Nostalgia & History > When the power company buys the locomotives - CE

To insure that coal trains would get to the power plant as required Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co purchased several GP38-2's. Near Toronto, OH in early Conrail.

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Very nice scene! JG

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Paint scheme has a bit of a Northern Pacific look to it.

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Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

Where did the Cleveland Electric coal trains powered by these units originate?

These and the Detroit Edison trains were nice changes of pace for those times. Nice shot!

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> Where did the Cleveland Electric coal trains powered by these units originate?

Evan - These trains were loaded on the Captina Running Track, geographically west of Powhatan Point, OH.  To get there, the CEI trains used the Bayard Branch east of Alliance, OH, as far as River (Yellow Creek), then the River Secondary to Mingo Junction, OH.  The empty trains would be held at Mingo if necessary, until the mine was ready or until a rested crew was available.  Upon departure, the empty trains ran over the Powhatan Secondary Track along the Ohio River to Powhatan Point, OH, where there was a wye connection with the Captina Running Track.  There were several mines along the Captina Running Track at various times, but I believe the CEI trains loaded at Powhatan #6 mine near the end of the branch, about 16 miles west of Powhatan Point.  I can't say for sure if the CEI trains loaded exclusively at that location, would be interesting to know if there were other loading points.  

Rich Jahn - great shot, thanks for posting.  I haven't seen many shots of these trains outside of the Cleveland area.   

Steve Salamon
Valley City, OH  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/21 09:16 by cr7998.

That's a great picture, thanks for sharing it.

Ironically, the rising price of coal in the 1970s caused Cleveland Electric Illuminating to consider nuclear power, and eventually consolidate with Toledo Edison.

https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/20

cr7998 Wrote:

> Evan - These trains were loaded on the Captina
> Running Track, geographically west of Powhatan
> Point, OH. 

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation!