Winter at the Painesville Depot

An eastbound CSX container train passes the former New York Central passenger station in Painesville on Feb. 2, 2014. The depot has been restored and now houses a railroad museum.

Photograph by Craig Sanders

Winter Day in Alliance

The 14N (left), 170 and an eastbound intermodal in Alliance.

Train 170 heading west.

Train 64N on the Alliance runner.

Train 6K4 taking the Cleveland single.  It would get a new crew about 7 p.m. then reverse back onto the mainline to continue east.

Last Saturday (Feb. 5) I spent the day in Alliance.

Upon arriving I found an eastbound intermodal sitting on Track No. 1 and another eastbound moving slowly on Track No. 2.

The reason for this soon became apparent as train 14N was sitting on Track 1 blocking every railroad crossing in town. It had broken several air hoses and had gone into emergency. 

Also sitting on Track 2 east of town was the 170 waiting to go west.  The slowly moving EB train was taking the runner track, a long siding for parking trains, to get around the 170.

After about an hour, the 14N was able to get moving and continue east; However it would need a new crew before reaching Conway.

Once the 14N cleared, the 170 was able to continue west. The 170 takes the Fort Wayne line to Canton and 14N was blocking his move.

The 170 crew was also on short time and ended up tying down at Freshley Road west of town.

Other trains had backed up behind the 14N including 64N an oil or ethanol train.

This train then took the Alliance runner previously used by the intermodal and tied down to wait for a  new crew. 

A little later train 6K4, another oil or ethanol, took the Cleveland single and tied down on the Mahoning siding south of town. 

An empty coal train came an hour or so later, which picked up this crew.  The 6K4 had a GP38-3 leading some Canadian National engines, which was interesting.

Another train that I had hoped to get was the 171 which had the Virginian heritage unit.  Alas it sat in Canton all afternoon before getting a new crew and going through Alliance about 5 p.m.  I had left by then. 

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

Rounding the Bend in Kent

It used to be that Crain Street in Kent crossed over the CSX New Castle Subdivision tracks on its own bridge. A sidewalk on the north side of the bridge offered an expansion view of westbound trains rounding a curve before heading south through downtown Kent.

A road construction project several years ago removed the Crain Street bridge and instead extended Fairchild Avenue over the CSX tracks.

That bridge came with fence. However, a pedestrian bridge located where the Crain Street bridge used to be still offers some photo angles.

The image above was made on March 23, 2008, from the old Crain Street bridge. A westbound is about to pass a remnant of pole line that once graced this former Baltimore & Ohio line.

Photograph by Craig Sanders

Still Standing

Over the years I photographed CSX trains passing beneath this signal bridge at the far west end of the yard in Ashtabula.

But with the conversion to positive train control, CSX like many Class 1 railroads, decided to replace many older signals on busy main lines with newer signals.

In some instances, the new signals were in a different location than the signals they replaced.

Such was the case in Ashtabula. As you can see, the new signals are closer to the yard itself.

This image was made near sunset on a very cold January day in 2018. I was hoping to get a westbound coming into that late day light but had no such luck.

But it made for a nice image anyway. I haven’t been back to this location since making this image so I don’t know if this old signal bridge that dates to the New York Central years is still standing or has been removed.

Snowy Siding in Boughtonville

It is afternoon in Boughtonville on a sunny January winter day in 2011. We’ve heard there is a westbound CSX manifest freight coming and have set up to capture it.

The train is stopped just beyond a grade crossing to wait for a signal at the crossovers in Boughtonville.

I decided to try something different in my composition by getting low and featuring the derail on a siding leading to a grain elevator.

I have a hunch this siding is seldom used but it was still in service at the time.

Photograph by Craig Sanders

Coal Train in Boughtonville

There had been a winter storm a couple of days earlier that left some snow along the CSX Willard Terminal Subdivision between Greenwich and Willard.

I met up with Roger Durfee and Peter Bowler and we made a foray out to CSX territory.

It was the last winter in which I would be making photographs with slide film and it was a cold but sunny day.

Traffic on CSX was heavy on this day, which was the norm then. Sure, there are still a lot of trains to be found on this line today but not as many as there was back in January 2011.

We’ve heard of an eastbound coal train coming so we’ve set up in Boughtonville, a hamlet located not far from Willard.

On the point is a former Burlington Northern SD70MAC still wearing its Grinstein green and cream with Alizarin red striping. The BN logo has been erased from the nose and a BNSF reporting mark affixed below the cab windows. A standard BNSF “pumpkin” is trailing.

The train is at the crossovers but is making a straight move on No. 1 track.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

Dashing Through the Snow in Ravenna

There is still some snow left on the tracks of the CSX New Castle Subdivision a day or two after a winter storm passed through the area in March 2008.

Shown is an eastbound auto rack train approaching the Diamond Street crossing in Ravenna.

Photograph by Craig Sanders

After the Storm

Winter storms that dump six to 12 inches of snow are not unusual in Northeast Ohio. If you can get out of your driveway today the sunshine that will grace the region will lead to opportunities for some dramatic winter railroad images.

This photograph was made Jan. 16, 2012, following a storm that buried Lake County in more than a foot of snow.

Ed Ribinskas and I ventured out to Perry to photograph trains on CSX and Norfolk Southern. Shown is an eastbound CSX intemodal train kicking up the snow as it charges along.

Within about a day or so the passage of trains at track speed will likely blow most of the snow off the rails and diminish the blowing show effect.

Until then some memorable photographs are waiting to be created.

 

Snowy Day in Akron on the B&O

It’s snowing in downtown Akron as Baltimore & Ohio GP30 No. 6915 leads an eastbound past the Erie Lackawanna station in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

Trailing is another GP30 along with an F7B, F7B, and F7B.

As this image was posted in mid July a snow storm might be a welcome relief from temperatures in the 90s and a heat index in triple digits.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

After the Snow in Akron in the Early Conrail Era

The sun is out today but snow still blankets the ground and much of the right of way as Conrail GP38-2 No. 8025 leads a westbound train in Akron on March 3, 1978. So where is spring?

Photograph by Robert Farkas