Eastern Railroad Discussion > Amtrak 49, 28B Takes the Plate & Olympic Memory - Lake Erie Land

Tuesday February 24, 2026
Vermilion, OH
22 degrees

Amtrak 49 was 4 hours and 39 minutes off the card as it cruised through here this morning at 9:28 am.

1. & 2. I didn't have long to wait, as I saw 49 pass on the Berea Rail Cam. But I did have a few minutes to take in my surroundings. I chose Grand Street to set up, and a couple of doors down from the track is the Railway Barbershop. I've never been in there, but I was wondering if they had a cool railroad motif. Maybe someday, but I have a good barber. This Blue Jay was also hanging about pretending to be an electrical inspector I guess, he too was keeping an eye out on the tracks.

3. Then way, way down at Vermilion Road the headlight appears. MofW or signal was working down that way and had a speed restriction in effect. I am not sure what they were doing but they were not visible. Look at that track ! You might think from this compressed telephoto that the ride might be a little bumpy, but I doubt it is. The big dip is the Vermilion River bridge and you can also see the paddles for the dragging equipment detector.
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/26 12:12 by train1275.

---

---

---

4. - 6. Here comes the Late For Sure Limited ! Leading today are the 119 & 120 trundling by at 25 mph.

The rest of the consist was;

62507 "Roanoke River" - the Boston sleeper
28012 - Cafe
Coaches: 25059, 25082, 25122, 25124
Diner: 68023 "Springfield"
Sleepers: 62010 & 62504 "Raritan River"
Baggage: 61056



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/26 11:46 by train1275.

---

---

---

7. Amtrak 120, the 2nd unit has picked up a bunch of snow from the storms back East.

8. Boston sleeper; Amtrak 62507 "Roanoke River" is a little on the dirty side.

9. Cafe 28012 trails the Boston sleeper. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/26 10:38 by train1275.

---

---

---

10. Diner 68023 "Springfield". Breakfast anyone ?

11. Sleeper 62504 "Raritan River" is one of the the New York Sleepers

12. Baggage Car 61056 carries the markers. Next stop Sandusky.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/26 12:14 by train1275.

---

---

---

13. - 15. A little later in the morning and a surprise movement of 28B over the NKP side. Usually this has been a weekends only thing for this Chicago - Park Manor to Buffalo, NY intermodal. Here it is captured coming under the Route 6 overpass on the east side of Vermilion approaching the KM (Kishman's) interlocking, then passing through taking the green. Power is two steam engines .... 4449 and 4070.  Yeah, I wish !! But it is NS 4449 and 4070.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/26 11:42 by train1275.

---

---

---

16.  On this date 46 years ago, I had another passenger train encounter. This one I was riding over the Adirondack Railway in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State heading to the 1980 Winter Olympics as a deadhead, courtesy of my railroad friend Durwood Carman, seen here at the start of our journey at Utica, NY.

17. At the Adirondack Railway headquarters hamlet of Thendara, NY looking at Adirondack RS-3 #29 and the Orange RSC-2 "Tampa Tiger", ex Florida Power & Light and exx SAL.

18. Our train with D&H 4075 as power finally arrives at Lake Placid !
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/26 10:59 by train1275.

---

---

---

19. Also on hand at Lake Placid was CR 5711, leased power and out of service Adirondack RS-3 #28. The 5711 is running with an N&W heater car. I think Dave Van Pelt was handling that heater car while locoinsp here on TO was assigned to the 4075.

20. The Main Street of Lake Placid was just one big party that evening before boarding the train and taking off after the closing fireworks. It was a long ride back to Utica, arriving in the morning.

 

---

---

Double thank yous to you for the Lake Shore Ltd. and Adirondack Railway images !!  The engines and head three cars are 449's  train .

Thanks for sharing your Adirondack Railway views of Lake Placid, New York, during the Winter Olympics.  Those guys sure had there hands full keeping the equipment running.  I was based at Plattsburgh AFB, NY, during the event.  The winning USA hockey team flew out of our base that week.

