Yeah its Trailing But Look What its Trailing

In my perfect world the first Canadian National heritage locomotive I would see and photograph would be ET44AC No. 3008 on the point of a southbound on the former Illinois Central mainline in east central Illinois.

As it turned out my first CN heritage unit was the 3008 and it was running on the ex-IC in east central Illinois. But it was trailing and headed northward.

What’s special about the 3008? It’s the Illinois Central heritage locomotive.

Yeah, my first sighting of it was as a trailing unit, but just look at what it is trailing. No. 3008 was assigned as the third of three units pulling train A407, the daily Centralia, Illinois, to Kirk Yard in Gary, Indiana, job.

In recent months this train has typically operated with former IC SD70 units, many of them still in their IC “death star” livery.

So what we had on Saturday, May 1, was a pair of original IC SD70s, Nos. 1028 and 1001, both wearing their “death star” look teamed up with a “death star” IC heritage unit.

This begs the question of which of these units is the heritage unit.

The 3008 could have been the leader on the A407. It’s nose was facing north. I would later learn that the 3008 was removed from the A407 in Champaign and put on another northbound train as a leader.

I don’t know if working with original IC units is a first for the 3008. CN heritage units are allowed to roam the CN system, which is quite vast so the 3008 will be matched with a wide range of CN motive power.

Whatever the case, this motive power consist was one instance in which I didn’t mind all that much that the heritage unit was trailing. Three out of five isn’t a bad day’s work in railroad photography.

IC 1038 Looked Familiar

With another Super Bowl game in the books, I was looking through photographs I made during railfan outings on past Super Bowl Sundays with Marty Surdyk and Craig Sanders.

On Feb. 4, 2018, the day the Philadelphia Eagles upended the New England Patriots 41-33, we caught an inbound Canadian National train at Conneaut with Bessemer & Lake Erie SD40-3 No. 905 on the lead and Illinois Central SD70 No. 1038 trailing.

That meant the 1038 would lead coming out of the lakefront at Conneaut. We were surprised, but happy that B&LE SD38AC No. 867 was put on for the outbound move.

We chased the southbound as far as Hartstown, Pennsylvania, with intermediate photo stops in Albion (shown below) and Conneautville, Pennsylvania.

For some reason, the IC 1038 looked familiar to me. 

In my search for upcoming stories I found where I had seen it. In August 2007 Ursula and I were vacationing in the Galena, Illinois-Dubuque, Iowa area.

We visited the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, which is adjacent to the CN (former IC Iowa Division) mainline.

After we toured the aquarium, I heard activity outside on the railroad.

Mystery solved; that is where I had seen and photographed IC No. 1038. That date was Aug. 7, 2007

In the top image, the CN train in Conneaut is passing under U.S. Route 20.

In the second Dubuque photo, look at the road sign at the far right edge of the image.

Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

Good Place Now to Catch IC ‘Death Stars’

Not that long ago if you wanted to photograph SD70 locomotives that had been built for the Illinois Central and still wore their “death star” livery a good place to go was Canadian National’s Bessemer & Lake Erie Subdivision.

Back in early spring 2015 CN sent a fleet of ex-IC SD70s to the B&LE where they were, for the most part, standard motive power for most trains.

Of course I was pleased by that and my trips to Conneaut increased dramatically along with my chases of trains on the ex-Bessemer.

But motive power assignments change and in recent months CN has sent an infusion of different motive power to the ex-Bessemer.

The IC SD70s have gone elsewhere, including back to their original stomping ground.

You won’t see ex IC SD70 motive power on every train on the former Illinois Central mainline between Chicago and New Orleans but based on my experiences of the past year the odds of finding one are greater now than they had been.

To be sure, CN is slowly repainting the SD70s into its own colors and I’ve even seen motive power sets of pure SD70s in CN red, black and white.

But there are enough “death stars” still on the rails so that if you spend any time railfanning the one-time Mainline of Mid-America you have a reasonable chance of catching one of them leading a train.

That was the case on a recent Sunday when I ventured over to the CN Champaign Subdivision where good fortune fell my way.

