OmniTRAX Expands Program to NEO Short Line

Short line holding company OmniTRAX is working with Team NEO to expand its Rail-Ready Sites program to the Cleveland & Cuyahoga Railroad.

In a news release, OmniTRAX said the program is designed to connect companies with rail-served properties to help support industrial development.

OmniTRAX and Team NEO are marketing four new sites that include 40 acres of greenfield space and two rail-served facilities totaling 254,000 square feet on the CCRL.

The 35-mile short line offers transload and multimodal services with connections to Norfolk Southern and Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway.

OmniTRAX said the program complements JobsOhio’s SiteOhio authenticated sites and NEO RightSites initiatives, which aim to market shovel-ready and highly competitive sites in the region.

New Amtrak Acela Train Passes Through NE Ohio

The new trainset built by Alstom for Amtrak’s Acela Express service in the Northeast Corridor passed through Northeast Ohio late Monday afternoon.

The train was en route from Hornell, New York, where it was built, to a testing center near Pueblo, Colorado.

It departed Hornell early Monday morning and reached Lake County east of Cleveland by mid to late afternoon.

A railfan chat list posting said it passed through Berea on the NS Chicago line at 5:40 p.m. and was in Elkhart, Indiana, at 11:30 p.m.

The ferry move used the Southern Tier line of Norfolk Southern to Buffalo, New York, where it picked up the route of Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited to Chicago.

On Tuesday afternoon the train left Chicago on the route of the Southwest Chief bound for La Junta, Colorado.

The consist of the special as it passed through Northeast Ohio included P42DC Nos. 135 and 196, heritage fleet sleeper Pacific Bend, a Viewliner baggage car, the Acela trainset, a Viewliner dining car and P42DC No. 144.

The train set is expected to undergo testing for several weeks in Colorado before returning to New York for the installation of its interior appointments.

Back by Popular Demand NOT!

Back in late November 2018 I wrote what I expected to be the last post for this blog.

I had conducted my last meeting as president of the Akron Railroad Club and a new president has been elected to replace me.

The blog I had created in 2009 to promote the ARRC would remain live but I wouldn’t create any new content. Besides, I would be moving out of state within a few months and would no longer be active in the ARRC.

I expected that traffic would quickly dry up. But that hasn’t quite been the case.

Because the site continues to get a fair amount of spam comments, I visit it every few days to clean out the spam.

In doing that I’ve been amazed that the site continue to have a fairly high level of visits despite there no being any new material posted here four months.

My thinking was to allow the site to remain live as an archive of ARRC activities and other historic information about the railroads of Northeast Ohio.

But no news would be posted about the ARRC or the region’s railroads.

I’ve since rethought that somewhat. I am not going to resume posting news about railroads or the ARRC.

The current leadership of the ARRC has a Facebook page and I see communicating with members as the responsibility of leadership, not former leaders and rank and file members.

But if people are still going to come to the site then I will on occasion give them something new to read.

That will be a mix of memories of ARRC events and activities and a few of my own memories of railfanning in Northeast Ohio whether connected to the ARRC or not.

I won’t necessarily post every week. There may be some long gaps between postings.

But I look forward to walking down memory lane with you and remembering what used to be.

Buyers Wants More Time From STB to Complete Deal With CSX to Buy Northeast Ohio Branch Line

The would-be buyer of an idle CSX branch line in Northeast Ohio is seeking additional time from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to complete the transaction.

BDM Warren Steel Holdings is seeking to purchase the 13.9-mile Newton Falls Subdivision, which CSX wants to abandon.

In asking for additional time, Warren Steel said it received “confusing information” about the June 29 deadline that the STB set for offers of financial assistance.

Warren Steel had offered $742,000 for the branch, which it said will be used for future economic development of a 1,100 acre site of a former steel plant that has since been razed.

There are several brownfield and greenfield sites along the branch that could be re-purposed into distribution warehouses, food processing, manufacturing, and suppliers supporting gas production in nearby shale fields.

In its letter to the STB, Warren Steel said it has received 42 inquiries including 11 that would require rail access.

Warren Steel is expected to contract with a short-line railroad to operate the branch.

The branch would offer connections with CSX in Newton Falls and Norfolk Southern near Niles.

“Without dual service, we will lose some opportunities,” said Sarah Boyarko, senior vice president for economic development with the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.

CSX asked the STB in May for approval to abandon the line, which was once owned by the Baltimore & Ohio.

First Energy Foundation Gives CVSR $50K

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad plans to launch a comprehensive capital campaign in early 2018 with the first donation already having been made by the FirstEnergy Foundation.

The Akron-based group recently gave the railroad $50,000 to kick start a program to modernize the CVSR fleet of locomotives and passenger cars.

Details of the campaign will be announced early next year, railroad officials said.

“The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic railroad has become a cultural institution in Northeast Ohio, drawing people from far and wide for programs designed to build wonderful family memories, such as summer valley excursions or trips on the Polar Express during the holiday season,” said FirstEnergy Foundation President Dee Lowery in a statement. “The fact that this is the railroad’s first comprehensive capital campaign in its 45 years of operation is a testament to the organization’s viability, and we’re pleased to support it.”

CVSR has engaged in various fundraising activities over the years, but the railroad is describing the upcoming campaign as the first of its kind since its 1972 founding.

The CVSR has operated scheduled service on a former Baltimore & Ohio branch line between Cleveland and Akron since 1975.

Just Another Day on NYC, N&W in late ’60s

Here are two more black and white images from Northeast Ohio. This series will try to capture day-to-day scenes from 1967 to no later than 1972.

In the top image, New York Central No. 1810 heads east on the NYC mainline east of Cleveland sometime in 1968 or 1969. The GE behind 1810 looks like it has Penn Central on its side.

In the other image, Norfolk & Western No. 2047 sits dead around the turntable at the N&W Brewster engine facility. She is more than likely being parted out as I believe she was in the scrap line later on in 1967 or 1968.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Rep. Joyce Tours N.E. Ohio Rail Businesses

An Ohio Congressman joined a tour of Northeast Ohio rail and manufacturing companies this week that sought to showcase the work of those organizations.

Rep. David Joyce visited Iron Horse Engineering; Manufacturing, Advocacy & Growth Network; and the Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association.

Joining him on the tour were representatives from railroads, other manufacturers, and rail safety groups.

MAGNET is a non-profit devoted to supporting, educating, and championing manufacturing in Northeast Ohio while REMSA, a non-profit trade group, represents more than 350 railway engineers, contractors, consultants, and suppliers.

Leading the tour was Iron Horse Engineering Vice President Tracie Roberts.

Iron Horse is a division of Montville Plastics & Rubber and was founded in 1989 and employs about 50 people.

The Cleveland-based company developed the rail boot and supplies parts to transit rail operations and heavy haul freight lines.