Colorful NS Motive Power Duo

It wasn’t an all heritage locomotives consist, but Norfolk Southern train 64T had an unusual motive power consist when it passed through Northeast Ohio during the morning hours of Monday, Sept. 12.

Leading the train was the Erie Railroad heritage locomotive while the tailing unit was the DC to AC conversion No. 4000.

The same duo had led the train or tank cars westbound through the region last Saturday, but that was during early morning hours and NS 4000 had been leading.

Reports on HeritageUnits.com indicated that on Monday the 64T was reported at Alliance at 11:06 a.m.

No reports were made for the time that train passed through Cleveland.

Rich Thompson was able to get to Hines Hill Road near Macedonia to capture the 64T as it made its way east on the NS Cleveland Line.

Photographs by Richard Thompson

Labor Day Wanderings: Part 1

Most of my railfanning moves on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend were done in pursuit of NS 80xx, the Southern heritage locomotive, which I’ve seen just once before.

Many guys take advantage of the Labor Day weekend to make an out of town railfanning trip. I got out of town during the holiday weekend, but not for an overnight adventure. I spent two days railfanning in my “backyard.”

The plan for Saturday was to pick up my friend Adam and head to Alliance. He needed to be back by 3 p.m. to take care of child care duties and after than I would head down to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad for the final day of operation of the Saturday-only bike train.

Adam and I had talked on Friday about going over to southwest Pennsylvania to find DC to AC conversion unit No. 4000, which on Friday morning had been reported on HeritageUnits.com as being in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.

But by early Saturday there had been no updates on the 4000 and traveling to Pennsylvania seemed risky because the 4000 might have moved on in the middle of the night and no one had seen it.

There was a report on HU about the Southern heritage locomotive of Norfolk Southern heading west on the point of train 740. Another report said the Erie H unit was in the motive power consist of an eastbound 64T going through Lima.

They would both pass through Alliance so that was the place to be. We were going around Ravenna on Ohio Route 14 when Adam’s phone dinged with an update from HU reporting that the Southern H unit had just passed through Alliance. Now what?

I’ve seen NS 8099 just once and Adam thinks it is one of the more attractive NS heritage units. It had been out of service for several weeks due to mechanical issues.

I turned south on Ohio Route 44 and headed for Interstate 76. The new plan was go to Massillon to catch the 740 and the 34T and 740 at Mace from Cherry Road NW bridge.

I had shot the Pennsylvania Railroad heritage unit from this bridge on the day of the Akron Railroad Club picnic this past July.

We made good time cruising westward and managed to avoid delays in the construction zones in Akron.

Adam had just gotten his phone during the past week and no sooner had that happened, but the manufacturer issued a recall because of the danger of the phone catching fire.

That led to a lot of joking about how Adam’s phone would blow up in his hand, the flash of light would momentarily blind me and I’d crash into something. And we would miss the heritage units.

Few of that model phone have actually caught fire and those that did did so while the owner was recharging the battery. So long as Adam didn’t try to charge the battery we were safe.

An online report indicated that the 64T was following NS train 170, which had gone into emergency west of Orrville.

The Fort Wayne Line is single track between Mace and Orrville and we played guessing games as to whether the 740 would meet the 170 at Orrville or at Mace.

We also learned that the NS 4000 was in Conway and planned to lead a coal train west on the Fort Wayne line. That looked to be an afternoon move. The New York Central heritage unit was leading a train eastward on the Sandusky District. So, the day was filled with colorful possibilities.

The 170 was going through Mace when we arrived and all I could manage was an image of the rear of the train passing the PRR position light signals.

Railfan Matt Arnold arrived not long after we did. I’d never met Matt before Saturday, but had long admired his photographic work of the Wheeling & Lake Erie. He is a talented young photographer who often railfans with his Dad.

Matt said the 740 was moving slowly, which suggested the 64T would go through Mace first.

That plan was confirmed when an R.J. Corman northbound unexpectedly showed up and keyed up the Pittsburgh West dispatcher.

To our surprise, the dispatcher said the Corman train would go through Mace south to north immediately after the 64T passed through.

The Erie H unit was second of two units, trailing a Union Pacific locomotive. The R.J. Corman train had two units.

I’ve photographed Ohio Central trains a number of times on the former Baltimore & Ohio line in Massillon at Mace, but gotten the Corman there just once while chasing an OC train during the ARRC picnic at Warwick Park.

After the Corman train cleared Mace, the westbound signal for Track 2 went to clear, which is only the second time I’ve seen that indication at that signal.