I was driving north on U.S. Route 45 when I spotted a southbound in the distance led by ex-IC No. 1036.

A quick turnaround on an intersection rural road had me headed for South Tuscola (top image) where the siding in Tuscola ends on the south end.

Adjacent to the tracks were corn fields still awaiting harvest. In the background are grains bins of the massive Archer-Daniels-Midland facility at Tuscola that is served by CN and Union Pacific.

After getting my photos here, I sped off for the Dewitt Avenue bridge in Mattoon. This is the northernmost of the five bridges that span the former IC tracks in my one-time hometown.

Interestingly, this was only the second time I’ve photographed a train on the ex-IC from Dewitt Avenue.

Earlier in the day I had caught the “death star” duo of Nos. 1000 and 1029 leading a northbound at Pesotum.

Pairs of “death stars” are not necessarily common, but not unheard of either.

I had caught one of these duos earlier this year. That had also occurred in Pesotum but with a southbound.

It was like going back in a time machine to when the IC was still an independent railroad run by the legendary E. Hunter Harrison.

In time the SD70s will either be repainted or sold off and “death stars” will no longer be seen on the ex-IC. But in the meantime I’ll look for as many of them as I can.

Finding New Photo Ops on the ex-B&LE

Last Saturday I did a Bessemer & Lake Erie chase.  I found some new spots and even chased to the Pittsburgh area and got the return trip north on the Alleghany River bridge which has been on my bucket list for a while now.

The top photograph was made somewhere on the north end passing a searchlight signal.

Next the train is crossing a bridge about to go under Interstate 79.

The train crosses the Alleghany River north of Pittsburgh and in the last photograph it is shown in the last light of day at Butler, Pennsylvania.

Photographs by Todd Dillon

I See the IC

One of my primary motivations for going to Conneaut to railfan is the hope of catching a Canadian National train on the former Bessemer & Lake Erie. Of course, my objective in doing that is getting the former Illinois Central SD70 locomotives that have been assigned to the route since March 2015.

Since the IC units have been assigned to the ex-B&LE, every train I’ve spotted on the line has had IC motive power.

The IC units are not always leading. Much of the time, the motive power consist includes at least one engine painted in CN colors and markings.

On a rare occasion, there has been a unit still wearing its B&LE colors and markings. I’ve also seen pure IC motive power consists.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, I was sitting by the Main Street crossing monitoring the rail traffic on Norfolk Southern.

Then the gates started coming down on the B&LE tracks at the Main Street crossing. The incoming train had CN 5422 leading and IC 1034 and IC 1018 trailing.

That was good news. It would mean IC power would be leading when the train came out of the yard heading south.

Last September, the last time I caught a B&LE train, there had been a CN unit leading southbound.

I didn’t chase this train out of town. I photographed it from the east bank of Conneaut Creek, from the Main Street crossing, and from the U.S. 20 bridge. That was enough for this day.

Reflections in Conneaut

Illinois Central SD70 No. 1018 and its running mates are reflected in the relatively calm water of Conneaut Creek.

One of the challenges of railroad photography is finding new ways to portray something you’ve already captured a dozen or more times.

Even then it might not be that you are doing something new as much as putting a new twist on something you’ve done before.

I ended up doing that during a visit last Sunday to Conneaut. My objective in going there was the same as it always is: Capture all three railroads that come into town.

But I also wanted to do something I hadn’t done in awhile. I recently showed some images of Norfolk Southern trains crossing the trestle that I had made in November 2005.

During that outing, fellow Akron Railroad Club member Ed Ribinskas and I had stood fairly close to the trestle carrying the former Nickel Plate Road tracks over Conneaut Creek.

I’ve been to Conneaut dozens of times since then, but seldom have I stood near the trestle. All other times I photographed from a distance with a telephoto lens.

I did that this past Sunday, too, but for the passage of eastbound NS intermodal train No. 206 I got close to the trestle.

The lighting conditions last Sunday were similar to what we had had during that 2005 outing. Both were sunny days with low sun angles that produced a warm feeling.

I created an image of the NS motive power crossing the bridge that was similar to the work that I did in 2005.

