Pair of Ex-Conrail Units Working for CSX

CSX C40-8W No. 7389 is eastbound in Akron on May 20, 2006. The unit was built in November 1994 as Conrail 741. Speaking of which, the 7389 is working with another Conrail unit that still displays its CR livery.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

CSX Two for Tuesday on a June Sunday

It’s early June in Clinton. On this Sunday we catch BNSF 6630 and a couple of fellow stablemates pulling a westbound on the CSX New Castle Subdivision. In the bottom image, CSX 371 leads a westbound in the sunlight of summer.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Zoom Lens Two for Tuesday From Clinton

My zoom lens came in handy when photographing this CSX westbound container train in Clinton on April 23. In the top image CSX 3386 leads the train into town. The bottom image is the same train only in a closer view.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Stone Train in Kent Two for Tuesday

The wayback machine has taken us back to a time when mainline Class 1 freight trains still often had standard cab locomotives, when there were still pole lines in place even if not in use, and when traffic on the CSX New Castle Subdivision was more frequent than it is today.

We’re standing on the bridge carrying Middlebury Road over the tracks on the southwest side of Kent. A westbound stone train is headed back to the quarry in western Ohio to pick up another load of limestone. I believe this train delivered stone that was unloaded at the nearby Shelly Materials facility.

Both images above were made on Sept. 16, 2007, and scanned from slide film.

Photographs by Craig Sanders

Productive Afternoon in Perry

I was out photographing CSX and Norfolk Southern trains in Perry on May 10. It was a good day and I logged 11 trains, all but two of them on CSX.

I later realized that date was the 153rd anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike. Last year I learned that a director of the Union Pacific back then was John Casement.

He was present at the ceremony at Promontory. He also is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery just down the road which I passed on the way to Perry.

Someday I’ll remember to see if I can find his grave site since it is so close. 

Here are three favorites from that May 10 outing. The top image has three trains in it including the NS local from Grand River and two CSX trains. Even though I was on the wrong side for middle photo of a westbound NS manifest freight, I still like it. In the bottom photo the lighting is ideal for this westbound CSX stack train.

Article and Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

On the West Side of the Kent Dam

Here is a September 2007 memory from Kent. An eastbound passes the dam on the Cuyahoga River just south of the West Main Street Bridge. The dam by now was strictly for decoration as the channel of the river had been diverted to flow freely through town.

Photograph by Craig Sanders

Heading South in Hamilton

CSX manifest freight Q561 rumbles southbound on the Toledo Subdivision in Hamilton, Ohio. It is passing the former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station that now sits abandoned. City officials have proposed saving the depot by moving it to another location and renovating it. The track veering off to the left is the Indianapolis Subdivision, which is used by Amtrak’s Cardinal. The image was made on April 23,.

Photograph by Craig Sanders

Early CSX Era in Berea Two for Tuesday

CSX took over Conrail’s Short Line and Indianapolis Line on June 1, 1999. During the early months of CSX operation it was common to see motive power from various railroads pulling CSX trains.

In the top image, made in Berea on Feb. 26, 2000, we see a pair of standard cab locomotives pulling a CSX manifest freight. Such motive power largely has disappeared from the CSX motive power roster.

Also different about this scene is the tracks crossing Front Street at grade. It would be a few more years before the bridge carrying Front Street over the CSX and Norfolk Southern tracks was built.

In the bottom image an eastbound CSX train passes the former Big Four depot in Berea. On the lead is a former Burlington Northern “green machine” followed by a Santa Fe warbonnet.

The Santa Fe unit shows some wear and tear plus road dirt and grime, but otherwise its livery looks to be in better condition than warbonnets still out there a decade later appear to be. The image was made on Nov. 6, 1999.

Photographs by Craig Sanders

And He’s Off

It’s the morning of July 3, 2021, in Clinton and a pair of horses are grazing in a pasture adjacent to the CSX New Castle Subdivision tracks.

One of the steeds didn’t take well to the passage of a westbound train and has bolted as though coming out of the starting gate in a race (top image). In the middle is another view of the motive consist of the westbound.

In the bottom image is horsepower of a different color. A grain train has a BNSF pumpkin as its sole motive power of this eastbound train in Clinton.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

CSX in Sterling Two for Tuesday

CSX ES44DC No. 5386 leads a westbound rail train in Sterling on Oct. 28, 2021, in the top photograph. The unit was built in June 2006. In the bottom photograph, AC44CW No. 555 has an auto rack train rolling eastbound in Sterling on Oct. 28, 2021.

Photographs by Robert Farkas