CVSR Eyes Peninsula-Akron Service

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad is eyeing resumption of service between Peninsula and Akron. No date for the service inauguration has been announced.

Last weekend the tourist railroad received permission to move a train set from its Fitzwater maintenance site to Peninsula in preparation for instituting the service.

In a post on its Facebook page, the CVSR said the move was allowed by the National Park Service after an independent engineering firm determined it was safe to operate an equipment move over an area along the Cuyahoga River where erosion is threatening the tracks.

CVSR shut down service in early March due to those erosion concerns. The problems with erosion date from last year and cancelled most service on the line last Fall.

The annual holiday trips featuring Santa Claus operated only between Rockside Road station in Independence and Fitzwater.

Erosion Concerns Sidetrack CVSR Again

Erosion issues have once again knocked the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad out of service.

On Friday the CVSR said it has suspended all operation after receiving the results of soil monitoring along its track.

“Ongoing geotechnical soil monitoring in recent weeks identified increasing erosion along the 26-mile scenic and educational railway in Cuyahoga Valley National Park,” the railroad said in a statement.

The tourist railroad had been planning to resume operating its National Park Scenic on March 3 after suspending it last October.

During November and December the CVSR operated some trains between Rockside Road in Independence and the Fitzwater maintenance facility.

Passengers who purchased tickets for cancelled trips may contact the railroad for refunds.

The CVSR’s statement, which also was issued with the National Park Service, hinted that restoration of service may take several weeks.

The statement said officials are hoping to retore operations along the 26-mile former Baltimore & Ohio line by summer. The tracks run alongside the Cuyahoga River for much of that distance.

“We are going to do everything we can to allow the train to return to normal operations as soon as possible,” Cuyahoga Valley National Park Superintendent Lisa Petit said. “We ask for continued patience while we complete construction projects to stabilize the tracks near the river. In the meantime, we appreciate CVSR’s flexibility in adjusting operations.”

NOACA Pushing Extending CVSR Into Cleveland

A Northeast Ohio transportation planning agency is trying to revive a long-held dream of having the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad serve downtown Cleveland.

The Plain Dealer recently reported that the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency is working with other agencies to what needs to be done to enable CVSR trains to travel the 11 miles from the tourist railroad’s northern terminus in Independence into Cleveland.

The idea has been studied before and has been around for more than 20 years. A major stumbling block to extending the CVSR into Cleveland is that CSX owns the former Baltimore & Ohio tracks that excursion trains would need to use.

Once part of the B&O’s Valley Line, the track north of Independence remains an active freight line. There are no freight operations over the track used by the CVSR between Rockside Road station in Independence and downtown Akron. That track is owned by the National Park Service.

NOACA coordinates transportation planning in Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Geauga, and Medina counties.

Executive Director Grace Gallucci said the agency plans to hire a consultant to conduct a feasibility study of extending the CVSR northward, possibly to Tower City Center on the southwest corner of Public Square.

“We all have enthusiasm for the project,” Gallucci said. “We’re going to get this done. To be able to put together a railroad taking people from the inner city to the national park would be fantastic.”

She said the study is expected to take 12 to 18 months to complete. Any infrastructure improvements the study recommends could be funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

As for the cost of the feasibility study, Galluci said that will be shared by the partnering agencies. She did not say how much the study will cost.

Those agencies are still working out their respective contributions to the study.

Lisa Petit, the superintendent of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, told The Plain Dealer creating a car-free connection between the park and Cleveland is a major motivating factor behind the renewed effort to extend the CVSR into downtown Cleveland.

She noted that Northeast Ohio has been designed primarily for access by car rather than transit.

This has resulted, Petit said, in lack of transportation between the park and “certain neighborhoods and communities around us.”

U.S. Census data shows that 22.4 percent of Cleveland households don’t have a car. The state median is 6.2 percent.

Joseph Mazur, CVSR president, said previous efforts to extend the railroad’s trains into Cleveland have failed, most recently in 2008.

NOACA has listed extending the CVSR into downtown Cleveland as among a dozen “major projects’’ eligible for federal funding.

The agency defines a major project as one costing $12 million or more to complete.

CVSR to Resume Operating Feb. 3

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad said this week it plans to resume operating on Feb. 3.

Since last October the CVSR has been limited to operating over for miles between Rockside Road station in Independence and the Fitzwater maintenance facility.

The curtailed operations were due to erosion along the bank of the Cuyahoga River in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park where the tracks run along the waterway.

Pamela Barnes, the track was closed until potential safety risks could be better understood. She said the track was evaluated by a geotechnical engineer and park officials decided that train operations could resume.

The first operation to resume will be the Cleveland Dinner and Event Train on Feb. 3. That will be followed by an Ales on Rails excursion on Feb. 10 and a Grape Escape wine tasting train on Feb. 11.

The National Park Scenic is slated to resume operating on March 4.

