The Tradition Continues

Uncle Pete lends a hand to NS train 209 on the Chicago Line in Amherst.

I have a tradition during the annual picnic of the Forest City Division of the Railroad Enthusiasts in Amherst of walking to the Jackson Street bridge over the Chicago Line of Norfolk Southern.

The picnic is always held on a Saturday and doesn’t get underway until mid afternoon, so I’m always going up to the bridge in late afternoon.

Usually, I’m joined by RRE member Jerry Jordak. This year was no exception.

We took our places on the bridge around 5 p.m. and staked it out for the next hour and a half.

The light at that time of day clearly favors westbound traffic, which is good because there is a fence on the west side of the bridge where the sidewalk is located.

Fortunately, Jackson Street is not overly busy so we are able to walk to the east edge, get our images and scurry back to the sidewalk.

NS cooperated nicely this year by sending four westbounds our way. This included a pair of stack trains, manifest freight No. 309 and auto rack train No. 287.

The 309 had a Union Pacific leader, which marked the first time I’ve landed foreign power leading a train through Amherst.

The 287 took the siding at CP 213 located just east of Jackson Street en route to Fairlane Yard.

In all the years I’ve photographed from Jackson Street I’ve never caught an NS heritage or special tribute locomotive.

The most interesting sighting we’ve made was the NS executive train in 2014.

There is still bit of heritage left in Amherst. The eastbound home signals for CP 313 still have Type G signal heads even though they now are mounted on a modern support stand.

We also spotted a former Santa Fe cover hopper car that still carried its original markings and reporting numbers.

That was an appropriate find given that the program presented later that evening by Marty Surdyk prominently featured images of Santa Fe trains in in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, California and other points.

 

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Todd Dillon’s Chase of UP 1943 and Train

Last Monday the Union Pacific OCS train came back from its trip east. Its schedule put it on the east side of Cleveland in daylight but things happen on the railroad so I headed eastward to make sure I would get daylight photos.

My first stop was Cassandra, Pennsylvania, where about 20 railfans had gathered, including some from Scranton, Pennsylvania, and one from Marion, Ohio.

Next we drove to Leetsdale, Pennsylvania, and despite being delayed in rush-hour traffic beat the special there. About 40 railfan were here. I saw many familiar faces including but not limited to Dave Ori and Roger Durfee.

The train made a quick crew change at Conway which let us get ahead again this time and get it from the I-376 overpass as it climbed to Summit Cut.

The last stop was at Rootstown in the last good light of the day. Over 50 railfans were camped out here including many ARRC members. This ended a great chase of what is probably the train of the year for Northeast Ohio.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

 

UP OCS to Pass Through NE Ohio Today

After much anticipation the Union Pacific office car special on the former Erie Railroad to Harriman, New York, and back on Sunday.

Akron Railroad Club member Jack Norris said the weather was crazy with rain and clouds, sun and rain. “None of the photo locations I wanted to do were really great for this due to the time of day and weather, so I ended up in WC Tower in Waldwick, New Jersey, for an operators view. Heck, anyone can shoot from a bridge.”

There was a big car show in Waldwick as the train came through. My girlfriend caught the train up near Tuxedo, New York, about a half hour later. Our wet winter and spring has made for some lush greenery.

The train is slated to leave New Jersey today. ARRC Vice President Todd Dillon said the tentative schedule is to leave New Jersey at 5 a.m. from Croxton Yard.

There is a crew called at Conway Yard near Pittsburgh for 4 p.m. and the estimated time at Berea is 8:45 p.m.

But this is the railroad so times are subject to change. If anyone wants to catch this in daylight for certain, you probably should head east to at least Pittsburgh and possibly even further east depending on the train’s progress.

As for why the train went east in the first place, there is speculation that it had to do with the bicentennial celebration of Brown Brothers Harriman Company Bank, which was established in 1818.

Henry Harriman was a UP President and his son, E. Roland Harriman, was a UP chairman years later, thus giving the family a connection to UP history.

The celebration may have been held at the Harriman Mansion in Arden, New York.

Photographs by Jack Norris

Meet Me at Interstate 90

Amtrak’s eastbound Lake Shore Limited meets a westbound CSX auto rack train beneath the bridge carrying Interstate 90 over the CSX Erie West Subdivision at the State Line exit on the border of Pennsylvania and New York just outside North East, Pennsylvania.

The auto rack train has Union Pacific motive power and a cut of manifest freight.

No. 48 was operating 43 minutes late when it left Erie, but the New York section made it to Penn Station in New York less than 10 minutes late.

Out of the Ordinary Sighting in Alliance

It was about time to leave after spending a few hours on a Friday afternoon in Alliance.

But the 12V was coming and I decided to stay around for it because it was coming east on the Fort Wayne Line.

I had heard some chatter on the radio from the Cleveland Line dispatcher about a helper set tying on to the head end of the 12V and then going to Conway Yard near Pittsburgh.

The helper set was on the Alliance runner and I figured the 12V could cross the Cleveland Line at the diamond and continue east on the Fort Wayne Line.

Instead, the 12V made the turn and went from the Fort Wayne Line to the Cleveland Line and would be going to Conway by way of Bayard.

Leading the 12V were a pair of Union Pacific locomotives. It is not unheard of for foreign power to lead a train into Alliance.

If the train goes from the Fort Wayne Line to the Cleveland Line and out of town toward Bayard, there is no need for a lead unit with cab signals.

I can only recall seeing a train go around the connection from the Cleveland Line to the Fort Wayne Line and that was during an Akron Railroad Club outing in August 2005 when a work train did it.

New NS Train Originates on the W&LE

 

 

 

 

 

 

During an outing to Bellevue earlier this spring I got my first look at a new NS train that originates on the Wheeling & Lake Erie.

NS train 11Q reportedly begins its journey to Eklhart, Indiana, being made up in the yard at Hartland.

Reportedly, some of the freight being hauled by the train had been been turned over to CSX by the Wheeling before CSX service became erratic last year.

It has also been reported that the new train enables the two railroads to bypass Moorman Yard in Bellevue.

The train arrives in Bellevue on the Lake Shore Connection and halts short of Monroe Street. The W&LE power is cut off and moved away from the train.

Some time later another set of motive power comes out of the yard operating light through the mini plant and backs onto the train.

A separate crew is called to take the 11Q west of Bellevue on the former Nickel Plate Road mainline which it uses as far west as Claypool, Indiana.

There the 11Q makes a right turn and runs up the Marion Branch to Goshen, Indiana, where the Marion Branch joins the Chicago Line for the final miles into Elkhart.

In the top photo, the motive power set is coming west past the former Wheeling Tower. It is shown in the next image backing down the Lake Shore Connection toward the waiting train.

In the third image the motive power has coupled to its train and is awaiting a road crew to come out. A van will take the crew that maneuvered the units onto the train back to Moorman Yard.

In the final image, the 11Q has moved onto the New Haven Connection to reach the Fostoria District, but has halted to wait for two other trains to clear.

Colorful Day in Berea on ARRC McKay Day

At long last Akron Railroad Club members got a Norfolk Southern heritage locomotive leading a train through Berea during the annual Dave McKay Day outing there. The Pennsylvania Railroad heritage unit leads a westbound ethanol train late Saturday morning.

The long defunct Pan American World Airways used to have the tagline in its advertisements, “Pan Am makes the going great.”

The word “great” is much overused, yet it could fairly describe the 14^th annual Akron Railroad Club Dave McKay Day in Berea last Saturday.

Among the more than 40 trains that at least one ARRC member observed during the event was an ethanol train with the Pennsylvania Railroad heritage locomotive on the point, another NS train led by the GoRail unit, and a CSX stack train led by a Southern Belle SD70MAC of the Kansas City Southern.

Those who got there early enough to see NS train 309 also saw a rare sighting in Berea of a Pan Am Railways locomotive, Maine Central No. 3403.

The SD40-2 was the third of three units that included Union Pacific ES44AC-H No. 8151.

It was a colorful day with more than the usual allotment of UP, Canadian National and BNSF motive power, including two trains with all BNSF motive power consists.

The day wasn’t perfect. We got hosed big time when NS intermodal train 26E passed by with a former BNSF war bonnet that was blocked from view by NS train 16T. And the weather was sunny, but quite cool.

ARRC President Craig Sanders was the first to arrive. As he rolled in at about 8:10 a.m., westbound intermodal train 23K was heading west on the NS Chicago Line.

At the far west end of the CP 194 interlocking an inbound Wheeling & Lake Erie coke train was waiting on for the 23K to clear before it could proceed off CSX Shortline Subdivision Track No. 1 to get onto NS for the journey down to Campbell Road Yard.

It has been several years since we’ve seen a W&LE train come through Berea during an ARRC McKay Day.

On the heels of the Wheeling train came an eastbound CSX ethanol train led by the day’s lone sighting of CN motive power.

CSX would go into a slumber for the next hour and a half. In the meantime, NS was busy with an eastbound fleet, including two moments when three eastbounds were side-by-side at the west end of CP 194.

Word had filtered in that two westbound NS trains, the 65N and 17N were being led by the Pennsy heritage unit and the GoRail special promotions unit respectively. Ahead of the 65N was crude oil train 67R.

They were hung up, though, by the NS eastbound parade, which had Tracks 1 and 2 tied up.

By late morning the ARRC contingent had swelled to include Vice President Todd Dillon, Ed Ribinskas and Paul Woodring. Dennis Taksar made an appearance before going off to work.

In the meantime, CSX stack train 272 lumbered through with KCS Southern Belle 3915 on the point. It was slowed by the S388 waiting ahead for westbound L163 to clear the single track through the tunnels in Cleveland.

About the time that westbound traffic got going on NS, CSX began running trains and we feared that our view of the PRR unit would be blocked.

It could have happened. As the headlight of NS 8102 bore down on Berea we saw the headlight of a westbound CSX train, the L163. The 65N got to Berea two minutes before the L163 so we were able to get clear images of the Pennsy heritage locomotive.

It is not the first time that a heritage locomotive has come through on McKay day. We saw the Wabash H unit in 2014, but it was trailing.

By early afternoon we had been joined by Rick Houck and Marty Surdyk. Rick had debated whether to come because of the cold.

They arrived in time to see the 17N with the GoRail unit go west.

NS traffic dominated the day. Of the 16 CSX trains we spotted, nine of them came through after 2 p.m. and six of them were clustered in just over an hour’s time between 3:30 p.m. and 4:40 p.m. during which NS was silent. In fact, seven of the last nine trains we logged were on CSX.

Dennis returned to the scene in late afternoon during which time Paul Emch made a short appearance while en route to the annual banquet of the Forest City Division of the Railroad Enthusiasts that was being held at Tony K’s restaurant in Berea.

Former ARRC member and occasion meeting attendee Alex Buchac also made an appearance as did ex-ARRC member Richard Thompson.

Most ARRC members and former members had departed by the time NS westbound 19A came through just before 6 p.m. with two passenger cars in its consist.

Both were former Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus cars being ferried to new owners.

It was nice not just to see a Southern Belle locomotive of the Kansas City Southern, but a clean one at that. It is leading a very long CSX stack train 272.

The Wheeling & Lake Erie coke train made an early morning appearance.

Like race horses in the starting gate, three NS trains were briefly abreast at the west end of CP 194. Only the 294 in the middle was moving. Watching are the 16T at left and the M6G at right.

The GoRail special interest locomotive is on the point of the 17N.

Eastbound ethanol train K634 was the first CSX train of the day. Once it went by, CSX went into a lull lasting an hour and a half.

A Pan Am Railways SD40-2 made an appearance on NS train 309.

Another look at the colorful and varied motive power consist of NS train 309

Stack train 22K had a brace of BNSF locomotives running elephant style. This train will take the former Nickel Plate Road mainline east of Cleveland.

NS train 20R was one of four consecutive eastbounds that kept a fleet of westbound trains at bay east of CP Max on the Chicago Line.

A young railfan sits on what used to be a signal base to photograph westbound CSX train L135. BNSF motive power was plentiful during the McKay Day outing.

CSX No. 99 has the S388 rolling along through Berea, but not for long. The manifest freight would stop in a few miles to wait for the passage of the L163 through the single-track tunnels in Cleveland.

The Q391 used to be a manifest freight but now it hauls containers.

The rear of the Q166 passes the head end of Q561 by the former Big Four passenger station in Berea.

One of the locomotives pulling eastbound CSX intermodal train Q008 thinks it is an Alco or a steam locomotive as it pours out smoke. The railfan in the distance waving at the train is former ARRC member Richard Thompson.

Uncle Pete Down the Street

I was visiting the museum in the former New York Central depot last summer in Conneaut when Norfolk Southern intermodal train 206 came through town. I heard it but was not in a position to get close to it. So I did the next best thing, which was photograph it down Sandusky Street. On this day, the 206 had Union Pacific 4877 on the point.

Returning for Another Load of Lettuce

CSX and Union Pacific team up to haul perishable produce between warehouses in California and Washington state and distribution centers in New York state.

The trains typically have UP motive power and fans and railroaders alike have dubbed them the “salad shooter.”

On a trip to Conneaut last fall, the salad shooter was the first train that I saw and photographed.

It is shown rushing westbound past the former New York Central passenger station and beneath the iconic town water tank.

More Conneaut Doings

NS eastbound manifest freight 316 has a pair of Union Pacific locomotives in charge as it crosses Conneaut Creek in a view made from the U.S. 20 bridge.

In a recent post I described a recent Sunday afternoon catching a Canadian National train in Conneaut on the former Bessemer & Lake Erie. CN wasn’t the only operations that I observed and photographed.

Traffic on Norfolk Southern was slow for most of the morning with nothing running. Things began picking up before noon when the 22K showed up followed by the 206, the 098 and the 316.

I never saw or heard of a westbound on NS during my time in Conneaut.

I spent most of the morning on CSX where traffic was heavy after I arrived with four trains coming through in the first hour that I was there.

I was surprised that none of the CSX trains I saw were intermodals. Once NS got into action, I moved away from the CSX tracks.

After the CN train showed up around 1 p.m., the likelihood of my going back trackside along the CSX Erie West Subdivision became minimal.

Here are some highlights of what I saw on NS and CSX on this day.

It’s the eastbound stack train 22K.

NS train 206 has one of the DC to AC conversion units on the point today.

Can you guess which way the 098 is going? It is headed for work in Pennsylvania.

A two-image sequence of a westbound CSX crude oil train.

A westbound CSX manifest freight passes the former New York Central freight house, which is now owned by the Conneaut Historical Society.

CSX eastbound auto rack train Q254 passes the Conneaut water tank.