Eastern Railroad Discussion > Late Amtrak 48 - NKP - Winter Scenes - Lake Erie Land

Sunday February 1, 2026
Vermilion, OH
11 degrees this morning, blue skies and sun. Loving this winter weather !

Weekend Round-Up

Saturday January 31, 2026

Saturday was really a bust with only one catch.

1. & 2. It is 17 degrees and a bit blustery as 29P (Buffalo, NY - Chicago-Park Manor Intermodal) shows a headlight. We are at the wrong place at the right time. We have just missed the 22X, and the 259. So what we are looking at is 29P coming at us on Track 1 passing the eastbound 22X, stopped on Track 2 just east of Joppa Road waiting for the signal to clear after 259 (Rutherford Yard-Harrisburg, PA to Voltz Yard - Kansas City, MO intermodal) an opposing move on Track 2 has cleared the east-leg connector and gone over to the NKP for Bellevue. We missed the 22X (55th St-Chicago to Croxton, NJ) at Ceylon and 259 at Florence, but got 29P here just west of Vermilion approaching MP 226. Power is NS 4213 and 4177.

3. Now to this morning - Sunday -and ice fishermen are out on the Vermilion River under the Lake Shore line bridge. It is 11 degrees and I am fortified with coffee, duck eggs and toast.
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/26 15:59 by train1275.

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4. & 5. Train 27G (Harrisburg, PA - 55th Street - Chicago) is late today, so we get a shot as he goes west with 4705 and CN 2977 up front and NS 9855 and 4443 as mid train DPU's.

6. Then L15 (Intermodal Local Shuttle Sandusky - Maple Heights and return) comes east with NS 4444 and 4237. So the 4443 on 27G just passed the 4444 on L15 a few miles to the west of here.

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7. L15 has a rather rare APL container in the consist. Rare for me to see here anyway. APL since June 2016 has been a subsidiary of CMA-CGM, I believe.

8. The the 5 hour and 46 minute late "Lake Shore Limited" with Amtrak 153 and 93 up front making a pleasant morning scene at the docks at 10:09 am.

9. And the Boston sleeper is up front today; AMTRAK 62507 "Roanoke River"



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/26 16:18 by train1275.

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10. - 12. Watching the train pass over the ice fishermen who are paying no attention to it at all. The first of two cafe cars; 28012, then after the coaches the 2nd cafe car; 28016 and the diner 68011 "Frankfort". Yeah !  The Boston sleeper, two cafe cars for some reason and finally a diner.

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13. - 15. One of the NY sleepers; 62030 "Hudson River", Baggage Car 61056 and the consist today.

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16. After this traffic clears the 11Q (Conway, PA - Bellevue merchandise) can finally move out of the siding at CP 219 and crossover to Track 2 to come west and take the east-leg connector to the NKP for Bellevue. Power is NS 4498, 9955 and 7658.

17. A while later we are on the south side of the Vermilion bridges set up on the NKP to grab the 28B. A Robin is shivering, perched in a tree awaiting the action.

18. 28B (Park Manor Chicago to Buffalo, NY intermodal) comes east on the NKP with a shiny clean NS 4957 and work worn 8104. Typically this shot is only possible on weekends as 28B will take the parallel Lake Shore line to Cleveland on weekdays and get on the NKP via the Cloggsville Connection. So if we missed this, it would be another 6 days before we can try again ..... maybe. Or maybe during the week it will take this route unexpectedly ... who knows, get it while you can. And we got it today. NS 4957 is a Juniata release from December 2025.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/26 16:08 by train1275.

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19. Four-wheelers are cruising the frozen river along with snowmobiles as seen here as we watch 28B pass.

20. Coming home and hearing a heck of a racket outside, and it is a helicopter .... not sure what or whose though.

We went out for a while in the afternoon. The weather warmed up to 17 degrees, but we missed every train out there ... somehow. Nothing to show for it.

21. Lake Erie as seen from our living room looks like a frozen moonscape. Reports say the lake is 90% frozen over at this time. Few Eagles are seen as their seafood is safe below the ice.

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That first shot has a very nice drama level to it, thanks for the show. These late editions of the Lake Shore Limited make for some nice images too.
—Mac
 

Excellent series!

Great shots and information , thanks !