Jacobs Photo Published in Railpace

The eastbound Orrville Railroad Heritage Society "Museum Flyer" behind Wheeling & Lake Erie No. 102 and ORHS No. 471 arrives at Monroeville to load passengers for the return trip to Orrville on May 8, 2010.

Akron Railroad Club Richard Jacobs had a photography published in the July 2010 issue of Railpace magazine of an Orrville Railroad Heritage Society excursion train. The photo, which was published on Page 21 in the Lake Shore News section, shows the Museum Flyer excursion train at Monroeville.

The Flyer operated from Orrville to Monroeville with passengers then taken by bus to Bellevue to visit the Mad River & Nickel Plate Road Museum.

Railpace is a  monthly magazine is devoted to news and features of railroads in the northeastern United States.

On a related note, Jacobs also had an article that he wrote published in The Headlight, the newsletter of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway. That article, published in the June issue, a shippers special that the then fledgling W&LE operated in October 1990. The W&LE was less than six months old after been spun off by Norfolk Southern and wanted to showcase the re-opening of the Cleveland line of the railroad that NS had allowed to lie dormant for years.  The Wheeling borrows a steam locomotive from Jerry Jacobson and hauled the passengers in style.

Jacobs Article Published in Railpace Magazine

An article by Akron Railroad Club member Richard Jacobs about the Nova tower has been published in the June 2010 issue of Railpace magazine.

The article focuses on the long-closed tower at Nova, Ohio, which was operated by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad for many years. The tower still stands, although it is in decripit condition and is no longer used.

Jacobs’ article, which appears on Page 30 of the magazine, also spotlights the long since abandoned Lorain, Ashland & Southern railkroad.

Jacobs Photo Published in September Railpace

A photograph of Viscose Company steam locomotive No. 6 taken by Akron Railroad Club member Richard Jacobs has been published in the September 2009 issue of Railpace magazine.  Jacobs photographed the tank engine as it pulled a passenger train on July 11 during an appearance on the Ashtabula, Carson & Jefferson Railroad.

No. 6 pulled several public excursions as part of the railroad’s 25th anniversary celebration. The photograph appears on Page 41 in the “Lake Shore News” feature of the magazine.

Railpace Publishes Jacobs Article, Photographs

An article by Akron Railroad Club member Richard Jacobs about the demise of the vintage Baltimore & Ohio Railroad color position light signals at Sterling was published in the February 2009 issue of Railpace magazine. Four photographs accompanied Jacobs’ page-length article.

Jacobs, of Apple Creek, Ohio, wrote about the activation of modern Safe-Tran  signals by CSX on November 16, 2008. The new signals

had been turned on by 5 p.m. that day. The former B&O signals subsequently were dismantled and taken away. The changeover was part of a program that began in fall 2007 to install new signals over much of the CSX New Castle Subdivision. For the past two years, CSX signal crews had been replacing the CPL signals moving east to west.

A handful of CPL signals remain in service on CSX within Akron on a stretch of track that has centralized traffic control, which is under the jurisdiction of the IO dispatcher in Indianapolis. The New Castle Subdivision is part of the former B&O’s Chicago-Pittsburgh line. Most of the subdivision is double track, but signaled for operation in one direction on each track. The line is single track between Warwick (Clinton) and Lambert (Akron).

Sterling is the junction point between the New Castle Subdivision and a branch to Cleveland (former B&O). At one time, the Erie Railroad’s Chicago-New York mainline crossed the B&O at Sterling. The tower that guarded the junction was named RU for Russell, which was the original name of the village of Sterling.

Jacobs is a frequent visitor to Sterling, being a member of the Sterling Loopers, a group of railfans who meet here weekly. He is one of the most prolific photographers in the ARRC and travels widely to photograph and ride trains.

Railfans have long gathered at Sterling, usually watching the action from the inside a wye that is part of the connection between the New Castle Subdivision and the Cleveland branch. Approximately 20 to 30 trains a day pass through Sterling.