Misny Made Then Pay

On Wednesday NS train 14N had the Katy, and Savannah & Atlanta heritage units, and the Union Pacific Pink Ribbon unit. It came through Cleveland in late evening and we had storms in the afternoon as well. I went west to Vermillion in order to catch it in daylight which I did but the photos were okay but not great.

I chased it to Brook Park across from Cleveland Hopkins Airport and caught it a second time just before sunset.  A Tim Misney “makes them pay” billboard was there and I framed it into the photo.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

New Symbols on the NS Fort Wayne Line

Railroading is constantly changing with traffic patterns constantly evolving for a variety of reasons.

Many of the railroads serving Lake Erie used to carry iron ore from the docks to the steel mills.  Most of this traffic has dried up as the mills have closed.  Some of this change is by the railroads themselves as they try to become more efficient.

Today’s example is Norfolk Southern train 13Q.  This train and counterpart 14Q run from Conway Yard near Pittsburgh to Elkhart, Indiana, although not on the direct route through Cleveland and Toledo.

Instead they run via Mansfield, Bellevue and Fort Wayne, an interesting routing for sure.

They replace trains 12V and 15V which ran Bellevue to Conway and serving Mansfield and Canton along the way.

The new trains also serve Mansfield and Canton but no longer originate or terminate in Bellevue as NS is diverting traffic from that terminal.

Just a few years ago Norfolk Southern expanded the yard at Bellevue expending tremendous amounts of capital in the process.

With the new pattern of operations that money probably could have been saved or spent elsewhere but that is the way of the corporate world railroads included.

Anyhow I caught the first movement of the new 13Q at Attica, Ohio, with the Savannah & Atlanta Heritage unit leading.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

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

Fostoria ‘Drag Race’ on Norfolk Southern

CSX track work had the former Baltimore & Ohio mainline through Fostoria reduced to one track between East Fostoria and North Baltimore for  much of Sunday. The crews were also working on and near the diamond with Norfolk Southern just west of Main Street.

Late Sunday morning a pair of NS stack trains halted short of the diamonds and waited. It would not be a short wait.

After running some CSX traffic, the IP dispatcher gave both NS trains verbal permission to cross the diamonds. Each NS train also contacted its own dispatcher to reiterate that permission.

In the process of doing that, the NS Fostoria dispatcher indicated that the 218 would go first at Ilers where the former Nickel Plate Road track goes from double to single track.

We took more than  passing interest in the 218. It had on the point NS 1065, the Savannah & Atlanta heritage locomotive. It would be on the near track to the Iron Triangle railfan park. That was more good news.

Finally, each train began moving. The 218 nosed ahead, but was soon overtaken by the other train, which I believe was the 234.

That train was leading when it leaned into the curve by the railfan park. But the 218 with the S&A unit leading soon caught and overtook it. The 218 was far shorter in length than the other train.

It made for a captivating experience as the engineers of both trains were sounding their horns as they approached the grade crossings. The different-sounding horns made for a nice symphony if you like to hear the sound of locomotive horns.

Fellow Akron Railroad Club member Paul Woodring commented that it was the first time he had seen an NS heritage locomotive that wasn’t attached to the Nickel Plate Road No. 765 steam engine.

“That’s one down and 19 more to go,” he said after his first sighting of an NS heritage locomotive leading a train.

It would turn out to be the highlight of the ARRC’s longest day outing in Fostoria, which attracted three members and a guest.

Aided by the CSX track work, the day featured steady rail traffic. More photographs from the outing will be posted later this week.

Article and Photograph by Craig Sanders

NS Heritage Unit, NKP Heritage Signals

Norfolk Southern 1065, the Savannah & Atlanta heritage locomotive, splits Nickel Plate Road vintage signals at Parrish on the west side of Conneaut.

On our recent venture to Conneaut, Ed Ribinskas and I were sitting in my car when a fellow railfan approached and told us that the Savannah & Atlanta heritage locomotive of Norfolk Southern was leading an auto rack train westward.

That was news to us. Ed had seen online that NS 1065 had reached Buffalo, N.Y., on Friday night, but it was thought that it would go back eastward.

Instead, it wound up on the point of the 287. The local railfan later came back to let us know that the 287, which by now had the symbol I87, was parked at Thompson Drive waiting for eastbound traffic to clear.

The Bessemer & Lake Erie train that we were waiting on was still working in the yard so off we went to get the stationary H unit.

The I87 ended up waiting for about an hour and a half while the 14T, the 206 and 22K passed by.

As the 22K was still crossing the trestle over Conneaut Creek, the Youngstown Line dispatcher came on to tell the I87 that as soon as the 22K cleared Woodworth – the signal at the end of double track east of the trestle – to look for a light.

We had given up chasing the B&LE train because we wanted to get the S&A H unit crossing the trestle.

After getting it there, we headed west to intercept it again. Our plan was to get it passing the ex-Nickel Plate Road station at North Kingsville, which is now used by a building supply company. The train had to move rather slowly through Conneaut, which worked to our advantage.

Despite having to travel city streets, we were able to beat it to Parrish Road, which goes over the NS tracks on a bridge built in recent years. The NKP vintage signals at Parrish still stand.

The I87 beat us to North Kingsville, so we didn’t get any photos at that location. That was OK because I liked the scene at Parrish.

We then intercepted the I87 in Perry before heading for the Akron Railroad Club member’s night event.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

Waiting at Thompson Drive for eastbound traffic. It would be a long wait.

Soaring over Conneaut Creek.

Alas, the B&LE road freight had already left town so there was no chance of an over and under shot today.

Into the afternoon sunshine at Parrish.

The going away shot at Parrish. Note the track above the locomotives. It once connected the NS and Conrail Cleveland-Buffalo mainlines. Ed once photographed Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited using this track to make a detour move on the ex-NKP.

 

 

 

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