But after photographing the NS motive power, I noticed that the train was being reflected in the relatively calm water of Conneaut Creek.

I had to step back to fit the train and its reflection into the frame. The results are shown below.

I also created some reflection images when the Canadian National taconite pellets train came out of the yard later that day on the former Bessemer & Lake Erie. Those results can be see above and below.

The reflections are not as pronounced as they were with NS 206 and its containers and trailers, yet still pleasing.

This wasn’t the first time I’ve used Conneaut Creek as a mirror. It was the first time I’ve done it since the ex-ICRR locomotives showed up in 2015 and it was the first time I’ve focused on reflection photography from the NS trestle in this manner.

 

IC, CP and an All Day Wait for NS 1074

Achieving my first objective of the day was easy. A Canadian National train with three Illinois Central locomotives showed up shortly after I arrived in Conneaut.

Last Sunday didn’t get off to a good start. I got up later than I expected or wanted.

I had toyed with the idea of leaving at 5 a.m. and trying to catch the eastbound Lake Shore Limited in Conneaut or North East, Pennsylvania.

But with the weather looking iffy, I didn’t want to get an early start only to have mostly cloudy skies. Catching No. 48 can wait for a better day.

Shortly before 7 a.m. someone posted on Heritageunits.com that the Lackawanna heritage locomotive of Norfolk Southern was leading the 14M at Wampum, Pennsylvania.

A quick online check of NS train symbols showed the 14M to be a Conway to Buffalo, New York, train.

How long would it take to get to Conneaut? I figured it to be a manifest freight that might work in Youngstown and even in Conneaut. Somewhere along the way it would need to change crews.

I didn’t get away until about 8:30. As I drove on I-90 past Carson Yard on the NS Youngstown Line south of Ashtabula I looked to see if the 14M was there. It wasn’t.

Once in Conneaut I headed north on Mill Street but nothing was sitting in the yard other than the usual yard power.

I got stopped at the CSX crossing by an eastbound ballast train. I parked in the lot for the Conneaut Historical Society across from the CSX Erie West Subdivision tracks.

I had three objectives for the day. Catch a train on Canadian National – the former Bessemer & Lake Erie – get the 14M and bag a pair of those Citirail units that CSX has been leasing of late.

There was no guarantee the Bessemer would be operating today from Conneaut, but there was  a good chance that it would and that it would have Illinois Central motive power.

The 14M looked like a good bet but bagging the Citirail units would be a long shot.

I set up my antenna, checked the frequencies on my scanner and waited. Less than two minutes later I heard a transmission on the B&LE channel. A train was working in the yard.

Over to the Main Street crossing I went. The B&LE channel got quiet for about 10 to 15 minutes before the switching moves resumed.

By now NS 316 had arrived in town and was working the yard. In the process they discovered they had a loaded car destined for Bellevue. Should they leave it in Conneaut or take it to Buffalo?

“Take it with you,” was the response of the Youngstown Line dispatcher.

It was getting to be late morning when Illinois Central 1034 and two sister IC units came out of the yard and poked their noses out beyond the NS trestle over Conneaut Creek.

The crew was wrapping up putting together its train. I was hoping to get the lead unit of the NS 316 crossing the trestle above IC 1034, but it was not to be.

The CN train had left town by the time the 316 ambled eastbound with Canadian Pacific No. 8917 on the point.

Under normal circumstances, I would have chased the CN train into Pennsylvania. But today I still had unfinished business. I returned to the historical society parking lot next to the CSX tracks.

It was about noon when I heard the Youngstown Line dispatcher make radio contact with the 14M.

The discussion occurred on the Youngstown Line frequency so 14M still had yet to reach Ashtabula.

Eastbound traffic on the former Nickel Plate Road mainline through Ashtabula was heavy, so the dispatcher agreed to recrew the 14M at Carson.

In the eastbound parade were intermodal trains 22K and 206 along with auto rack train 28N.

I didn’t bother to seek out the 22K or 206. Instead I focused on CSX for awhile.

An eastbound rail train came through around 12:30 p.m. that was followed by an eastbound stack train.