Although I’ve been to Mace several times over the years, I’ve rarely seen an NS train there. I was never there during the Conrail era.

The Pittsburgh West dispatcher called the 740 crew and said he was ready for them at Mace.

It took awhile but the 740 came into view with NS 8099 on the lead. The lighting was not favorable for a westbound coming into Mace, but I did what I could with what I had to work with.

After getting the train coming image, I dashed across the road and got a side shot and a couple of going away views.

We still had some time before I had to take Adam home. It was at this point that things started falling apart.

Matt had received a phone call from a contact saying the Corman train was going to drop its cars and go to Wooster.

But I neglected to ask him where the cars were going to be dropped. I presumed it would be in Massillon, but it might have been Warwick.

I decided to chase the 740 to Orrville and figured the Corman train would be behind it.

The route to Orrville was slow going and the 740 easily got ahead of us. I ducked down a country road to a grade crossing but nothing was in sight.

I heard the 740 call a clear signal in Orrville and realized we were too late.

We waited in Orrville for about an hour but the Corman train never showed up. Either the information about going to Wooster was incorrect and/or they had gone to Warwick first.

We also learned that the NS 4000 was bad ordered in Conway with flat spots. Either those got worked out right away or the report was in error.

As it turned out, the NS 4000 became the trailing unit on the 64T, the UP unit was removed in Conway and the Erie H unit became the leader.

I felt rather dejected as I took Adam home. Had I gone to Warwick we might have caught the Corman train leaving there. It has been a good five years since I’ve photographed the Corman.

I had better luck on the CVSR later in the afternoon. Aside from photographing the last run of the Saturday bike train, I was curious as to what motive power was running on the CVSR these days.

It turned out that the Scenic train had Horizon Rail 8420 on the north end and the Baltimore & Ohio 800 on the south end.

The bike train had the newly repainted 6771 on the north end and the 1822 on the south end. I was glad to see the 6771 because I like the spiffy new livery adorning it.

I got both trains at Indigo Lake and caught a break when the Scenic had a longer than usual dwell time in Peninsula.

The conductor had told the engineer of the 8420 that there might be several people in wheelchairs in Peninsula and if so the train would need to follow a special operating plan.

As I drove north with the intention of getting the bike train at Jaite, I saw the Scenic sitting at Boston Mills station.

I would get both of them at Jaite. With that objective accomplished I headed for home and made plans for another day of holiday railfanning on Sunday.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

The last cars on train 170 were tank cars. The train is moving onto track No. 1.

The R,J. Corman train approaches the Cherry Street NW bridge. It had a red board at Mace.

Here comes the 34T with a UP in the lead splitting the PRR position signals at Mace.

A closeup of the Erie heritage locomotive. Yeah, it’s trailing, but I don’t get to see it often.

I’ve always like the sight of uniform looking unit trains, particularly when they are snaking through switches and curves.

The two units of the R.J. Corman train are on the move.

The Corman train has the signal at Mace. I’ve never seen an indication like this. One light is green and other either amber or lunar.

The Corman train is about to briefly the NS Fort Wayne Line and move through a pair of switches.

Going south to north at Mace.

At last the 740 made its way through Mace. Seeing four trains here in just over an hour was unusual.

Horizon Rail GP10 No. 8420 is back in service and the blue loaner unit has apparently returned for assignment elsewhere. It was nice to see while it lasted.

Reflections of a CVSR coach in the waters of Indigo Lake.

CVSR 800 at Indigo Lake station.

The 1822 was the south unit on the bike train on its last day of operation.

Boarding the bike train at Indigo Lake.

As much as anything, I made this image to get the old truck waiting at the grade crossing for the northbound Scenic.

A B&O “heritage unit” passes the former B&O train order office in Jaite.

Another photo op with the new look CVSR locomotive livery, this time at Jaite.

The last scheduled bike train of the season is on the last leg of its last trip to Brecksville.

 

Catching the Erie H Unit, Again

There was a time when I was frustrated at my inability to catch the Erie heritage locomotive of Norfolk Southern.

When it was coming through Cleveland I was unable to get out to the tracks with my camera. I remember sitting at the Akron Railroad Club table at the Berea train show and seeing an HO model of the Erie heritage unit leading a train around a layout across the aisle. It was my first time “seeing” NS 1068.

I finally photographed the real thing, although it was the trailing the first time that I saw it in person. Then I got it leading a train into Bellevue last August, in an image was that all right, but not great.

