Double Heritage Unit Friday in Northeast Ohio

On Friday Norfolk Southern sent two heritage units through Northeast Ohio.

Todd Dillon caught the New York Central H unit passing the former NYC depot in Olmsted Falls.

It was on the point of the 21Q headed for 47^th Street in Chicago after originating in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Next he caught the Interstate H unit going through Hudson leading the 25V. The train originates in Elizabethport, New Jersey, and terminates at Landers Yard in Chicago.

Both units came through during the afternoon.

Ordinarily, Friday night would have been Akron Railroad Club meeting night for September. But that meeting was canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

However, there was an impromptu ARRC meeting in Hudson with club president Dillon, Vice President Bill Kubas (shown on the ladder) and Tom Kendrick on hand in Hudson to get some photographs and video.

Photographs by Todd Dillon

Getting Lucky En Route to an ARRC Meeting

What a treat. The New York Central heritage locomotive of Norfolk Southern on former Pennsylvania Railroad rails in Bedford.

Last Friday afternoon I checked the Heritage Units.com site more out of curiosity than anything else.

The New York Central heritage unit was shown as having been spotted at Leetonia, Ohio, at 3:25 p.m. leading westbound Norfolk Southern train 15K.

Hmmmm, I thought. We might be able to catch it on our way to the Akron Railroad Club meeting.

The plan was for Ed Ribinskas and Jeff Troutman to arrive at my house between 4:30 and 5 p.m. Depending on how the train was doing we might be able to get it.

At 4:28 p.m. the 1066 was reported by Alliance. Figuring that it would take an hour to get to Bedford and a half-hour to get there from my house if we left by 5 p.m. there was still a chance.

Ed and Jeff arrived shortly before 5 and we got underway immediately. Jeff checked HU which reported that the NYC H unit was by Earlville at 5:03 p.m. That is west of Brady Lake, if I remembered correctly. It was going to be tight.

It might take only a half-hour in most circumstances to reach Bedford from my house but Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. is not most circumstances. Traffic was heavy and we kept getting dinged by stop lights and traffic back-ups.

We finally made it to Rockside Road only to find out the 15K has been seen at Macedonia at 5:18 p.m. My heart sank. That was nearly 15 minutes ago. We’re not going to make it.

I reached the intersection of Rockside and Broadway where a short distance to the west Rockside goes over the NS Cleveland Line. Could the 15K be passing beneath Rockside at that moment?

Jeff suggested that maybe a circuit would be down and the 15k would be delayed. He was grasping at straws.

As we turned onto West Glendale Street, I asked Ed and Jeff to look for the signal indication just west of there.

Jeff said he saw the top head of the signal for Track No. 2 go from amber to green. That was potentially good news because it meant a westbound was lined up.

It might also mean the westbound was running closely behind the 15K, which had just cleared the block ahead.

I pulled into the tot lot parking lot, got out, opened my trunk and picked my camera out of the bag. I also fumbled to get my scanner set up.

I feared hearing the 15K call a signal at CP 114 or some other spot west of our location at milepost 110.

Jeff reminded us that trains are going upgrade coming from Macdonia and they might have to slow while passing Motor Yard.

I wasn’t hearing anything calling signals west of us. Then the gates for West Grace Street went down. Maybe this was it. But as soon as the gate came down they went back up. False alarm.

There was a faint transmission that Jeff said sounded like the 15K talking. But where was it? East of us? West of us?

We didn’t have long to find out. The gates for Grace Street went down again. Seconds later we heard the rumbling of diesels and Jeff, who was the closest to the tracks  said, “that’s it.”

Indeed it was. That NYC mighty oval never looked so good.

We got our photographs, congratulated each other on our good fortune and left for Akron.

The 15K was a long train and was not moving very fast when it arrived in Bedford. It had taken it 24 minutes to go from Macedonia to Bedford.

Had we been able to stick around another hour, we could have seen the Pennsylvania Railroad heritage locomotive pass by on its namesake rails. But it was trailing and we had places to go.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

I thought we had missed it, but luck was with us in landing the NYC heritage unit.

The going away view shows a better view of the lightning stripes on the body of No. 1066.

Double Capture of the NYC H Unit on ex-NKP

Last Monday (Memorial Day) evening, I saw on HeritageUnits.com that Norfolk Southern 1066 – the New York Central heritage locomotive – was heading west on the former Nickel Plate Road line to Cleveland. It left Conneaut just after 10 p.m.

The 1066 had led a train eastward over the ex-NKP early Saturday morning.

Since many times H units make just one round trip on the ex-NKP, I figured I’d better try to get it. I was working on Saturday when it went east.

I got it at about 10:40 p.m. in Painesville.

On Tuesday night, there was speculation on Trainordrs.com that the NYC H unit would be leading NS train 206 on Wednesday 206.

Here are the results at the Painesville trestle over the Grand River where Ursula, myself and five other railfans were waiting at just before noon Wednesday when the 206 came by.

Article and Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

Black and Slow vs. Blue and Fast

I managed to catch the New York Central H unit negotiating the new bypass track at Battery Park near West 73rd Street in Cleveland on Thursday. It was leading a 553 empty hopper train. Main No. 1 is still in its original location and being used, but it, too, will get connected to the other bypass main. You can see both original mains off to the right. The lunchtime show was the Navy’s Blue Angels flying team, which is in town in for the Cleveland Air Show this weekend at Burke Lakefront Airport. I know this is a railroad blog, but I thought some might enjoy the jets.

Article and Photographs by Roger Durfee

Late Amtrak, NYC H unit Make Appearances

I woke up on Saturday and checked the status of the area’s Amtrak trains. All had cleared the Cleveland metro area except for one. Amtrak 48, the eastbound Lake Shore Limited, was still west of Toledo.

I figured if I hurried I might beat it to Vermilion.  I need not have worried. After arriving just before 9 a.m., I would have another two hours to wait before Amtrak showed up.

After getting the shot, I headed to Battery Park in Cleveland in hopes of catching it again as well as capturing the New York Central heritage unit that was leading the 552, a westbound coal train.

An eastbound stack train came just as I arrived when I got a text saying the NYC unit was already past the drawbridge.  Sure enough the rumble of an approaching train could be heard and I only saw the NYC unit peeking between the containers.

This coal train had a set of helpers and these met the Lake Shore Limited as it came through.

Next I headed to CP Max at the west end of Rockport yard and did get the NYC unit as it pulled up to the signal. It would get a new crew, the helpers would be removed and then the train sat for the next three hours.

Finally, just before 3 p.m., it got clearance to proceed west. I caught it at the signal bridge off Eastland Road.  It was not quite what I had envisioned as the sun was high overhead by now, only lighting the engine’s nose. It was further delayed near Elyria but I had places to be so this was it for me.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

 

Highlights From National Train Day in Toledo

 

The New York Central heritage locomotive was right at home in a train station built by the railroad that this H unit honors.

In recent years the National Train Day event in Toledo has been one of the country’s largest as well as earliest. The Toledo organizers recognized early on that if they wanted to have Amtrak equipment on display they couldn’t go head to head with such events as that held in Chicago.

So, Toledo holds NTD a week early and this year that was May 3. There was much going on that day, too. Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive No. 765 was pulling a Norfolk Southern employee appreciation special between Elkhart, Ind., and Bryan, Ohio.

Perhaps the “star” of the Toledo NTD event was the New York Central heritage unit. It arrived Friday nght, a little later than expected, but it still got there and took its place at the far west end of an equipment display on Track No. 1

Also on display was an Amtrak P32 locomotive, and three Superliner cars. Those included a coach, sleeper and diner. NTD visitors were welcome to board the exhibit train and get a glimpse of Amtrak accommodations.

The three cars must have felt at home as they probably have been through Toledo many times on Amtrak’s Capitol Limited.

Also on hand were locomotives from the Wheeling & Lake Erie and the Great Lakes Central, a Michigan based regional carrier.

On Saturday morning as I visited the NTD before going on in pursuit of the NKP 765, a group of Boy Scouts were getting a presentation about how diesel locomotives operate. The Scouts were working on the requirements for the railroading merit badge.

Although officially scheduled to open at 9:30 a.m., visitors began arriving well before then. The concourse level of Central Union Terminal was filled with model railroad displays and tables from various railroad groups, including passenger train advocates and railroad unions. Entertainment was provided for the crowd as well.