Shortly thereafter, a westbound monster freight, the Q393, slowly made its way through town with all 15,000 feet of it making all of 30 mph.

Welcome to the world of E. Hunter Harrison’s precision scheduled railroading.

I later heard the IH dispatcher tell another train he would do his best to get that train around the Q393, but it would be difficult.

Around 1:38 p.m. the Youngstown Line dispatcher talked with the 14M again. The new crew was on board and the train was on the move.

It must have moved slowly because by mid-afternoon it still wasn’t out of Ashtabula. It would follow train 310.

In the meantime, another story began playing out on NS. I had heard the dispatcher periodically tell the crew of westbound 287, an auto rack train, that it would be waiting in yet another siding for yet another eastbound.

The 287 must have been in and out of every siding between here and Buffalo.

Around 3 p.m. the dispatcher told the 287 it would have to go into the siding at PA for the 310 and the 14M. The latter was just now coming around the Buffalo connection in Ashtabula.

The 287 crew reminded the dispatcher it had been on duty since 5 a.m. But his brushed that aside saying they needed to take that up with the first trick dispatcher who was on duty “when that baby was born.”

I also learned that the 14M would be dropping off a locomotive at Conneaut. Less than 15 minutes later the dispatcher, his supervisor or the NS computer program that makes train dispatching decisions had a change of heart.

The 287 would come into Conneaut for a recrew. But the new crew would have the same experience the old crew old had, having to wait for opposing traffic. In this case it would mean waiting at the west end of Parish siding for the 310 and 14M.

It was getting to be late afternoon and I was getting impatient. Where was the 14M?

I decided to go look for it. I drove out to Parish Road on the west side of Conneaut, parked and walked up onto the bridge.

But there was no sign of the 14M and the signal at the west end of the yard for eastbounds was red. A CSX westbound passed by but I didn’t pay it much mind.

I noticed that the connecting track from NS to CSX, which I’ve been told was put in during the Conrail era and once hosted a detour of Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited, is still in place, but overgrown with weeds.

NS has altered the switch so that it now appears to act as a derail yet it is no longer possible to move a train into the connection track to CSX.

As I waited for the 14M, a large bank of clouds moved in and covered the sun. It had been sun and clouds for most of the day, but the weather was taking a turn.

I was about to give up and go back into town when I heard a horn to the west. Maybe that was the 14M.

Soon a headlight popped up on the horizon. The signal at the west end of the yard was still red and the train was moving slowly.

A glimpse through my telephoto lens confirmed that the Lackawanna H unit was on the point.

The 14M stopped but it didn’t last long because the signal turned to an approach indication.

I got my photographs and drove back to the historical society. Shortly after arriving, the heavens opened and we had an intense, although brief, shower that produced small hail pellets.

I listened to the 14M on the radio as it worked in the Conneaut Yard. During the process I got a CSX westbound freight that was a mere 300 plus axles. I guess those cars wouldn’t fit on the Q393.

By now it was apparent I wasn’t going to get any Citirail units leading on CSX today.

The 14M finished its work and I drove over to the Main Street crossing of the B&LE to photograph NS 1074 on the trestle over Conneaut Creek.

It was nearly 5:30 p.m. and I needed to head for home. It had taken all day, but I had finally got a heritage unit, the first one I’ve photographed since January.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

Looks like it is going to be a nice spring day.

IC 1034 and its train will be leaving town shortly.

Looking west down Main Street.

NS train 316 had a Canadian Pacific leader and a loaded car that was supposed to have been routed to Bellevue.

The W021 has a load of rail bound for some eastern work site.

The ATVs racing along side this eastbound CSX stack train were not part of the original plan for making this image.

Trying to show Q017 along with a pair of flowering trees.

The crew of NS train 287 was relieved to hear the dispatcher say there had been a change of plans and they would come into Conneaut sooner rather than later.

A black locomotive and a bright red garage.

At last the 14M is approaching Conneaut with the feature attraction of the day on NS.

Coming into Conneaut on an approach.

After the rain came a short by today’s CSX standards manifest freight.

The last image of the day was one I waited several hours to get.