Love the Adirondack photos! Durwood Carmen was a great guy and great to work with! You are right, Wally Van Pelt was on the N&W heater car keeping those steam generators running. For those of us in the mechanical department on the railroad, it was 13 days of hell!!! Hours of service, what's that?? But we all did what we did because we wanted to make the railroad a success! And despite all the equipment issues, we managed to get the trains over the railroad and carried a lot of people to Lake Placid to enjoy the Olympics! I'm proud I was a part of it and proud of the people I worked with! Great bunch of folks! You're pictures are bringing back a flood of memories!

While I've ridden Amtrak's Lakeshore Limited a handful of times, traveled the New York Thruway twice and visited Watertown once, I've yet to make it into the heart of the Adirondacks.  Perhaps others (besides the rails-to-trails crowd) could convince me otherwise, but I sure wish that the railroad still went all the way to Lake Placid.  

(I've actually ridden a train to Lake Placid twice, but it was the one in Florida!)

Jeff Gast
Greenwood, Indiana  

Nice series, and a long telephoto makes even the best track look bad.
—Mac

inrdjlg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> While I've ridden Amtrak's Lakeshore Limited a
> handful of times, traveled the New York Thruway
> twice and visited Watertown once, I've yet to make
> it into the heart of the Adirondacks.  Perhaps
> others (besides the rails-to-trails crowd) could
> convince me otherwise, but I sure wish that the
> railroad still went all the way to Lake
> Placid.  
>
> (I've actually ridden a train to Lake Placid
> twice, but it was the one in Florida!)
>
> Jeff Gast
> Greenwood, Indiana  

I hired out on the Adirondack Railway after the Olympics and worked with locoinsp and Dave (Wally) Van Pelt. I saw first hand the operation and how important Lake Placid was as a destination. In 1993 I returned to the Adirondacks as the Executive Director and General Manager of the fledgling Adirondack Scenic RR. By 1994, the entire 118 mile line State owned line (Remsen - Lake Placid) was under my jurisdiction and there was a severe threat to the middle portion from the proposed Bob Marshall Wilderness. It was evident we could get virtually global suppport by having Lake Placid as a destination as it was a globally known entity. Utica and the rest of the Adirondacks were more unknowns and the Adirondack Region so big that there were promotion issues related to focusing on our proposed rail operation expansions. The first move after linking the Old Forge start up operation with Utica (over 23 miles of trackage rights) and Amtrak was to open the north end between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid as a satellite operation so we had resaon to claim the middle to link the two operations toghether. This was successful and when I left in 1999 had final plans to be worked up through Governor Pataki's office to complete the middle for through service linking Lake Placid to Utica and the Amtrak network probably by 2003 or 2004.

After that, the political vibe, and that to an extent of ARPS (Adirondack Railway Preservation Society) the 501C3 governing body of the Adirondack Scenic Railroad also changed as did the dynamic between ARPS and NYSDOT and DEC, the managing entities under the New York State ownership of the rail corridor. Then it became an all out fight for survival for the rail operation north of Big Moose. Eventually the State forced the shut down of the Saranac Lake to Lake Placid operation that had run for whatever it was 15 - 17 years. Then instead of rail banking the line with trail, they tore out the rails. Initially there were plans for a parallel rail trail between Saranac and Placid, but further "feasibility studies" deemed it environmentally unsound. The rail advocates came against solid anti-rail folks even though there are something like 4000 miles of trails already in the ADKS. This trail HAD to be built and the rails HAD to go. Sadly they are gone, and while the railroad got revived and rebuilt to Tupper Lake, 117 miles north of Utica, the remaining milegage to Placid, the global destination is gone and so too so much potential for making it a really viable world class rail experience.  It just simply is hard to sell a trip to Tupper Lake vs. Lake Placid. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/26 06:39 by train1275.

train 1275 - thank you for the background information  and the  " Rest of the Story " ;  and what could have been .