Eastern Railroad Discussion > A Shoot-Fest in Lake Erie Land - Heritage, DODX and Other

Sunday May 15, 2022
81 degrees, hot sun.

It was busy today on both the Chicago Line and NKP, but the NKP was a tough shoot for a number of reasons including back light and composition challenges.
Here are some of the highlights:

1 - 3. An extra DODX ran the NKP to start the morning out (NS Train 056) which turned out to be just a bare tabled hotshot headed by NS 1041, a very ugly SD70Ace with oddly mismatched number boards. A challenge to capture .....  Here he comes around the bend at Beaver Park Marina west of Lorain, and passes a sign along Route 6 below which says, "We Buy Ugly .... (Businesses). If they buy UGLY, maybe they would like the NS 1041, especially pulling these military bare tables. In the going away shot we see them heading towards the 214-4 signal showing an Approach Medium (*correction - Approach Diverging ** thanks to halfmoonharold** or clarifications welcome, I have never been NS signal qualified).

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/22 17:08 by train1275.

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4. DODX bare table 42505 going east towards Conneaut with a crew out of Bellevue.

5. Over the years there has been a lot of history dealing with the crossing at this location (entry to what is now Beaver Park Marina and area north of the tracks from US Route 6) and this old unofficial sign still stands guard.

6. It is hot so we are going to the docks in Vermilion to hang out, enjoy the boats, fishermen, birds and breeze. Here is the 21Z westbound with NS 1144 and 8014.

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Former N&W lines use route signalling, so it's "approach diverging". 

7. A boat and train race and NS Train 26E will be the winner with thoroughbreds 4103 and 7636 in harness.

8. More action  on the NKP side as Train 206 goes east with UP power, UP 7811 and 7972 cross the bridge while fishermen enjoy the day.

9. Back to the Chicago Line and 20E bombed over the bridge with NS 4537 and 9916.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/22 17:11 by train1275.

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10. Then 24M, the third of the Three Horsemen (26E, 20E, 24M), hammers over with NS 4248 and 7584.

11. Action shifts back to the NKP side with 316 hitting the low bridge with BNSF 7947 and NS 9855.

12. Loaded coal train 558 has been dropping a DPU to our east at Fairlane Yard and now comes out on the main and over the bridge on Track 1 with NS 4052 and 7602.  We have some boat and geese action for entertainment also in the river in our foreground.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/22 17:13 by train1275.

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13.  The coal hoppers have NORX reporting marks (Northern Indiana Public Service Co.)

14. Now it is 20R's turn to come east with NS 4032 and 8059.

15. Hiking back over to town just in time to see the 60T, loaded sand coming east, with NS 9554 leading NS 8105 the Interstate Heritage Unit and BNSF 5833.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/22 17:16 by train1275.

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16. The heritage unit is 2nd out, but still makes an attractive appearance in the consist today.

17. A quick run over to Elyria to check things out yielded no trains so we didn't stay long. Here is a look at the New York Central freighthouse that dates to 1910.

18. The Elyria Amtrak sign at the platform. Amtrak runs Trains 29 & 30 (Capitol Limited) and 48 & 49 (Lake Shore Limited) through here. Basically 0-dark -30 night runs.

 

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19. And to end the day as we have other things to get done, we bag Train 315 with NS 7645 and 4438 on the NKP bridge. All day the NKP has not been lit well, so pics are a bit back lit. But, you have to take what you can get and make happen. This crew has had a long, but double pay day, as they were the crew that took the 056 DODX train east to Conneaut this morning. They got to Conneaut and had this 315 waiting, so it was a turn and burn day for them with no hotel stay and jitney ride. They are seen here homebound for Bellevue. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/22 17:23 by train1275.

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Thanks !!

halfmoonharold Wrote:
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> Former N&W lines use route signalling, so it's
> "approach diverging". 

Nice catches and photos.  The NS in house painted heritage units have held up pretty good paint wise, minus the Southern lettering, over the 10 years.   Is the Elyria freight house still some sort of hospital?   Haven't been there since 1998...I see housing across the tracks that werent there then. 
train1275 Wrote:
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> 16. The heritage unit is 2nd out, but still makes
> an attractive appearance in the consist today.
>
> 17. A quick run over to Elyria to check things out
> yielded no trains so we didn't stay long. Here is
> a look at the New York Central freighthouse that
> dates to 1910.
>
> 18. The Elyria Amtrak sign at the platform. Amtrak
> runs Trains 29 & 30 (Capitol Limited) and 48 & 49
> (Lake Shore Limited) through here. Basically
> 0-dark -30 night runs.
>
>  

I think ..... it was medical offices but didn't pay that much attention.

The Elyria freight house harkens back to when railroads were so much more important, directly, to the local economy. Now, freight headed for Elyria would pass by in a trailer or container rolling by at track speed (or in a truck on I-80/I-90) and arriving later by local truck delivery services. This would be so far out of the imagination of the persons planning and building a freight house to distribute LCL from box cars. Not to mention that the freight was originating in the Orient and not New England or the Mid-Atlantic States. Such is progress. Just a few melencholy thoughts about another wonderful post. 
Thanks,
Go

Thanks for the great coverage

Posted from iPhone

Train 1275
5:00 PM today, Monday, Sand train 60T with the Interstate Heritage unit is sitting in Cresson, PA on the interchange track for RJCorman. If you hadn't mentioned it I would have thought it was another grain train.
​Gonut

Glad you caught it !

I just missed the Conrail Heritage by a few minutes this afternoon on Train 546(?)
Got a heads up he was in Huron and 12 minutes later he was flying by here and long gone. 

It is a sitting duck on the Cresson webcam. The short hoppers are a give away that it isn't grain. railstream.net/live-cameras/item/cresson-pa-free
Go