Easy Catch in Conneaut

I had a hankering to see some Illinois Central motive power so, naturally, I went to Conneaut to find it.

It didn’t take long. I had parked opposite of the former New York Central passenger station along the CSX Erie West Subdivision.

I turned on my scanner and the first radio transmission I heard was a Canadian National crew making switching moves in the yard of the former Bessemer & Lake Erie.

So off I went to the Main Street crossing to wait. Within 15 to 20 minutes IC SD70 No. 1034 and two other IC sister units pulled down by the Norfolk Southern trestle.

It would be the easiest catch of the day.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

Seeking New, Old Photography Locations While Chasing on the Former Bessemer & Lake Erie

Illinois Central SD70 No. 1018 leads a train out of the yard in Conneaut.

Conneaut was quiet, very quiet. We had been sitting next to the former Bessemer & Lake Erie tracks for more than an hour and had heard nothing on the radio and seen nothing on the rails.

Nothing was going on with CSX. Nothing was going on with Norfolk Southern. And, of course, CN was quiet, too.

Finally, a CSX train called a signal on the radio. OK, let’s head to the former Lake Shore & Michigan Southern depot where we might see a train.

But the best we saw was the middle of a CSX intermodal train as we were driving to the tracks.

Our stay near the depot turned out to be brief and that wasn’t a bad thing.

The B&LE radio channel had come alive so back we went to the Main Street crossing and the B&LE tracks.

Soon, the radio transmissions became more frequent and it was clear that a crew was putting a train together.

When the train finally came out of the yard the head end went all the way down to the crossing.

On the point was a trio of Illinois Central SD70s, Nos. 1018, 1034 and 1038. The Canadian National train had IC motive power as it traveled former Bessemer & Lake Erie tracks.

One of my objectives for the subsequent chase was to photograph in some new places.

So, we drove to the crossing at Welton Road, which is not exactly a new place for me.

I’ve photographed inbound trains here, including as recently as last fall when I got an IC SD70 leading a train past some nice autumn foliage.

But only once have I photographed a train leaving town and crossing the bridge over Conneaut Creek.

That was in June 2006 when Ed Ribinskas and I waited an interminably long time to catch a train that didn’t depart until late afternoon. It is still the latest I’ve ever seen a train leave Conneaut on the B&LE.

The screaming of the IC SD70s alerted us that the train was coming. Trains leaving Conneaut on the B&LE face a tough grade and go around a horseshoe curve.

We had to wait for the train to clear the Welton Road crossing before we could dash off to Pond Road. But the train beat us there by less than a minute.

Adam turned his car around and we set out for Albion. The train was already going over U.S. Route 6N shortly after we left West Springfield, Pennsylvania.

I had an idea for a photo location in Albion that I’d never tried, but it didn’t work out.

We found, though, a grassy area alongside John Williams Avenue at the south end of the B&LE yard. It worked out just fine.

We had to wait for the train at the East Main Street crossing in downtown Albion so I got a grab shot out the window of the lead unit passing a sign for a restaurant touting its “country cooking.”

I wanted to get a photo at Conneautville of the train passing the grain elevator. But at the first grade crossing south of that facility there were so many trees that you couldn’t see it.

We ended up going to the feed store and to get the classic Conneautville photos.

The chase continued south on Pennsylvania Route 18 and on a whim we turned down Agnew Road.

The good news is that it’s a nice photo location. The bad news is that we got there about a minute too late. All I could do was a grab shot out the window.

The train was already past Hartstown when we arrived, having been slowed by heavier than normal traffic in Conneaut Lake.

Still, we caught up to and passed the train and had enough time to set up at our objective, which was Osgood.

I’ve shot a B&LE train crossing over the former Erie Railroad tracks here – now owned by Norfolk Southern – but a railfan had parked his vehicle along the right of way. Today, though, I was able to get the photo that I wanted.

We had no concrete plans for chasing the train further. Adam suggested trying to follow the tracks on his GPS.

That eventually led us to St. Glory Road southeast of Greenville. The minute that we had needed at Agnew Road we had here.

Now what do we do? I’ve never been to Kremis before, the location on the B&LE where they often change crews.

