Elevated View of the CVSR

There are very few places to photograph trains on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad from above.

Rockside Road soars over the tracks immediately north of Rockside Road station in Independence, but if you photograph there you are looking southward toward the sunlight.

Trains rarely venture north of the bridge so opportunities to get images there are rare as well.

On the southern end of the railroad, the Y bridge in Akron is situated just to the east of Northside station.

In past years, you could get good images with a telephoto lens. But to prevent jumpers, the city put up fences on the Y bridge.

The only bridge between those points carries East Pleasant Valley Road over the tracks.

It doesn’t have a fence, but it also doesn’t have sidewalks. In theory, you could park on the side of the road, but that is a dicey proposition.

I’ve always parked by the gate where Riverview Road is now cut off. It’s a safe place to park, but located some distance from the bridge.

That’s why I’ve seldom photographed from Pleasant Valley except when Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765 is in town.

The photograph above was made on one such occasion. It shows the National Park Scenic that preceded the steam train.

In looking at my photo archives, I determined that I’ve only photographed CVSR trains from the Pleasant Valley bridge once when I wasn’t there to get the NKP 765.

It’s a viable photo location, but one that takes some work.

Where Have You Been CVSR 365?

CVSR Alco C420 No. 365 leads the National Park Scenic at Brecksville station on Oct. 21.

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad locomotive No. 365 was the railroad’s first locomotive that I ever photographed.

The date was June 19, 2004, and the location was at the Lincoln Highway station in Canton. It would be the southern-facing unit on a trip I made to Akron, which was the second time that I rode the CVSR.

I would encounter No. 365 a few times in subsequent years, but I wasn’t making many images of the CVSR then.

No. 365 was on the north end of an Akron Railroad Club CVSR excursion of Sept. 22, 2007, behind Ohio Central steam locomotive No. 1293. The 365 pulled us back to Rockside Road station from Botzum.

The C420 would perform the same duties a year later on Sept. 27 on another ARRC outing on the CVSR behind OC 1293, this time returning us to Rockside from Indigo Lake.

The 365 began life in June 1965 when it was built by American Locomotive Company for the Seaboard Air Line.

It would later work for Seaboard Coast Line, the Louisville & Nashville and a handful of short-line railroads before being acquired by the CVSR in 2001.

No. 365 was a CVSR mainstay until 2010 when it was sidelined with a bad generator.

The 2012 CVSR annual report said the 365 was awaiting being sent out to be rebuilt with “green technology.”

But it didn’t move until June 2013 when CVSR interchanged it to the Wheeling & Lake Erie in Akron en route to Ohio Locomotive Works in Lorain.

The W&LE handed the 365 off to Norfolk Southern in Bellevue, which took it to Lorain.

For the rest of 2013, the 365 underwent a thorough rebuilding. That work continued through September 2014 when the unit began getting a new paint job in the current CVSR livery.

Photographs made by Fred Stuckmann and posted at rrpicturearchives.net documented the rebuilding of the 365. It was displayed at an open house held in late September 2014 at OLW.

Among those on hand to view the 365 on that day was Siegfried Buerling, one of the men who incorporated the Cuyahoga Valley Preservation and Scenic Railway Association in February 1972.

And then it is was though the 365 vanished into thin air. No more photographs of it were posted online and the unit apparently still needed more work.

In the intervening years, the CVSR leased motive power from LTEX and Horizon Rail but no word emerged on the 365.

A couple of weeks ago I heard a report that the 365 was back in the Valley. I don’t know how long it has been there.

I didn’t see it when a CVSR train I rode in mid September went past the Fitzwater yard and shops. Maybe it was inside getting prepared for revenue service.

I finally caught up with the 365 in Brecksville on Saturday, Oct. 21. Fellow ARRC member Todd Dillon had caught the 365 the previous day.

On the north end of the Scenic was B&O No. 800. Gotta say that it’s good to see you again 365.

 

 

South End of the CVSR Scenic

October was a month of variety for the motive power assigned to the south end of the National Park Scenic of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

You generally found either RS18u No. 1822 or FPA-4 No. 800 on the point, but depending on what day you were out there might or might not be a trailing unit.

On Friday, Oct. 28, No. 800 had as a running mate FPA-4 No. 6771. The next day, the trailing unit was C424 No. 4241, which earlier this year was knocked out of service due to a fire.

The 800 and 4241 are shown working together in Akron (top photograph) and Peninsula (middle photograph). The 800 is working solo in the bottom photograph showing the Scenic arriving at Northside Station in Akron.

Photographs by Roger Durfee

Don’t Like the CVSR Motive Power? Come Back Tomorrow for it Will Have Changed Yet Again

CVSR 6771 will never look any sharper or its paint any brighter than it did this past weekend when it made its maiden trips after getting a new paint job. It is shown at Brecksville on late Sunday afternoon.

I went down to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad last Friday afternoon to see what motive power was pulling the National Park Scenic train. It had been several weeks since I had been down there.

CVSR earlier this year issued two news releases about the rebuilding of FPA-4 No. 6777 and I was hoping that it might be out on the road by now since it was supposed to be road tested in May.

I set up at Indigo Lake and when the train came into sight I was pleased to see CVSR No. 800, the Baltimore & Ohio tribute locomotive, on the point of a southbound train. The last time I visited the CVSR No. 800 was facing north.

The bad news was that the locomotive facing north was Horizon Rail No. 8420, a GP10 painted black aside for a wide white stripe on its flanks.

On Saturday afternoon, fellow Akron Railroad Club member Roger Durfee emailed a series of photographs of the new look FPA-4 No. 6771. I wasn’t aware that it had been in the shop for repainting, let alone that it would emerge with a slightly different livery.

No. 6771 made its first revenue service voyages on Saturday, June 4, the day after I visited the CVSR. That new livery looks sharp with its V-shaped stripe on the nose.

I knew I had to get down there on Sunday to see and photograph it. I was driving along Riverview Road when I saw the Scenic in my rear view mirror and the southward-facing unit had a yellow nose, not a blue one.

No. 800 had been the southward facing locomotive on Saturday, but on this day C424 No. 4241 had replaced it. No. 6771 was still the northward-facing engine.

I got photographs of the train in various locations, dodging a deluge during a thunderstorm that moved through Peninsula shortly after the northbound Scenic departed.

It was the kind of day that went from sun to heavy clouds and back to sun again. The weather, like CVSR locomotive assignments of late, is subject to change and sometimes for the better.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

No. 6771 sees its reflection at Brecksville.

Passengers are waiting on Sunday to board at Indigo Lake. For the first time in a long time, both locomotives assigned to the Scenic had the gold, red and black livery.

Catching a few rays of sunlight at Indigo Lake. It was my first look at the new CVSR livery.

About five minutes after getting this image the skies opened up and dumped rain in buckets on Peninsula.

No. 4241 trails at Brecksville and sees its reflection in a puddle. I had not seen the MLW C424 for quite some time.

Zooming in on the nose of CVSR 6771 at Botzum.

CVSR No. 800 passes wild flowers at Indigo Lake on a Friday afternoon. It was nice to see it facing southward again.

Will this be the last time that I see Horizon Rail 8420 on the CVSR? Probably not, but if it is that is all right with me.

Role Reversal on the CVSR

Now facing south on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, Horizon Rail No. 8420.

Because CVSR No. 800 has always seemed to face south I must have thought that it always would.

All roads lead to the Silver Bronco or at least maybe in Peninsula.

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad began its 2016 operations more than two weeks ago. I was in Akron last Saturday so I made a trip over to the Valley to see what was running.

The same locomotives that I saw pulling CVSR Scenic trains last fall are still pulling trains this winter, but with a twist.

CVSR No. 800, the Baltimore & Ohio FPA-4 tribute locomotive, is now facing north. Facing south is Horizon Rail GP10 No. 8420, which the CVSR has leased.

I don’t know why the locomotives were turned. There’s probably a reason for it and maybe it’s a good one.

What I do know is that I’d rather have the 800 facing south because the light is always better for a south-facing locomotive on a north-south railroad.

But I’ll make do the best I can this winter and spring until either the 800 gets turned or another more colorful unit replaces the 8420.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

CVSR Reflections at Indigo Lake

The late day sunlight at Indigo Lake was warm and inviting. My plan was to catch Nickel Plate Road No. 765 as it passed by on its last trip of the day on its last day of excursion service on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

But it didn’t work out that way. The steamer never got to even milepost 50 before its train reversed course and headed back north.