However, Barnes said that depending on conditions operations may be modified.

Park officials said the track closure is a separate issue from a riverbank stabilization program being undertaken at eight locations in Summit and Cuyahoga counties.

In an unrelated development, travel website Travel Lens has named the CVNP as the second best national park in the United States.

The site ranked parks base several on factors including number of recreational visitors, entrance fee, distance to the closest city and percentage of park reviews that mention the word “beautiful.” CVNP received a score of 8.16 our of 10.

The study said CVNP had 2.76 recreational visitors with 35 percent of them describing the park as “beautiful.”

Topping the list was Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cuyahoga Valley National Park received a score of 8.16 out of 10.

Steam Saturday: Remember These ARRC Outings?

It’s a nice warm fall Sunday afternoon in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The Akron Railroad Club is having a picnic at the Valley Picnic Area along Riverview Road south of Peninsula. Chef Marty Surdyk is cooking burgers and dogs on the grill and other goodies are laid out on a table.

The impetus for the picnic is about to arrive, so many of the attendees have walked a short distance to get a better view of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad tracks.

Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 767 — yes you read that right — is on the property to pull excursion trains on the CVSR. You know this locomotive as No. 765, but for the 2016 runs on the CVSR the engine was renumbered 767.

There is a long story behind why the 765 operated as the 767 for two weekends on the CVSR in September 2016. It goes back to the 1950s when Nickel Plate Road No. 767 participated in a grand opening ceremony in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to mark the completion of a track elevation project through downtown Fort Wayne.

When the NKP offered to give the city a retired steam engine to put on static display in a park, officials requested No. 767. But the 767 had been scrapped and in a bit of subterfuge, the railroad sent No. 765 renumbered as No. 767.

That sleight of hand went unnoticed for years until the Fort Wayne Railroad History Society began restoring the 767 to operating condition and discovered it was actually No. 765.

In summer 2016 a ceremony was held in Fort Wayne to mark the beginning of the Headwaters Junction project. That railroad-themed park will someday be the home of the 765. For that ceremony the 765 was renumbered 767 and it continued to wear that roster number during its two weeks on the CVSR in September.

But getting back to the ARRC picnic, the afternoon northbound trip that originated in Akron is coming with the 767 trailing.

We’ve gathered on a slight hill along Riverview that offers a clear view of the tracks. Cameras are poised to capture the 767 as the excursion train goes past the photo line during its trip up from Akron.

We’ll repeat all of this in another hour when the 767 pulls the train back to Akron and past the picnic area.

The ARRC would hold another picnic in September 2017 when the 765 returned to the CVSR for another slate of excursions. That year it operated as 765 and carried a tribute to Jerry Joe Jacobson, who had died earlier that year, on the sides of the locomotive below the cab.

In looking at the 2917 image, which shows the excursion returning to Akron, I’m struck by how Riverview Road was almost empty when the 765 arrived. Some years there was a posse of vehicles chasing the train along Riverview, including one guy who paced the steamer and backed up traffic in the process.

In both 2016 and 2917 the CVSR’s regular train, the National Park Scenic, operated, thus giving us another train to watch. In later years that would not be the case when the 765 was running excursions.

The 2017 picnic would be the last time the ARRC held an outing in the Valley to picnic and watch the steam train.

CVSR Extends Cancellations Through November

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad has cancelled all National Park Scenic, Fall Flyer, Bike Aboard, Hale Farm, Explorer Program, and Family Fun Loop services through Nov. 6.

The Cleveland Dinner and Event train will continue operating on Friday nights through Oct. 28. A Veteran’s Day special planned for Nov. 10 will operate between Rockside Road station in Independence and the Fitzwater shops and yard.

The CVSR announcement also said that at this time it still expects its North Pole Adventure excursions to begin operating as scheduled on Nov. 11.

The cancellations began last weekend after the National Park Service closed a portion of the tracks used by the CVSR due to erosion of the bank of the Cuyahoga River.

That issue first surfaced last spring where the tracks run close to the river north of the Boston Mill station near the Columbia Run picnic area.

That led to the cancellation of service to Peninsula and Akron between early March and July 16. During that period, the CVSR was limited to using eight miles of track from Rockside Road southward.

The Park Service, which owns the track used by the CVSR, has hired an engineering firm to oversee stabilization work in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, including along the railroad.

Erosion Issues Prompt Cancellation of CVSR Fall Flyer and National Park Scenic Trips for Awhile

Erosion issues continue to plaque the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, prompting it to cancel all National Park Scenic and Fall Flyer excursions for this weekend.

In a notice posted on the railroad’s website and its Facebook page, the cancellations were attributed to the National Park Service closing portions of the tracks used by CVSR trains “due to significant erosion from the Cuyahoga River.”

The Cleveland Dinner and Event Train will run as scheduled tonight (Oct. 14). Also still operating this weekend is a special CVSR members-only event.