Presumably, it is near a town or road of the same name. Using a GPS, we found Kremis Road, but it ended far from the tracks.

Through a combination of using the GPS and dead reckoning we wound up on Heckman Road, which turned out to be just south of the spot where the crew change occurs.

A cab was already waiting to pick up the crew and the dispatcher told them the next crew was not on duty until 1900 hours. That was five hours from now.

So the conductor and engineer got out and started setting hand brakes to tie the train down.

At that point, we headed back to Greenville and then on to Meadville to check out the Western New York & Pennsylvania as well as the Voodoo Brewing company.

As it turned out, we only photographed one train on this day, but it had still been a productive outing.

I’m never going to complain about a train with three Illinois Central locomotives.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

Crossing Conneaut Creek while climbing out of Conneaut. Those SD70s were really screaming as they approached.

A new photo location in Albion for me.

The crew did not have time to stop for some country cookin’ in Albion.

The classic shot to be had at Conneautville. At least it is open.

Getting down low at Conneautville. At one time I presume this siding served the grain elevator across the street behind me.

Crossing over the former Erie mainline at Osgood.

At St. Glory Road southeast of Greenville. I’d never been here before.

So this is Kremis, which I’ve heard so many times mentioned in radio transmissions. The view is from Heckman Road.

Tying it down at Kremis and then going off the clock.

The cornfields in the foreground and the three IC locomotives in the background made me feel as though I had found a little piece of central Illinois in western Pennsylvania. But the part of Illinois where I grew up is flatter.

Illinois Central Black Against Ohio Autumn Gold

Illinois Central 1018 comes into the curve on the former Bessemer & Lake Erie in Conneaut just before Welton Road. The motive power consist included three IC SD70s and a ratty looking CN unit.

Every picture tells a story. Or so they say. And behind every picture lies a story about how it came to be made.

It was late Saturday morning in Conneaut. Adam Barr and I had just chased a train on the former Bessemer & Lake Erie to Pond Road just inside Pennsylvania.

That train had the B&LE No. 905 on the lead. The weather was less than ideal but it might be the last opportunity that I’ll have to photograph a B&LE tunnel motor leading a train on the now Canadian National route.

We might have given chase further except that we both needed to be back home by around 1 p.m.

As we were leaving, we heard the CN dispatcher tell the 905 that it would be meeting a northbound.

The radio reception was intermittent and I didn’t catch the meet point. But it is common for meets to be made at Sandy, which is at KO Road north of Greenville, Pennsylvania.

The dispatcher had told the 905 that the northbound was taking the alternate route, which I thought meant the Greenville Subdivision through its namesake city.

We returned to Conneaut hoping to catch the 23K on Norfolk Southern, which had the Conrail heritage unit in its motive power consist.

The CN dispatcher came on again, having been keyed up by the B&LE 905 to clear up the track warrant between Conneaut and Albion, Pennsylvania.

But no sooner had that occurred then the dispatcher was giving that northbound a warrant to proceed to Conneaut.

The meet had occurred in Albion and the alternate route was the scale track between RX and CE. The latter is where the Erie branch diverges from the Bessemer Sub.

We thought about going back to Pond Road, but I suggested Welton Road, which is at the apex of the horseshoe curve that trains must go around arriving or departing in Conneaut.

There was good autumn color there and I was excited about the prospect of getting an IC “deathstar” against all of that gold.

There is ample room to park at the Welton Road crossing, yet being ready for a train’s arrival is tricky.

There are no gates and flashers here, just good old-fashioned cross bucks. By the time an inbound train begins blowing its horn for the crossing, it is almost on you.

You can’t count on hearing the rumbling of diesels and the next crossing down is a little distance away.

Adam heard what he described as a feeble-sounding horn that wasn’t CSX or NS. So we got into position.

It was another good catch on a day that had been filled with them.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

You won’t find an IC “deathstar” enveloped by this type of autumn foliage going around a curve back on the home territory of the Chicago-New Orleans mainline.

Almost to Welton Road. A light rain was falling at the time.

The last of the empty hoppers crosses Conneaut Creek.