I Found Another Lookout Mountain Photograph

When I wrote the article and sent a photograph of observation car Lookout Mountain, I was thinking the photo was the only time had I have captured that car.

While preparing for some upcoming stories, I found I had photographed Lookout Mountain one other time and gotten better images.

I attended the 1984 National Railway Historical Society convention in Cincinnati with Marty Surdyk, Bill Sudyk, Robert Surdyk and John Surdyk.

We rode two trips and chased the trip Sept. 2 trip that Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765 pulled on the ex-Chesapeake & Ohio mainline along the Ohio River.

The trip originated at the ex-Southern yard in Ludlow, Kentucky. The train had to back over the Southern bridge over the Ohio River to Queensgate yard in Cincinnati to get to the C&O route.

The first three photographs were made on the Cincinnati side as the train is reversing, with a good shot of the Lookout Mountain.

The next three images show the train on the C&O crossing the river into Covington, Kentucky.

Article and Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

Steam Saturday: My First and Only Photograph of Observation Car ‘Lookout Mountain’

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After seeing the article and photograph of the ex-Southern Railway (Iowa Pacific) passenger car  Lookout Mountain being transported to the Reading & Northern it prompted me to search through my archives.

I knew it was the tail car of two Southern excursions I rode in 1979 and 1980 behind Royal Hudson ex-Canadian Pacific No. 2839.

I for sure remember it being at the 1983 National Railway Historical Society’s Richmond Convention.

It was a special outing since it was my introduction to Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 No. 611. My first excursion behind it was the trip on the ex-Chesapeake & Ohio from Richmond to Balcony Falls, Virginia.

My very first photo ever of the Class J 611 was the first photo runby. The image is not great at all but it is the first.

The second and third images are from the second runby the latter being my only photo of the Lookout Mountain.

I do remember riding in it on the return trip along the James River. I do have footage from riding in it on the 8 mm movies I shot.

My photography improved at the runby at Balcony Falls as shown on the bottom image. All the pictures are from that July 21,1983, convention excursion.

My bucket list for 2022 is to see and ride the Lookout Mountain behind Reading 4-8-4 No. 2102.

Article and Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

Reminiscent of the Illinois Central

Norfolk Southern manifest freight 14N had something quite out of the ordinary in its consist when it left Elkhart, Indiana, on Sunday afternoon en route to Conway Yard near Pittsburgh.

Tacked on the rear were two former Iowa Pacific passenger cars reportedly en route to the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern, a Pennsylvania regional railroad.

The cars are painted in a livery inspired by the orange and chocolate brown of Illinois Central passenger trains, which reflected the interests of former IP CEO Ed Ellis.

The observation-type car is named Lookout Mountain and lettered “Rio Grande Scenic,” one of a number of passengers operations once operated by IP.

The cars were sold in the wake of financial difficulties that led to IP filing for bankruptcy protection in March 2021. As part of that proceeding, the trustees of IP began selling the company’s fleet of passenger equipment.

The train is shown at the west end of the CP 367 interlocking in Waterloo, Indiana.