Yeah, it was a bummer, but I knew that the CVSR Scenic train would be coming by before too long.

So I waited for it to arrive. It was well worth the wait.

There was a light breeze that stirred the water and distorted the reflections, yet I was still pleased with what I was able to get.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

Enjoying the Late Autumn Colors on the CVSR

The first photo op of the day was along Riverview Road as the late morning Scenic headed northbound south of Peninsula.

What a difference a week makes. I had been on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad on Sunday, Oct. 25 and the leaves were at their peak colors.

A week later, many of those leaves had not only lost their color, but also fallen to the ground.

There was still some color left and many leaves still on the trees had that golden brown that makes late autumn distinct.

It was a sunny day and the last time that the CVSR would operate the Scenic train with a pair of locomotives on the south end.

With this year’s pairing featuring two FPA-4 units running tail to tail, it might be the last opportunity to get this unusual coupling.

Fellow Akron Railroad Club member Roger Durfee and I set out to chase the late morning and middle trips of the day.

Here is a sample of what I was able to capture.

The day’s trips represented the last service to the stations at Botzum, Indigo Lake and Brecksville until next year. Starting Nov. 7, the Scenic shifts to Saturday and Sunday operation with the only intermediate stop being in Peninsula.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

Not as much color as last week, but the view from the Ohio Route 82 bridge was still pretty fantastic.

Passengers wait on the platform with their bikes as an arch of the Route 82 bridge frames the nose of CVSR No. 800.

I got down on my stomach to get his shot at Brecksville station.

A small amount of gold is left in a tree next to the tracks just north of Boston Mill.

Is this the last time that FpA-4 Nos. 800 and 6771 run together as a pair? We’ll find out in autumn 2016, but much can change in a year’s time.

Around the curve lies the Boston Mill station.

Bearing down on milepost 43 in Akron.

The best color of the day was at milepost 43 in Akron behind a housing development.

Side lighting illuminates a stand of autumn gold as the train rumbles through Akron southbound.

We waited for the Scenic to go north out of Akron and then called it a day. The train is passing milepost 43.

More Sweet Fall Foliage on the CVSR

Passing under the Route 82 bridge in Brecksville.

 

Along Riverview Road; I like how the trees are growing around the trains.

Passing through some backyards in Akron on the southbound run.

The northbound run in the same spot as above, but from a different angle. It is my favorite of the day.

Here are some Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad images from a chase on Sunday, Oct. 25. There was some pretty sweet fall color that day.

Photographs by Roger Durfee

Gray Day Gave Way to Sunny Skies and Bright Colors of Autumn on the CVSR Last Sunday

The view of a southbound Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad train from the Ohio Route 82 bridge in Brecksville.

It began as a gray day, a very gray day. Overcast skies don’t exactly beckon you to grab your camera and head out to make images even if you know that the fall foliage is at its peak color.

So I kept one eye out for the window for signs of improvement and another on the clock.

The National Weather Service had said that a high pressure system would move in on Sunday. The Intellicast website forecast predicted peeks of sun by afternoon.

About 10:30 a.m. I was tired of waiting. I gathered my camera bag along with some drinks and snacks and headed for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

The clouds to the north and northwest were breaking up and “peeks of sunshine” illuminated my house as I backed out of the driveway. I took that as a good omen.

But farther east and to the south were heavy cloud banks that were not going to move out right away.

I kept driving for it would take more than a half-hour to get to the park.

There were still quite a few clouds overhead as I arrived at the Brecksville station of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

There was some nice color right by the station, but I elected to climb the hill south of Chippewa Creek. The view yielded some good colorful background foliage.

Autumn color doesn’t always present itself as a massive and solid block. You have to learn to appreciate its variegated nature.

The issue I grappled with on that hillside, though, was not lack of color but shadows from the clouds.

The peeks of sunlight illuminated nicely the trees beyond the train, but the latter was in shadows.

By the time that the second southbound CVSR Scenic got underway, though, there were mostly sunny skies.

My first view of that run of the Scenic came from atop the Ohio Route 82 bridge. Most of the trees along the Cuyahoga River were at their peak color and the view was quite stunning.

One of the most dramatic autumn photos I’ve ever seen was made from this bridge by the late Dave McKay of a southbound Cuyahoga Valley Lines train led by steam locomotive 4020, the former Grand Trunk Western engine.