It was my first visit to the Toledo NTD event and I just might find myself returning next year.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

The lineup of exhibit equipment on Track No. 1 at Toledo CUT on National Train Day.

Another view of the concourse area of Toledo CUT. This is just inside the street-level entrance.

Amtrak P32 locomotives are not normal visitors to Toledo as the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited usually operate with P42 locomotives.

Visitors disembark after touring the Amtrak exhibit train.

Track car rides were offered on a siding at the east end of the station. These tracks are sometimes used to store private passenger cars.

Model railroads and display tables lined the concourse area of Toledo CUT. At one time passengers were board trains from here by descending stairways to track level.

The Conrail Historical Society table featured models of Conrail locomotives.

The Amtrak equipment display wasn’t the only tribute to Amtrak at NTD. This model layout had an Amtrak train with an eclectic consist.

Cannonball Paul serenaded the early morning attendees of the Toledo NTD event.

 

 

The Central Was Back on Track No. 1 in Toledo

I attended the National Train Day event in Toledo last Saturday as well as the prior evening’s reception upstairs in the terminal as a representative for the Conrail Historical Society (we had tables there).

After the reception it was downstairs to track level to photograph the display equipment. Due to circumstances beyond the control of Norfolk Southern, its New York Central heritage unit was a tad late to the party.

But thanks to NS (and a BIG thank you to Steve) the star of the show made it in time for the night session. I’ve always liked these late era stations built on the hopes and dreams of continued passenger operations by the major carriers and Toledo is a real gem.

Although many of the tracks are now gone, this station still retains that 1950s feel to it. It was a treat to once again see the NYC name on a locomotive sitting on track No. 1.

The evening started off with a twilight photo of the GLC unit with the station looming above. I then got a standard roster shot later. I elected to turn a few of my images into grayscale because that just seemed to lend itself to the night mood.

Other equipment on display included a Wheeling & Lake Erie SD40-2, a Great Lakes Central GP38-2 and Amtrak P32 No. 517 with a display train.

I want to give a BIG thank you to David Patch and all involved in setting up the night photo shoot the evening before NTD in Toledo.

Article and Photographs by Roger Durfee

Just Sitting There for the (Picture) Taking

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve managed to catch a small selection of NS heritage units. The Reading unit spent a good bit of time sitting in a siding just east of Bucyrus with a damaged traction motor.

This “sitting duck” allowed me to check out a few different angles along with the standard roster view.

Another sitting duck was the Interstate unit on Easter Sunday at Freshly Road a little west of Alliance on the Fort Wayne Line. Someone, a “PC” fan from the looks of it, put the PC logo in the nose dirt.

The New York Central unit led an empty oiler west past work last week.

While not NS, this Illinois Central unit can sure qualify as “heritage” in my book. It was the middle unit on the circus train power in Youngstown last week.

Article and Photographs by Roger Durfee

Another Colorful Easter Egg Hunt

This year’s Easter egg hunt started early on Thursday evening and finished on Sunday evening.

On Thursday I went to Bellevue in hopes of catching the NMRA locomotive.  After several trains had passed, the NS 3215 led a train toward Toledo.

I gave chase and caught it a few times, but the shot that I wanted and what was clearly the best was at the crossing of the Portage River in Oak Harbor.

Friday morning, I was working at Port Clinton and was on my way back when I caught an NS train off the Ohio Route 2 overpass at Danbury.

Near Huron, I saw another NS train with Canadian Pacific power that I photographed at Amherst.

Later in the day, I went to Wellington and caught the Leviathan making some trips. However, I missed the Union Pacific 2002 winter Olympic engine.

Saturday brought the Southern heritage unit leading a train at the drawbridge in downtown Cleveland and a return to Wellington to get some more photos of Leviathan and the Virginian Heritage unit on a CSX train.

Lastly, Sunday brought the New York Central heritage unit to Brady Lake after taking nearly all afternoon getting across the Cleveland area.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

NYC Heritage Unit Rolls Westward at Motor Yard

Norfolk Southern No. 1066, the New York Central Heritage unit, led train 65R of empty oil cans past work earlier this week. The top photo shows the Macedonia Shop in the background and some of the project cars. The other photo is a little closer view of the train.

Photographs by Roger Durfee