Eastern Railroad Discussion > V unit meets H unit, the NS 6920 chase

As Brent said below, what a nice weekend here in NEO. A crowd followed the NS veteran unit west on 21G today, and our chase started like many others at Bridge 1 in downtown Cleveland. The V unit met #861 with the NS NS heritage unit at the crew change point in Toledo, an interesting "nose to nose" for sure.


I elected to move west of the crowd a bit for my photo.
Blasting west at Coen Rd (Vermilion) with the CP 222 signals in the background.
The Rt 163 crossing east of Sandusky.

RAD

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Grab shot at 163.
Entering Toledo as seen from the Miami St bridge.
A down on roster view.

RAD

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The nose to nose at Toledo.
Did some "Boatnerd" stuff while waiting for the 6920...

The Alpena and the Manistee, both at Cleveland.

RAD

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Good Stuff Roger
Jack

Are the boats tied up for the winter?

a737flyer Wrote:
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> Are the boats tied up for the winter?


Absolutely not. This is the grain rush now, among other things. Seaway usually shuts down around Christmas, while lakers continue operating into January.

SUPER pics!!!!! Thanks for sharing.

Is The ALPENA a grain boat ?

Good chase Roger, your Jeep have a jet-pak on it now? lol

alco539 Wrote:
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> Is The ALPENA a grain boat ?

I don't think so, at least on this run. It's docked at a LaFarge cement facility.

http://www.boatnerd.com/passage/defaultpassage.htm
Go to photo galleries and scroll down to Inland Lakes Management

RAD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/12 18:15 by erie833.

FEC2000 Wrote:
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> Good chase Roger, your Jeep have a jet-pak on it
> now? lol

That poor thing is taking a much needed rest in my garage after this weekend! Figured about 450 miles of chase between the X791 on Saturday and the 21G today!

RAD

And I might add a big thanks to those that provided up to date locations on this move....and to you Dave for your guidance around Toledo.

RAD

The Alpena is strictly in cement service. I believe it is even owned by a cement company.

It might be there for winter layup I have seen it there in the past years

Very nice Roger. Best shots of that unit that I've yet seen.

Both Alpena and Manistique are self-unloading cement boats. Virtually all the lake freight that moves on large boats ("Lakers") is either coal, iron ore, or cement. Most grain moves on "salties", foreign-flag saltwater ships that can transit the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway. Many of the Lakers (there are only 61 in the U.S. fleet) are too large for the Welland Canal, so they stay in the upper four lakes.

traxjax Wrote:
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> It might be there for winter layup I have seen it
> there in the past years

It was transfering a load of cement.

Posted from Android

PittsburghMike Wrote:
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> Very nice Roger. Best shots of that unit that I've
> yet seen.

Thank you!
RAD

Posted from Android

shoretower Wrote:
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> Both Alpena and Manistique are self-unloading
> cement boats. Virtually all the lake freight that
> moves on large boats ("Lakers") is either coal,
> iron ore, or cement. Most grain moves on
> "salties", foreign-flag saltwater ships that can
> transit the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway.
> Many of the Lakers (there are only 61 in the U.S.
> fleet) are too large for the Welland Canal, so
> they stay in the upper four lakes.


U.S. vessels also carry stone, lime, and salt, among other things. But you are right, nearly all are too big to go through the Welland Canal or too small (river-class) to justify the trip.

There are, however, Canadian lakers that routinely handle grain and transit the Welland Canal to deliver grain to Lake Ontario ports or to transload ports along the St Lawrence Seaway. For the latter, they often carry grain downbound and then return upbound with iron ore from Sept-Iles, Pointe-Noire, or Port Cartier. The Canadian vessels often handle outbound grain from Toledo, among other U.S. ports.