Eastern Railroad Discussion > Lake Erie Land - July 4th Edition

Vermilion, OH
July 4, 2026 edition
HOT and HUMID !!

A quick catch up of activity caught here in North Central Ohio.

Thursday July 2nd  - 84 degrees, high humidity

1. L15 with NS 4877 and 3601 slowly rumbles over the Vermilion River Bridge on Track 2, then stops blocking Vermilion Road and Main Street. Then the town had the Sandusky Street underpass closed. What mess.... L15 sits and sits with a cut of mty well cars parked on the bridge.

2. & 3. About 40 minutes later the 5 hour and 18 minute late Floridian Train 40 shows up on Track 1 with Amtrak 326 and 339 leading.

 

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4. - 6. Watching the late 40 go west with the new scheme baggage car 61007 on the rear.

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7. the consist and details of Train 40.

8. Moving over to the Rail Park and grabbing 27G (Harrisburg - Chicago intermodal) with NS 3674, 4543 and 4666. The humidity is so thick you can cut it with a knife.

9. The light is better looking west at Train 310 (Elkhart - East Binghamton, NY merchandise) with KCS 4153 and NS 4282 leading.

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Friday July 3rd

10. The sun is going down and storms are brewing over Lake Erie as the "Joyce L. Vanenkevort" slides by.

Saturday July 4th - America 250 !

11. Checking out the action at the Vermilion Docks, 84 degrees and very humid once again. Train 22K comes east with NS 4539, 1141 and 4677.

12. Then 39N (Conway, PA to Decatur, IL merchandise) comes west with NS 4294 and NS 1038 as a mid-train DPU.
 

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13. NS 1038 the mid-train DPU on 39N.

14. Now the 12 hour and 18 minute late Floridian Train 41 eastbound with Amtrak 316 and 330. Normally this train would come through here at 12:58am ... it is now 1:16 pm !!!

15. Coaches follow the locomotives.

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16. - 18. Watching the unusual afternoon passing of Train 41. It will arrive in Washington DC and be parked at Washington Union Station in time for the fireworks show down there around midnight.

I think the consist was:

Locomotives: 316, 330
Coaches: 25106, 25123, 25094, 25077
Cafe: 28006
Diner: 68007 "Columbia"
Sleepers: 62022, 62005 "Calumet River" and 62502 "Rapidan River"
Baggage: 61047

Corrections welcome.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/26 11:22 by train1275.

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19. L15 returns west with the typical power of late; NS 3601 and NS 4877.

20. 16N (BRC Clearing Yard Chicago to Conway, PA merchandise) comes over with NS 4829 and 1251 up front. The 4829's nose door is open. 

21. NS 7511 is the rear DPU on 16N.

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22. Waiting around and nothing else comes except a poor boater needing a tow boat.

23. Fireworks at lake side in the evening. We were able see 7 different shows from this vantage point (our back yard) and it was a constant rolling thunder across the skies for 45 minutes.

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All nice shots!  I kept finding myself watching the boats below, especially the one person & boat who photobombed your Amtrak 40 sequence!  

Jeff Gast
Greenwood, Indiana  

Thanks for the fine shots and passenger train consists !

Great series, I love photos 10 and 11!

Dan

Posted from iPhone

Like the framing on 14.
—Mac

I was out in Sandusky on the fourth while the wife and her dad spent time in Cedar Point. Didnt get any thing, while contemplating the meaning of life with something I found out about two years ago. 

Michael Fair
Royal Oak, MI

bath_wildcat Wrote:
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> I was out in Sandusky on the fourth while the wife
> and her dad spent time in Cedar Point. Didnt get
> any thing, while contemplating the meaning of life
> with something I found out about two years ago. 

Been very few trains lately. Yesterday (July 6th) between the NKP and Lake Shore lines there were only 4 in one 6 hour period.
At one point late yesterday there was an 8 hour window between eastbound trains on the Lake Shore line from 22X to 28X unless I missed something. Hours of quiet. Not sure why.
In that period there was a 23G and an L15 westbound going in at Sandusky.