I was sitting at a grade crossing in Tolono, Illinois, on the Lafayette District of Norfolk Southern watching an eastbound manifest freight when I spotted this rebuilt Cargill GP9 in the consist (top photograh).
I gave chase but because of the circuitous route I had to take was unable to get ahead of the train in time to be a better closeup shot of No. 614. The best I could do was a going away image just west of Philo, Illinois (bottom image).
Information I found online indicated the unit was interchanged to CSX in Lafayette, Indiana, and was once owned by the Grant Trunk Western.
No. 614 will probably never look any better than it did the day that I caught it.
Sometimes a photo brings a smile. Here is R.J. Corman GP9 No. 9003 heading south on Conrail at CP Mace in Massillon in mid-1997. The 9003 and its train are stretched out in such a way that most if not all of the train is visible which adds to the photo’s interest. The train will be on Conrail for a short time before switching back to its own rails. The 9003 is a former Baltimore & Ohio locomotive.
A motive power consist of all first generation diesel motive power passes a boarding platform of Akron Union Depot and the Erie passenger station in mid 1968. The lead is Baltimore & Ohio GP9 No. 6467 would work for a number of other railroads in later years and be converted to a GP10.
Baltimore & Ohio GP9 No. 6454 is westbound in Kent in the late 1960s. The Geep was built in August 1956 and would later join the roster of the Maryland Midland. The photograph was just able to get beneath the pole line.
How is this for an early Conrail era scene? GP9 No. 7074 still wearing Penn Central paint leads another GP9 that has received Conrail blue near Voris Street in early 1979. Note the former Pennsylvania Railroad cabin car in the consist.
The late Mike Ondecker and I found Grand Trunk Western GP9 4544 in Port Huron, Michigan, on April 20, 1976, at the locomotive service facility. It is teamed up with SD40 No. 5917.
Built in March 1957, the 4533 would be retired by GTW in 1991 but go on to serve such short line operations as the Kansas Southeastern Railway, Northern Plains Railway and the Renville Elevator Company.
All of the images shown above were made on May 30, 1968, in Kent.
The tracks shown were originally the Conotton Valley then became part of the original Wheeling & Lake Erie. Over the years they were merged into the Nickel Plate Road and then the Norfolk & Western.
Today, they make up the Cleveland Subdivision of the modern W&LE.
The series was made in several locations and feature the former passenger station and the bridge over the Baltimore & Ohio.
N&W No. 2496, is a GP9 while No. 2570 is an Alco RS11. Both were built for the NKP.
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