Within the past month, the Erie heritage locomotive has been a regular visitor through Northeast Ohio on the 22K eastbound and the 23K westbound.

Sometimes it leads and sometimes it trails. If it goes east to Massachusetts leading, it will return leading.

But then it will go east and west in the trailing position, only to reverse course the next time through.

On a recent Saturday it was the leading east turn. I thought about going somewhere east of Cleveland to get it but for various reasons I wound up in Olmsted Falls instead.

It seems appropriate that trailing the two-tone green Erie tribute locomotive was a cut of green containers.

I could get used to a regular rotation featuring this heritage locomotive. You just don’t know how your luck might turn and something that seemed out of reach for so long suddenly become attainable.

Article and Photograph by Craig Sanders

Pair of Good Catches in Lake County

Here are a couple of catches I’ve been able to make recently out in Lake County.

I was able to get Erie heritage locomotive No. 1068 last Saturday on 22K just moments before I left for work. The location is at Madison Avenue in Painesville.

On Wednesday morning I was able to get double heritage on a 45-minute late Amtrak No. 48.

I saw last night that the Amtrak exhibit train was going to be combined with the eastbound Lake Shore Limited.

No. 48 being slightly late helped Jeff Troutman and myself get excellent lighting at the new Shamrock Boulevard overpass just west of the Ohio Route 44 overpass.

Leading No. 48 was Phase IV heritage locomotive P42DC No. 184 followed by P40 N o. 822 and NPCU 406, a former F40PH. The latter two units wear the Phase III heritage livery.

The consist of the exhibit train was cars 10020, 10093, 10094, 10095 and 85999, followed by baggage 61032, Viewliner sleepers 62029,62035,62031, Heritage diner 8524, Amfleet lounge car 28004 and Amfleet II coaches 25065, 25117, 25107, 25008 and 25120.

Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

They Will Never Get Old For Me

I have a history with Norfolk Southern No. 1068. For quite a while it eluded me. It was the last of the 20 H units that I saw in person and the second to last one that I photographed.

And when I did finally bag it, it was a trailing unit. I got the Erie Railroad heritage unit on the lead last August in Bellevue, but it wasn’t the greatest image.

Shortly after getting up and turning on my computer on Sunday morning I received an email message that NS 1068 was leading the 22K eastbound and would be through Cleveland in daylight.

It was cloudy, but I was hoping I might get a snow shower as the train came through Olmsted Falls.

There were no other railfans around when I arrived shortly after 9:30 a.m. I set up my external scanner antenna and waited.

It wasn’t long, maybe 10 to 15 minutes, before I heard the 22K calling the signal at CP 197, so I got into position. By then one other guy had pulled up in a car, but I don’t know if he had a camera.

There was no snow showers and the dark lighting probably kept some guys at home. The first report on Heritage Units.com was at 9:28 a.m. through Amherst.

It remains to be seen how long the NS heritage locomotives will remain in service in their heritage liveries. Given the cost cutting that NS has been engaging in of late it seems likely that if an H unit needs to be repainted it will receive the current NS livery rather than have its heritage livery renewed.

The NS CEO who authorized the heritage unit program has retired and the 30th anniversary that was the impetus to create the heritage locomotives must seem like ancient history to NS management.

The heritage units may well continue to pull NS trains in their commemorative liveries for years to come. Still, I don’t see one all that often so getting one is still a big deal. My last previous heritage sighting had been in mid February.

I may not be as eager to get out just to photograph a heritage unit as I once was, but given that some day these locomotives will be gone means that seeing one is still a thrill.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

 

 

Roger Finally Bags ‘No. 20’ Leading in the Wild

The first of two views of No. 1068 and its train in the yard.

Like many fans out along the railroad these days, I always try to nab one of the Norfolk Southern Heritage units when I can.

A goal of many, myself included, has been to get them all in service after the 2012 Spencer (N.C.) gathering. I’m one of those “trail = fail” people when it came to crossing one off the list. It has to lead or it doesn’t count.

One unit in particular, NS 1068 the Erie Railroad heritage unit, proved to be most elusive to me as a leader.

I had missed an opportunity to catch it back on Nov. 20 due to being at work. This past Sunday, though, gave me a chance, with a little effort, to finally get that hard to catch 1068 and now have all 20 H units “in the wild.”

The 1068 had led a grain empty into Toledo at the end of the week and it would be parked in the former Wabash Sumner Street yard until it was its turn to head for the elevator in Maumee. Reports had it still in that yard Sunday morning, so off to Toledo I went. The sky was overcast but showing a few weak “sucker holes.” Maybe I could get a little spot of sun on it.

