I was sitting in Berea a while back watching trains but also an approaching storm.
The clouds to the northwest were getting darker by the minute.
The clouds opened just before a westbound NS stack train arrived. I wasn’t able to react quick enough to get the motive power in the rain, but I was able to roll down my window long enough to capture the heavy rain on some of the containers.
The storm proved to be brief and the rain soon stopped. Then it was back to normal.
It was just about to call it a day and head home to watch the Preakness Stakes on television. Could Justify win the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown?
He could and he did amid foggy and rainy conditions in Baltimore.
But first I wanted to get one more train on the Cleveland Line of Norfolk Southern.
The bridge carrying Ravenna Road over the NS tracks in Brady Lake has been closed since last December after the Portage County Engineer’s Office determined that it is structurally unsafe for vehicular traffic.
But those using the Portage Hike and Bike Trail can still use the bridge and so can railfans.
An eastbound empty hopper train had pulled up and stopped and my hunch was that it was waiting for traffic at CP 86.
Sure enough, an eastbound intermodal train came past, probably the 24M.
But before the intermodal train got to my position, rain began falling and it kept increasing in intensity.
I got my photograph and ran for my car just before a deluge let loose. It was time to head home.
At 10:48a.m. I’m looking down the white pipeline as the MGA sits in the morning sun.
This sequence shows that if you wait a few minutes, things will change. Norfolk Southern No. 8025, the Monongahela heritage unit, recently paid a visit to Motor yard (where I work) for about two days.
It was leading an oil train that needed to be held out for a bit, so it was split into two parts and tucked away until called to move east.
Being the sitting duck that it was, I did several views of it next to the white tanks that made up the train and a few other views.
But there is only so much you can do photo wise after a point. To help add a little interest as I was shooting it in the afternoon, I noticed that the sky to the north was getting darker.
The forecast was for storms and it was looking like this prediction was going to come true. I did a sequence of photos showing how the weather changed around this train even if it didn’t move at all.
We normally shoot the trains moving through a stationary scene, but this time the train remained stationary while the scene changed around it, sometimes by the minute.
1:19 p.m.: The sun is shining brightly.
1:28 p.m.: I notice the sky getting a bit darker as the clouds thicken.
1:50 p.m.: No doubt about it, a storm is bearing down on me.
1:54 p.m.: I see a wall of water approaching. It’s covered the west end of the yard already.
2:12 p.m.: It’s coming down in buckets!
2:12 p.m.: Closer view of the downpour.
2:49 p.m.: The sun is back out already helping our MGA dry off.
2:55 p.m.: A roster photo.
And the next day we see the 64R departing after picking up the conductor at “CP Donut.”
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