Eastern Railroad Discussion > Waterville OH: NKP caboose

Last month, I got detoured off US24 on to Ohio 64 in Waterville due to an accident on the east side of town. 64 crosses some tracks about 1/4 mile north of 24. Looked east as I crossed the tracks and spotted what looked to be a small old yard. I knew the tracks were there (they're the tracks that cross Dutch Road right next to 24 coming down from 475) and did some sleuthing on Mapquest. Satellite photos showed an old caboose.

Tuesday, 11/23, on my way to Lafayette to fetch our son for Thanksgiving, I stopped to see if it was still there. Didn't have a lot of time - I was two hours late - so this is all I got.

Mapquest used to show this as Toledo, Lake Erie & Western Railway track, but the last month or two, Mapquest is getting chintsy on RR coverage. Now it shows tracks as NS, but only up to 64 and not continuing to Grand Rapids. Tracks are still there.

In any event, retirement affords me the opp to stop - if only I can get out of bed in the morning!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Jerry Hengenius
Willoughby, Ohio

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Another or two. More fodder there for another trip...

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The railroad there was actually the Toledo, St. Louis and Western. It was better know as the Clover Leaf Route and ran from Toledo through Frankfort, Ind to East St Louis, Ill. It was purchased by the Nickle Plate Railroad in the early 1920's which was merged with the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1964, which was merged into the Norfolk Southern in 1982.
Most of that railroad has been abandoned.

nwrmd10 Wrote:
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> The railroad there was actually the Toledo, St.
> Louis and Western. It was better known as the
> Clover Leaf Route and ran from Toledo through
> Frankfort, Ind to East St Louis, Ill. It was
> purchased by the Nickel Plate Road in the
> early 1920's which was merged with the Norfolk and
> Western Railway in 1964, which was merged into the
> Norfolk Southern in 1982.
> Most of that railroad has been abandoned.

The Toledo, Lake Erie & Western, however, is a tourist line that operates/operated the track between Waterville and Grand Rapids. I'm not sure what their current status is, which is why I'm ambiguous about the tense.

Waterville calls this the Blue Bird railroad they only run during the summer this is their web site ( http://www.tlew.org/ )

jerryheng Wrote:
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(they're the tracks
> that cross Dutch Road right next to 24 coming down
> from 475)
From Rt. 475? Did you notice caboose number - #475

The Toledo Lake Erie and Western owns the line from just to the south of the Maumee in Grand Rapids where the line ends to the North side of Waterville where the rail is actually cut between it and the end of NS's Maumee Branch. A couple foot missing section of rail separates things.

The TLE&W did not run at all this year due to issues with there Alco and some Culvert issues, they concentrated on line improvements as well as a rebuild of their Alco. They got A TON fixed this year and should be running next year. They did haul people across the Maumee at Grand Rapids for the Apple Butter Festival which attracts 10's of thousands using Speeders and trailers, the bridge needs a lot of work to support a real train. The line is in far better shape then that of the nearby Maumee and Western.

Is that the same caboose that was in New Castle, Pa. for a number of years?

Thanks to all for looking and replying. I should have paid more attention to the history on the TLEW website before I posted. My original text might have been slightly different. Guess I was too focused on getting to Grandma's for the turkey :)

Brent is pretty much spot-on. TLEW didn't run this year, or only had a few runs very early in the season. I remember a post a while back about the bridge problems at Grand Rapids and other maintenance issues, either here or elsewhere. I can't find it now. TLEW website says "Be sure to look for us next year stronger than ever."

GP30Frank, I never made the connection between the two 475s. Nice catch.

Can't find much history on this caboose so far, but that's what winter is for.

Thanks again, folks. - Jerry