What Has Roger Seen Lately? Take a Look

Akron Railroad Club member Roger Durfee has been catching up on showing some of his more recent photographs.

He writes that this gallery is nothing too special, just some stuff from around work and nearby locations that he has captured.

The top image was made on one of the rails in the yard. Conrail’s welded rail plant was Lucknow in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

A splash of Kansas City Southern color on train 22K passed the Brookpark yard office when Roger was nearby.

Then there are these two views of LMIX 132, a car billed to Amtrak. Note the gas grill on the one end of the platform.

The Savannah & Atlanta heritage unit on was NS train 310 passing through Sheffield Lake. “[I] did the best I could with the higher summer sun,” Roger wrote.

You never know what you might find, including a restored Lake Shore Electric car in Avon.

Finally, here is the “Blue Mane” DC to AC conversion No. 4004 at Rockport.

Photographs by Roger Durfee

Some Quality Time on Horseshoe Curve

 

In this second installment of the trip that Akron Railroad Club member Ed Ribinskas took to Pennsylvania last month, we join him at Horseshoe Curve on the Pittsburgh Line of Norfolk Southern.

Ed was there along with his brother in law Karl and his son Owen. They made a day trip to the curve and the Everett Railroad.

While on the curve, Ed photographed Amtrak westbound train No. 43, the Pennsylvanian. It had its standard Amfleet consist pulled by a single P42DC locomotive.

No. 43 passed on the curve an NS manifest freight had had the Savannah & Atlanta heritage unit (No. 1065) in the motive power consist.

Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

NS 1065 in Conneaut, Perry . . .

Norfolk Southern train I87 waits east of the grade crossing at Thompson Road in Conneaut. The train was waiting for two eastbound intermodal trains to clear the single track on the trestle over Conneaut Creek.

A side view of NS 1065 at Thompson Road in Conneaut.

 

A side view of NS 1065 at Thompson Road in Conneaut.

Crossing Conneaut Creek and the tracks of the Bessemer & Lake Erie.

At Parrish Road west of Conneaut.

Rounding the curve and coming into Perry.

Akron Railroad Club Treasurer Ed Ribinskas along with President Craig Sanders ventured to Conneaut on Saturday to catch some Bessemer & Lake Erie action. While there, a local railfan gave them a heads up that the Savannah and Atlanta heritage locomotive of Norfolk Southern was leading a westbound auto rack train.

They were able to photograph NS 1065 and its train at Thompson Road near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, crossing the trestle over Conneaut Creek, from the bridge at Parrish Road and in Perry.

Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

. . . And in Painesville

Fellow Akron Railroad Club member Jeff Troutman was waiting in Painesville for the I87 to arrive. He was standing on the sidewalk on Bank Street and got these images of the Savannah & Atlanta unit shortly after it led the I87 over the trestle spanning the Grand River.

Photographs by Jeff Troutman

Getting the Circus Train was a Bit of a Circus

The circus train climbs Westinghouse hill. Note the tail end of that stacker alongside.

I knew the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus train was going to be coming west a couple of weeks ago on the Norfolk Southern Chicago Line and knew the spot I wanted to shoot it at.

I was in earshot all morning, listening to the CSX crew build the train near the Amtrak station in downtown Cleveland.

The plan was to have the CSX crew take the train to CP Max (near Rockport) for the new NS crew and its run to Toledo.

Once the train was together and got the OK to proceed west over Bridge 1, I headed for my perch.

The one thing that could happen to block the photo was another train and that almost happened. As the circus train was starting over the bridge, an eastbound stack train was calling signals on its way to the bridge.

The stacker showed up first and not only was it going slow it was long and had the Savannah & Atlanta heritage unit leading.

I guess if you are going to get skunked by another train it might as well be a good one. I shot the S&A (including a down on roster view) and then watched it slowly move east.

As the end of it got closer, the headlight of the circus train was showing. Just as the circus train got into shooting range, the stacker cleared allowing the photos I that wanted.

A long train in itself, the circus train was 61 cars and powered by two CSX units. I grabbed a few photos of some of the cars as well as the train.

Note the excavation for the new West 73rd Street bridge in several of the photos, and the “old” main. Trains will use this shoofly track until the new bridge is built, then will move back to the original line location.

Article and Photographs by Roger Durfee

S&A Heritage Unit Makes an Appearance

Norfolk Southern 1065 made an early morning appearance through Cleveland on Thursday leading a Z4R crude oil train east. It is seen here just after dawn drifting down Westinghouse Hill toward Bridge 1 on the Chicago Line. Finding a spot between the still long winter shadows wasn’t easy.

Photograph by Roger Durfee

S&A Heritage Unit Finds Home in Ohio

The trees are starting to turn in this view from the new Highland Road bridge.

The Savannah & Atlanta heritage unit has been in the Shelly Materials stone pool for a week now leading most of the eastbound moves.

A Martin to Twinsburg train was tied down in the Twin Storage track at CP 102 early Sunday morning due to no crew being available to push it.

This allowed some morning views of other trains passing the captive H unit and some afternoon views from the new Highland Road bridge in Twinsburg.

Photographs by Roger Durfee

65W passes the 68D.

The 64N passes the 68D, illustrating unit trains at their best.

 

64W passes a tied down 68D at CP 102 in Twinsburg.

 

 

A Heritage Unit Tackles the Crown

My job got the call to push the 68D stone train up the Crown to Chrysler Yard in Twinsburg last week. Here is a quick grab shot of our subject on Main No. 2 passing us as we sat on the “aught” track at CP 107.  This is the first heritage unit to go up the Crown from what I remember.

Photographs by Roger Durfee

I Finally had Some NS H Unit Good Luck

 

I was watching the status of Norfolk Southern No. 1065 over the last week in New York hoping I would get lucky on its return west.

With the NS heritage units I’m either working or else they pass through out my way in darkness.

On Friday, it was different. Once I knew that the Savannah & Atlanta unit was in Conneaut, I waited at the Giant Eagle in Painesville where the former Nickel Plate Road crosses Route 20.

Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

 

Getting Lucky After Work

I caught wind of Norfolk Southern No. 1065, the Savannah & Atlanta heritage unit, leading a westbound mixed freight on Aug. 19.

With lots of track work around, the train got delayed coming into the Cleveland area, but eventually headed west.

I had a doctor’s appointment after work and didn’t think I would see this unit, but those delays gave me enough time to get trackside afterwards.

The first three photos are in Macedonia near the Ohio Route 82 overpass. Even though this is an unremarked location, I knew the light would be sweet there plus it’s a short section that doesn’t have new crossties along the main.

The last photo is across from my yard office. This train was following traffic so I was able to get ahead of it there and get a photo with ties in it.

Article and Photographs by Roger Durfee