I arrived and sure enough it was still there. I did get some filtered sun on the train which helped the look of the photos a lot.

I was still in the process of shooting various angles of the train when a crew showed up. They would start up the units, cut away from the train and run around to the other end for the trip south.

The Erie would at that point revert back to that “trail-fail” position that I’d seen it in several times before. But at least now this one last unit was crossed off my list.

Article and Photographs by Roger Durfee

Overhead view from the I-75 ramp.

A puff of smoke as it starts up.

Nose photo.

The conductor pulls the pin to cut away from the cars.

The two units run around their train.

Now on the south end, the 1068 would trail to Maumee.

Heritage Units Weekend in Northeast Ohio

After a three-hour wait the coal train with the Erie heritage locomotive finally got the signal at Crestline to cross the CSX Indianapolis Line.

Last weekend proved to be a busy one in Northeast Ohio for the Norfolk Southern heritage fleet. On Saturday, the Wabash unit came through westbound as a trailing unit, the Illinois Terminal unit led a CSX crude oil train eastward and the Central of New Jersey unit went west as helper power on an NS oil train. The latter two trains came after dark, unfortunately.

Sunday would prove to be just as active. The New York Central unit went west from Bellevue although this was too early for me to catch.

Next up, the Wabash came back east this time leading the 14N. This was our first target which we caught passing the NYC signals at Baumhart Road in Elyria. These signals will soon be replaced with new Safetran signals.

As exciting as this was, we got news that the Erie heritage unit was taking a coal train across the old Pennsylvania mainline. It would get a crew change at Mansfield so we had some time to run it down. We drove to Bucyrus, catching a CSX train at Attica Junction along the way.

Not seeing anything at Bucyrus, we followed the line to Crestline where we found the train waiting just east of town.

Several CSX trains went across the diamonds and the dispatcher informed him of a coal train coming from Bucyrus. We ended up chasing this train from North Robinson to Crestline. Another CSX train went across the diamonds. This was starting to be like the old days when Conrail ran all the routes here.

Finally, the dispatcher cleared the eastbound NS coal train and then sent another CSX train through the junction.

After at least a three-hour wait, the coal train with the Erie heritage unit was cleared to go west. We caught it passing Crest tower and also at the west end of the yard. It was getting late so we started to head for home.

On the way, we saw a headlight while crossing the PRR at Mansfield so we stopped to investigate. It was an NS local switching the local elevator.

Another headlight appeared and this turned out to be an Ashland Railway local working the interchange at the NS yard. We followed it and took pictures of No. 31, a GP10 that was originally a PRR engine.

At this point on what had been a wintery overcast day, the sun decided to make an appearance. This gave us some nice sweet light for our photos of the former Pennsylvania railroad mainline. It was a fitting end to a highly productive day.

On Monday, the Wabash heritage unit took a train north on the Youngstown Line to Ashtabula and then got onto the former Nickel Plate to go east toward New York State. The Savannah & Atlanta heritage unit was the third locomotive  on the 14N train. I managed to get a going away shot at Hudson.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

The Wabash heritage unit leads the 14N near Elyria on Sunday morning.

An eastbound coal train passes the intermediate signals at North Robinson, Ohio.

Another view of the Erie heritage locomtive trailing in the motive power lashup. The image was taken in Crestline.

A former Conrail locomotive leads a CSX train at Crestline.

The day wasn’t over just yet. An NS local works in Mansfield.

The Ashland locomotive works in the setting sunlight at Mansfield.

The Savannah & Atlanta heritage locomotive trains in the motive consist of the 14N on Monday. The photo was taken at Hudson.

Mr. Erie, Meet Mr. Lackawanna

The Norfolk Southern 30th anniversary heritage locomotives didn’t just sit around the roundhouse during the railroad festival at the North Carolina Transportation Museum last week. The locomotives were moved out in a parade.

In some instances, they were paired with locomotives with which they shared historical significance. NS doesn’t have an Erie Lackawanna heritage locomotive, but it does have engines that honor the Erie and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroads.

Here is a selection of some of the pairings.

Photographs by Roger Durfee

The Virginian heritage unit, an original Norfolk Southern Baldwin, and the Lackawanna unit.

About the only thing that the Illinois Terminal and DL&W had in common was that both wound up becoming part of railroads that would eventually become Norfolk Southern.

The heritage unit honoring the first railroad named Norfolk Southern poses with the NCTM’s “original” Norfolk Southern Baldwin AS616.