What I captured of CVSR FPA-4 No. 800 was not quite as dramatic as Dave’s image, but that Baltimore & Ohio tribute locomotive looked good amid that sea of fall colors.

It was then off to Indigo Lake where I wanted to duplicate with No. 800 a scene I had made three years earlier of a southbound coming out of the woods around a curve and into Howe Meadow.

I perched myself on a hillside and waited. The Scenic tends to run behind schedule during the leaf peeping season because of the high volume of passengers getting on and off.

By the time the Scenic reached Indigo Lake it was 20 minutes behind schedule.

I bumped into fellow Akron Railroad Club member Todd Dillon and we chatted while waiting for the train to arrive.

I had time to kill before the Scenic returned north so I visited the covered bridge near Everett, a site I had never seen but had long been on my “to do” list.

Then it was off to Deep Lock Quarry park and a hike on the towpath trail to an opening along the Cuyahoga River south of Peninsula.

The Scenic continued to run late. I waited at Jaite until it came south for the final time of the day.

It was there that I made my only significant blunder of the day. My plan was to listen on the radio for the train to leave Brecksville and then drive down Riverview Road to an open area where I would zoom in across a field of the two FPA-4 locomotives running tail to tail. Those engines would look good in the late day light.

I heard the train call milepost 58. At that point I should have gotten started. But I momentarily forgot that mileposts on the CVSR get lower going southward.

Milepost 59 is just north of Brecksville station and I thought that 58 was north of there.

When the train called milepost 57 I was jolted out of my sense of complacency. Milepost 57 is just north of Jaite. The train was just about on top of me.

I quickly headed out and probably should have parked on the shoulder opposite of where I wanted to shoot. But I wasn’t sure if that was level enough ground to get off the road and I didn’t want to find out that it wasn’t.

There is a pull-off beyond where I wanted to be. I got into it all right, but there wasn’t time to walk to where the photo location where I wanted to be.

I could shoot across an open area right by the pull-off, which is what I wound up doing. Alas, my view was marred slightly by a small tree.

My final location for the day was at Indigo Lake. With the Scenic continuing to run 15 minutes late, I feared that the sun might slip below the tree line before the Scenic arrived.

I didn’t want to end my day by missing the shot I wanted due to lack of direct sunlight. Shadows enveloped the rails along Riverview Road as I drove south of Peninsula.

But there is enough open area at Indigo Lake to ensure good lighting for what I wanted to do, which was to shoot across the lake with the train and fall foliage reflections in the water. The results were as dramatic as I had expected and then some.

After stopping at Szalay’s Market, I headed for home. It had been a quite satisfying day.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

Stopping at Brecksville station in late morning.

At least the sun came out to light up the trees.

There was still plenty of color left at Brecksville station.

Another perspective of the train from the Route 82 bridge in Brecksville.

Looking down on a dome car.

Duplicating a scene at this same spot that I made in October 2012. That image made the cover of Passenger Train Journal.

Where there is an Alco there will be smoke. A southbound Scenic accelerates out of Indigo Lake.

Coming into Howe Meadow as passersby watch.

The dome section of the Silver Bronco was the place to be.

Along the Cuyahoga River south of Peninsula.

Here comes the train north of Boston Mill.

A pair of FPA-4 Alcos running tail to tail along Riverview Road.

Arriving at Indigo Lake. Despite the late hour, the late day light held up nicely.

Reflections of fall.

The train stretches from edge to edge of this frame. The CVSR runs some long trains during the leaf peeping season.

Still waters and fall foliage makes a nice combination.

A reflection at Indigo Lake.

Horizon Rail 8420 trails at Indigo Lake.

A Good Afternoon Failfanning in the Akron Region

Last Sunday started out overcast but by the afternoon the sun had come out for a beautiful fall day.

My first stop was Indigo Lake where I ran into our club president, Craig Sanders. Also, the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad No. 800 made for some nice photos.

I chased the CVSR train to Akron and then got a Wheeling & Lake Erie stone train that was parked at Summit Street.

My next stop was Rootstown and the NS 21Q intermodal train led by the Interstate heritage paint.  I had caught this engine last Thursday at Hudson also leading 21Q.

It turned out to be a pretty good afternoon.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon