Steam & Excursion > CB&Q 4070

After taking part in the filming of the movie "The Natural", Cuyahoga Valley Line 4070 (Ex-Grand Trunk Western 4070) returned to the CVL still having its Burlington lettering on the tender. Here 4070 is southbound on the CVL approaching Akron, Ohio in September 1983.
Bob

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If you look at an old map of the Erie/Erie Lackawanna, you'll see a line running between Buffalo, NY and Jamestown NY, the original Buffalo & Southwestern that ran through South Dayton where the movie was filmed.   The original Erie main line ran from Salamanca to Dunkirk, and crossed over top of the B&SW on the 'tunnel' in the movie Planes, Trains & Automobiles a few years later.   It looks like a diamond on a map but it wasn't.   
Where this line came into the Erie/E-L main line to the south was a place called Waterboro Jct.   From there west the EL main line was pretty much all double track.  There had been a tower there.
In the summer of '83 when that move was made, 4070 ran to South Dayton from Waterboro Junction north; that was the Conrail era.   I bought a house right at Waterboro, overlooking the junction and signals, in the winter of '83.  The line to South Dayton was still there. 
I lived there for 10 years.  I never saw another movement on the line.   As far as I know, 4070 returning to the CVL headed west was the very last move EVER over that link that prior summer.  It still exists today as far south as Cherry Creek and Conewango Valley, but from there south, you need a metal detector to find the rails.
And to this day, I still look at that and think what i JUST MISSED.   
I was lucky to get 765 and it's train on a ferry move headed east, a nice consolation prize.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/25 11:17 by randgust.