The CVSR notice said the Park Service regularly inspects the railroad tracks, particularly near the Cuyahoga River.

The statement indicated that the erosion areas are the same as those that last spring shut down the line from about the Columbia Run picnic area north of Boston Mill to Akron.

Park Service officials have hired an engineering firm that is reviewing how to address the area where erosion has been a problem.

CVSR’s statement suggested that train cancellations are might continue beyond this weekend.

“The modifications to operations will remain in place while NPS and CVSR wait for additional information and explore options for returning to normal,” the statement said.

No North Pole Adventure trains, which will begin running Nov. 11, have been cancelled but CVSR said some trips may be modified.

It is the second consecutive weekend in which the CVSR has cancelled trips.

The weekend of Oct. 7-9 saw all Fall Flyer excursions cancelled and some National Park Scenic trips were scrapped on Oct. 7.

Those cancellations were attributed to maintenance issues with CVSR’s motive power fleet.

Earlier this week, the CVSR posted another notice on its Facebook page acknowledging, “the CVSR is a preservation railroad that provides a traditional rail experience through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park; many of our cars were built in the 1940s and 1950s.”

The loss of excursions in October will be a major blow to a tourist railroad that suffered significant revenue losses during the COVID-19 pandemic when dozens of trips were cancelled.

October is one of the railroad’s busiest months as passengers flock to CVSR trains to see fall foliage.

CVSR Begins Explorer Program

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad this week launched its Explorer program for bikers, hikers and kayakers in the the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

The program replaces the Bike Aboard program that operated during the summer and fall for many years.

It enables hikers, bikers or kayakers to ride the National Park Scenic one way to begin or after ending their trek in the park.

Hikers and bikers pay a $5 fee for each trip while kayakers pay $10 for a single seat kayak or $15 for a double-seat one.

A season pass is available for $50 and provides unlimited rides. The program will operate through Oct. 31.

CVSR serves three main boarding stations: Rockside in Independence, Peninsula and Akron Northside.

The stations at Canal Exploration Center, Brecksville, Boston Mill, Indigo Lake and Botzum are considered flag stops with passengers needing to wave to the locomotive engineer to indicate they want the train to stop.

In an advisory, CVSR said passengers should use both hands to wave at the engineer to indicate they want to be picked up.

The Scenic is operating twice times a day on Wednesday through Sunday except on Sunday when it operates three three times a day.

Trains leave Rockside Road southbound at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.. They are scheduled to arrive in Akron at 10:30 a.m., 2:40 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. the 5 p.m. departure from Rockside Road and 6:30 p.m. arrival in Akron is a Saturday-only train.

Northbound trains depart Akron at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and are scheduled to arrive at Rockside station at 12:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The 7 p.m. departure from Akron and 8:30 p.m. arrival at Rockside is a Saturday-only train.

CVSR to Resume Akron Service July 16

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad said today it will return to operating the full length of its route on July 16.

Trains have been operating only eight miles south of Rockside Road station in Independence due to erosion of the bank of Cuyahoga River in early March.

Railroad officials said the erosion had reached to within a few feet of the CVSR tracks.

Heavy rains caused the erosion near the Columbia Run picnic area of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The location is between Boston Mill and Jaite.

In a news release, CVSR said it will reinstate the full summer schedule of the National Park Scenic. The Scenic will operate five days a week, skipping Monday and Tuesday.

Also being reinstated will be the Explorer program, formerly known as Bike Aboard. The Explorer program allows passengers to bring aboard bicycles and kayaks. That program will resume on July 20

CVSR said those who have purchased tickets for an excursion starting July 16 or after will be contacted by email with updated information on their planned journey. This will not apply to those holding tickets for the Cleveland Dinner & Event Train.

Ticket sales for trips from Akron and Peninsula will begin July 13 at 9 a.m. and can be purchased at cvsr.org.

NKP 765 Won’t See Akron in May

There will be no steam excursions from Akron in May and resumption of Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad service to the city is not expected until July.

The change in operating plans was prompted by erosion of the bank of the Cuyahoga River to within three feet of the tracks north of Boston Mill.

The National Park Service, which owns the tracks, is overseeing a riverbank stabilization program to shore up the bank.

The erosion occurred in early March following heavy rains. Since then CVSR has been operating only from Rockside Road station in Independence.

The steam excursions, to be pulled by former Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765, will now operate out of Rockside Road for all trips.

Trips are scheduled for May 13-15 and 20-22. Schedules have been changed on the CVSR website to reflect the changes.

In a news release, CVSR said it is contacting those who purchased tickets for excursions from Akron’s Northside station.

Those who wish a refund of their fare must notify CVSR by March 29. Otherwise, the CVSR will rebook them on a trip from Rockside Road.

The 765 is owned by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society and usually visits the CVSR in the fall.

The CVSR news release said the timeline of work for the riverbank stabilization program is still being worked out.