicknamed “Orange Crush” by railfans (for the REM song) – came through Cleveland leading the I166 which was formerly Q166.  I caught it at Berea in late morning and at East 361st Street in Willoughby in early afternoon.

Photographs by Todd Dillon

Bright Red in Waterloo

I’m not sure if this is a Canadian Pacific run-through train or a Norfolk Southern train that had CP motive power.

Most of the consist was tanks cars with ethanol placards along with a few cars of manifest freight.

It is westbound on the Chicago Line of NS in Waterloo, Indiana, and was the last train that I photographed on this day before heading home.

I had traveled to Waterloo to satisfy an NS Chicago Line craving that also included two sides of Amtrak and CP. It was a nice feast.

There are a couple of features in this image that I like starting with the bright red and clean CP AC44CW No. 8039. Ya gotta take those when you can get ’em.

I also liked how the light and shadows provided contrast in this scene. The day had started out clear but by mid morning had turned to overcast in weather reminiscent of what I experienced many times over the years living in close proximity to Lake Erie.

By mid afternoon the clouds had broken up somewhat, but as you can see here there was still light and shadows.

In this image, though, the street in town to the left is cloaked in shadows as its part of the train’s consist. But the most colorful aspect of the scene, that bright red CP locomotive, is shining in the spotlight.

Beaver in Berea

Back in February Canadian Pacific announced that it was bringing back its beaver herald although it wasn’t until July that the modified logo began appearing on  locomotives.

CP used the beaver herald, which features a beaver, a maple leaf, a shield, the company name and the date of the railroad’s incorporation, previously, but dropped it for a more contemporary look.

The beaver has a long tradition at CP, having first been used on a company herald in 1886.

Here in the states we might think of the maple leaf as symbolic of Canada, but the beaver is our northern neighbor’s official symbol of sovereignty.

Between 1886 and 1929, the beaver appeared on four renditions of the CP herald, which featured a shield as its dominant element. In three of those iterations, the beaver appeared atop the shield.

The beaver went on hiatus between 1929 and 1946 when the CP herald was, again, shaped like a shield but featured the slogan “World’s Greatest Travel System.”

In 1946, CP brought the beaver back and it sat atop the shield through three generations of heralds. In 1968, CP decided to give itself a more “progressive look” and adopted a triangle C logo.

Other heralds would follow including one that featured the Canadian and U.S. flags. That was an effort to show that CP was a North American railroad and not just a Canadian one.

To celebrate its independent status, which included resuming use of the name Canadian Pacific Railways, CP resurrected the beaver and shield in 1997 in a bid to give itself a retro look.

Some corporations can only sit still with their image for a few years, so the beaver was put out to marsh in 2007.

CP adopted a minimalist approach with only its name “Canadian Pacific” appearing in its herald. Things got even more concise in 2012 when the herald became simply the letters CP.

Now the beaver, the maple leaf and the shield are back. Unlike the most recent beaver herald, the current logo does not feature solid gold shading in the shield. Instead, the shield has horizontal stripes.

The latest version of the beaver herald is expected to become widespread as CP ramps up a program to repaint its locomotive fleet. The herald will also adorn rebuilt locomotives.

AC400CW No. 9817 wore the previous beaver herald. It is shown leading CSX train Q166 through Berea this past Sunday sporting the new herald.

The Q166 and its counterpart, Q165, are CP run-through trains that use CSX between Chicago and Buffalo, New York.

Just over two hours after the Q166 passed by, the Q165 came rolling through Berea. It is always a good outing when you catch both CP run-through trains on the same day.

And the cherry on the top of this treat was the eastbound “salad shooter” with its usual Union Pacific motive power, shown in the bottom photo.

Seeing Red

Train Q165 roars past the Lake Shore Railway Museum in North East, Pennsylvania.

On a couple of back-to-back outings I had the good luck of seeing Canadian Pacific motive power on four trains.

Two of them were Q165 and Q166, which are Chicago-Buffalo, New York, run through trains on CSX that have been operating for a few years now.

I used to somewhat regularly see one of those trains at Berea, but that hasn’t been the case for a while.

I’ve only seen both of them in the same day twice and each time I was in North East, Pennsylvania.

I also found CP motive power leading a pair of Norfolk Southern trains, the 216 and the 67X. One of those was moving and the other was tied down.

I didn’t mind seeing so much red and wouldn’t mind seeing it again now that CP has resumed putting its beaver tail logo on the flanks of some locomotives.

