Former Relic of the A&BB in Parkersburg

Last Friday I went to Parkersburg West Virginia, in hopes of catching the Belpre Industrial Parkersburg Railroad in operation.

The BIP is a new shortline operating between there and Relief, Ohio. However other than switching a little bit in the yard they weren’t doing anything.

As a consolation I found the Little Kanawah Railroad with its SW1200 No. 1205.

This unit was previously owned by Akron & Barberton Belt. It was ex-Norfolk & Western and originally Illinois Terminal No. 779.

I also found a Seaboard System 40-foot boxcar now used for maintenance of way by CSX.

The Seaboard System only existed for three years between 1982 and 1985 so not very much equipment was painted.

A 40-foot boxcar getting a full repaint in this time period is very unusual.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

Mixture of Eras in Warwick

The lead unit says this is the era of the Seaboard Coast Line, but the two trailing units are painted in an early CSX blue and gray livery. This westbound train is passing through Warwick in September 1988.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

The Look of the Seaboard

The early CSX era like the early Conrail era was notable for sightings of predecessor railroad motive power that had served another region of the country.

On the former Baltimore & Ohio line though Akron that mean seeing locomotives from various southern railroads, including Seaboard System

When this image was made in September 1988 CSX U36B No. 5742 still wore its Seaboard livery.

The unit was built for Seaboard in April 1971 and is shown leading a westbound train in Clinton (Warwick).

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Spanning 3 Generations

At first glance, this appears to be a Chessie System train. But look more closely at the second and third units.

They are wearing Seaboard System attire. This is actually a CSX train westbound in Akron on April 9, 1988.

The lead unit carries markings for the Baltimore & Ohio and the train is, of course, on an ex-B&O mainline.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

The Quest for Fallen Flags

The popularity of the heritage locomotives of Norfolk Southern can be explained by a number of factors, but chief among them is that they represent something that can’t be seen anymore and, in some instances, has never been seen by some.

Railroads that no longer exist under their original corporate identity are known as fallen flags because their “flag” has been folded and relegated to history.

Typically, for a few years after a railroad is acquired or loses its identity in a merger, rolling stock bearing the fallen flag’s name, logo and markings can be seen out on the line.

Repainting locomotives and freight cars can get expensive so it’s more economical to let the old look linger a while longer until a car or locomotive is due to go into the shop or is retired from the roster.

In the past couple years, I’ve been on the lookout for freight cars still bearing the long-since vanished identity of a previous owner.

Finding fallen flag cars takes patience and vigilance. Many fans tend to stop watching a train closely once the motive power has passed.

But if you keep observing, you might be rewarded if you have your camera ready and spring into action at a second’s notice.  That is not as easy as it might seem.

I present here a gallery of fallen flags that I found within the past couple of years.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders