No Injuries in Spencer W&LE Derailment

No injuries were reported and no hazardous materials were spilled in a derailment Tuesday night on the Wheeling & Lake Erie in Spencer.

The derailment shut down Ohio Route 301in the Medina County town for several hours.

News reports indicated the derailment occurred along North Main Street near the Spencer Feed & Supply Company facility.

One report indicated that at least four cars left the rails. Workers on Wednesday morning were said to be removing box cars from the derailment site.

W&LE said the train involved in the derailment was not carrying any hazardous materials.

It was the second derailment in Northeast Ohio this week. On Monday 16 cars of a CSX train derailed in Sterling. Officials said there were no injuries in that incident and no hazardous materials were released.

The Sterling derailment occurred at 4:45 p.m. Monday at Eby and Kauffman Avenue/Seville Road.

The train that derailed was reported to have 112 empty grain cars and three locomotives.

Steam Saturday: NKP 765 Ferry Move Chase

In the top image, Norfolk Southern 7051 is leading the ferry movement of Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765 to Bellevue where it will then head east on the Wheeling & Lake Erie for another segment of 765’s journey to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad’s Steam in the Valley 2010. Robert Farkas made that photograph and the middle image of the ferry move on the W&LE east of Bellevue.

The bottom image was made by Paul Woodring who was independently chasing the ferry move. Paul’s image was made on the W&LE at Medina where the 765 was making a service stop.

PUCO Approves Grade Crossing Projects

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has approved $1.17 million in safety improvement funding for more than 100 grade crossings. Among the projects are:

The Wheeling and Lake Eriewill install LED lights at crossings in Belmont, Huron, Jefferson, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties. PUCO will fund $7,500 for each crossing for a total of $517,500.

Cincinnati East Terminal Railway will install LED lights at crossings in Adams, Brown, Clermont and Hamilton counties. PUCO will pay $7,500 for each crossing for a total of $247,500.

The Akron Barberton Cluster Railway will install flashing lights and gates at the Diamond and Oakwood street crossings in Ravenna. PUCO will pay up to $352,000 to complete the projects; the total cost is $453,733.

The railroads performing the work are responsible for remaining costs, PUCO officials said in a news release. All work must be completed by April 5, 2024.

W&LE Action in Navarre

It’s been a while since we’ve visited the Wheeling & Lake Erie. So let’s go down to Navarre on the Cleveland Subdivision where we catch SD40-3 No. 3049 leading a train on Aug. 21, 2013. The unit was built in October 1966 as an SD40 for Union Pacific.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Working off the NS in Canton

WE SD40-2 No. 6350 has entered the eastbound Norfolk Southern main in the NS yard in Canton on April 13, 2012. The crew will bring the train east and then back up into the NS yard to interchange cars. The 6350 was built for Canadian Pacific and later rebuilt by Alstom.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Working in the Yard in Brewster

A pair of Wheeling & Lake Erie GP35-3 locomotives, Nos.100 and 102 are at the east end of the yard in Brewster on Nov. 10, 2016. Both units were once owned by the Southern Railway with the 102 once having served the Central of Georgia. The Wheeling rebuilt the 100 in July 2000 while the 102 was rebuilt in December 2000. The 100 carries the name Lynn R. Shook under its cab.

hotograph by Robert Farkas

When it Still Had the Rio Grande Look

Wheeling & Lake Erie GP40-3 No. 301 sports a Denver & Rio Grande Western look as it teams up with SD40-2 No. 6381 to pull a train across the diamond with the R.J. Corman line east of Brewster on March 18, 2010. Since this image was made the 301 has been repainted into the standard W&LE “tiger stripe livery” of black and orange.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

MoPac and WC Liveries on the Wheeling

Wheeling & Lake Erie SD40-3 No. 3102 and former Wisconsin Central SD45 No. 1718 lead an eastbound freight sitting in the W&LE yard in Brewster on July 1, 1996. The 3102 was originally an SD40 built for the Missouri Pacific and in this photograph still sports its MoPac “Jenks Blue” livery. It was subsequently sold to WC/Oxford Leasing and leased to the Wheeling in 1982. Where the MoPac “buzzsaw” herald used to be are the letters WC. The 3102 was rebuilt by the Wheeling in February 2002.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

July 2022 Scenes from Akron

Here are three images made in Akron on July 30, 2022. In the top image, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad FPA-4 No. 6771 is southbound approaching Akron Northside Station as the train crosses over the remains of the Ohio and Erie Canal.

In the middle image, the 6777 is is being towed south and will be the lead unit on the northbound trip.

In the bottom image Wheeling & Lake Erie SD40-2 No. 7006 is on the connecting track between CSX and the W&LE. In a few minutes the former CEFX unit will pull forward bringing its train onto the Wheeling. Then it will back down to Brittain Yard.

The Wheeling acquired the 7006 in December 2015 and quickly pressed it into revenue service.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Autumn Colors Two for Tuesday

Today’s two for Tuesday features two trains in Northeast Ohio on Oct. 24, 2022, amid varying degrees of autumn color.

In the top image, CSX GP40-2 No. 6248 is about to leave the stub track where power is kept for the local working from Warwick Yard in Clinton.

In the bottom photo Wheeling & Lake Erie SD40T-2 No. 5411 is sitting about a third of a mile down the track crossing Elton Street SW, which is located west of the west end of the W&LE yard in Brewster.

Photographs by Robert Farkas