The light was less than ideal to get Q166, which was one of five consecutive eastbounds allowed to move as CSX was single-tracking the Erie West Subdivision between North East, Pennsylvania, and a point in New York York State.

A pair of CPs lead NS 216 through the vineyard country near Bort Road in North East, Pennsylvania.

The first of two views of NS train 67X tied down near Lewis Road in Olmsted Falls, Ohio.

 

Pair of Canadians in Berea

Motive power from Canadian National and Canadian Pacific is not rare in Berea, but it is not a given, either.

CP has a pair of run-through trains that use CSX between Chicago and Buffalo, New York, and it is not unusual to see them in Berea during daylight hours.

Given how the North American Class I railroads share motive power, seeing a CN unit is not an unusual thing on either CSX or Norfolk Southern.

But what was a out of the ordinary during a recent railfanning outing in Berea was seeing two westbound NS trains with Canadian motive power on the lead as shown above.

Photographs by Craig Sanders

I Just Felt Like Shooting a CP Unit

 

I don’t know why, but I just felt like photographing this Canadian Pacific locomotive at Berea.

It’s not leading and there is nothing special about this unit. But it was the first thing I saw when I arrived to spend a few hours on a Sunday morning.

It was a day of sun and clouds and sometimes you got the sun and sometimes you didn’t. Also shown is the eastbound Q158 and the eastbound Q090. In both instances I tried to emphasize the clouds and sky, which were nice on Sunday.

The Q090 is a train that I haven’t seen for awhile. It was also the first time I’d seen it since UP and CSX began teaming up to offer express produce service from Washington State.

Photographs by Craig Sanders

The Reds and Golds of Spring in Ohio

NS 8104 sits at Klines (Bellevue) next to a multi-level train.

I headed to Bellevue last Saturday to possibly catch Norfolk Southern No. 8104, the Lehigh Valley heritage unit. It had been a middle unit and normally that is not something that I would travel very far to see.

But there was a slight chance it might be made the leader so off I went. Luck was with me as I arrived just after it had been turned and made the leader of a grain train, the 42G.

Traffic through Bellevue was heavy and caused a delay in the 42G’s departure. But some other good photos of other trains were to be had before the 42G finally got the railroad.

I chased it to Attica Junction (Siam) where I let it go and made some photos on CSX before heading home. All in all, there were some nice springtime photos with locomotives and trees sporting red and gold colors.

Article and Photographs by Roger Durfee

Departing Bellevue.

Coming through the signals at Shriver.

Just above Attica Junction.

A colorful NS train No. 234 passing some “red buds” in Bellevue.

Roadrailer at Bellevue.

CSX Q166 at Attica Junction.

Q166 passing a flowering tree near Willard.

Two detail views of the CPR 9815. I had wondered what those “marks” around the perimeter of the unit were for. Turns out this unit was the Christmas Train unit a few years back.

Tank Cars Everywhere

It was bound to happen. With the proliferation of trains carrying crude oil it is no surprise that while railfanning in Berea you might be able to see tank car trains passing simultaneously on Norfolk Southern and CSX.

However, in the interest of accuracy, the train on CSX being lead by a Canadian Pacific locomotive is carrying ethanol. The tanker train on NS, though, is carrying crude oil.

Photograph by Craig Sanders

Some Color on a Sunday Outing in Pennsylvania

A BNSF unit leads an eastbound auto rack train at midmorning in North East, Pa.

My friend Adam and I ventured to North East, Pa., last Sunday in search of some color. No NS heritage units were anywhere near, so we took our chances with seeing something colorful on CSX and, maybe, Norfolk Southern.

The Bort Road bridge over the CSX tracks is still closed to vehicular traffic. That was good news because we could park on the road just before the concrete barriers and then walk out on the bridge when trains were nearby.

Traffic on CSX seemed a little slower than we expected, but there was still enough to make things interesting. NS traffic was what you would expect for a line that is not heavily used, but can still be counted on to provide some action if you are patient.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

The Q166 was a surprise visitor. It was the second of back-to-back Canadian Pacific run-through intermodal trains.

We expected to see the Q165, the first of the two CP intermodal trains. We just didn’t know when it would come through the area. It arrived a little earlier than I thought it would.

Lake Erie was still mostly ice-covered on Sunday, April 6. The view is from the crest of Pennsylvania Route 89 south of North East.

BNSF and UP combine to lead a westbound tanker train. The lead unit is a former BN “Grinstein” unit that still looks resplendent.

Even CSX looked brilliant on this sun-splashed afternoon. Shown is a short westbound intermodal train.