Thoughts from Clevelandtrains

Warbonnets passing through Collinwood

2012-02-13T22:28:00.000-05:00

From time to time on the Western board, someone will post about BNSF GP60M units being used to power locals. I will admit to getting excited when I see them being used with that famous paint. Before BNSF decided to move these units from hotshots to locals, they where still able to stretch their legs for a brief time period. Not hauling time sensitive trailers anymore from Chicago to LA, just general manifest freights now. Somehow, CSX would end up with these BNSF Warbonnets on their freights. I'm pretty sure that CSX would "borrow" them out of Chicago. On a storm filled Saturday morning on June 28, 2003, I was surprised to catch GP60M units 161 & 151 with CSX AC44 575. My only wish is that I had a better digital camera back then to better capture these units......

Warbonnets at Quaker Tower, passing under old Cleveland Union Terminal/NYC cantery

Getting down to business after a brief stop at the east fuel pad to top off.

More to come on BNSF four axle power passing through Cleveland.

Wheeling & Lake Erie GP40-3 303

2012-02-12T21:55:00.000-05:00

From time to time, a Wheeling GP40 or SD40 can be found on the 663 local. And if that unit is in Rio Grande paint, it only makes the find that much better. Only four units on the Wheeling currently remain in Rio Grande paint. Born at EMD in October 1969 to become DRGW 3085. This unit would only have a brief retirement. Uncle Pete put the 3085 on the sideline in May 2001, the Wheeling picked it up that same year in December. Maybe it was Larry Parsons 21 years with the Rio Grande that played a deciding factor to bring the 3085 east for more action. Rebuilt by Brewster in June 2005 to Q-tron dash-3 standards. The 303 is no longer handling a hot Railblazer, only locals and manifest trains for the Wheeling now.

Wheeling and Lake Erie GP40-3 303 on the Solon Branch. 2-12-2012

Last Eastbound Pennsylvanian in Cleveland (maybe)

2012-02-11T21:33:00.001-05:00

Amtrak's Pennsylvanian, train # 44. February 2003

This is what I get for not taking notes when out. This is either the last or second to last eastbound for Amtrak's Pennsylvanian, train # 44 in February 2003. When I lived in the dorm at Cleveland State, I used to drive down to station and watch the westbound Pennsylvanian arrive, hoping that the second unit would be a beloved F40. Things started to heat up when news broke about Skyline Connection. If my memory serves me right, Norfolk Southern and Amtrak could not agree on a time slot that would allow this trains 45&46 to arrive in Cleveland and a few other cities during the day light. I even remember student engineers on the Pennsylvanian getting their hours in for the Skyline.

Wheeling GP35-2 103

2012-02-07T10:43:00.001-05:00

One day in the future, these old GP35's that currently roam on the Wheeling will be no more. Folks are currently missing the good old days when the SD40 was the standard on almost every train. Just wait, these 35s will be gone. Who knows what will replace them when that time comes. They are indeed a rare beast in today's modern world of EMD's 710Eco and GE's Evo fuel misers. Until that day comes, I'll just keep on snagging these old EMD classics hauling freight on the Wheeling.

W&LE GP35-3 103 at Falls Jct on 2-5-12

W&LE GP35-3 at Falls Junction with the 663 on 2-5-12.

Wheeling GP35-3 106

2012-01-24T20:39:00.001-05:00

I don't know what it is about these Wheeling GP35 units I like to shoot so much. There is nothing really fancy about them except the Q-Tron system. The control stands are old school EMD, no AAR standard here. Not too long ago, I had to move a trio of them onto a train we interchanged to the WE to keep the air pumped up. No need to have another conductor do a Class 1 test. I notched up that trio of 35s and we started to move. Running these old high hood units is fun. There is something about these old 35s that I can't explain.

Today, I caught 106 on the 663 local shoving cars up the Solon Branch at MP16.5

Wheeling and Lake Erie GP35-3 106 1-22-12

Wheeling and Lake Erie Hiring Conductors

2012-01-22T20:58:00.000-05:00

From time to time, someone will come up my locomotive window and ask they can get hired on the railroad. If time permits, I explain to them what it is like to work for a railroad and what they should expect. Then they will receive the run down one the different railroads in the area. Well I just found out that the Wheeling is hiring conductors for the first time in years. For those that want to roam around on the WLE, you can find more at http://www.wlerwy.com/employment.htm.

Steamtown's CN 3254

2011-12-06T22:11:00.001-05:00

Steamtown's CN 3254. Scranton, Pa. 12-27-07

CN 3254

Cleveland's Train Stations

2011-11-08T12:40:00.003-05:00

While eating lunch today, I happened to stumble upon this website that list past and present train stations in the great Cleveland area.

Enjoy!

Testing Hand Brakes

2011-07-07T22:51:00.000-04:00

Before you tell your engineer " for the cut", you better test a car or cars hand brakes. You set enough hand brakes that will hold the cut of cars without moving once the engineer release both the automatic and independent brakes. Wait 60 seconds to all brakes to fully release. If the cut does not move, it is ok to cut away. If your current amount of hand brakes does not hold, you better set some more. Here is a great example of what happens when you do not test or set hand brakes. If you are wondering, no one was in that locomotive at impact. The locomotive was wrecked beyond any further use. Here is a link to an article written about the crash.

Akron Jct B&O Signals

2011-06-24T23:15:00.000-04:00

Still standing tall after all these years. Working as intended. They have seen plenty of trains. I remember riding in the dome on an eastbound Capitol Limited all night to. Once on CSX, the show started. Knocking them down, signal after signal. All the way into DC. Just seeing these two signals brought back some great memories of that Amtrak trip.

Akron Junction AY CPL signals

P&LE's Gateway Yard

2011-05-01T23:24:00.000-04:00

A reminder of the past from the P&LE. Picture taken on July 29, 2003, long before the vandals painted over the P&LE yard sign of whats left of the Gateway Yard.

Wheeling 6355 @ Falls Junction

2011-04-29T17:37:00.000-04:00

Wheeling's SD40-2 6355 idling away at Falls Junction.

W&LE SD40-2 6355. Falls Junction. 4-27-2011

Second Career on the Wheeling

2011-04-24T22:42:00.002-04:00

After serving 29 years on the Union Pacific, she was sent to the deadline at West Colton yard. No worries. This would only be a short rest from hauling freight. Purchased and shipped east to become part of the LTEX family of locomotives. Like kids trading baseball cards, the Wheeling and Lake Erie traded seven GP35 units for three SD40-2 units from Larry. Now part of the Wheeling family, it received some of that Brewster TLC to roar back to life. Renumbered to 6355 and in grey primer, hauling freight as intended for the Wheeling now.

Brewster Locomotive Shop 1/2011

Indiana and Ohio Railway GP30 #87

2011-04-21T22:53:00.002-04:00

I have the honor of being a friend to a railroad guy who is a hardcore railroader. He has been doing this since he was 18 years old. While exchanging lines from the movie Pulp Fiction, "Do you read the Bible?" "No, I read GCOR." Alrighty then.

He started drinking that railroad issued Kool-Aid that was given to him by the folks at the old Indiana and Ohio Railway and has been sipping on it ever since. We all know that railroaders will never admit to liking trains. That would be a cardinal sin in the railroading circle. But we do have our favorite engines that we love to run. His was the I&O 87, an ex-C&O GP30. Here she is waiting at the Newburgh and South Shore's Marcelline Yard awaiting mechanical work.

I'm still looking for that locomotive that I like to run.......

I&O GP30 87 Summer 2007

Tribute to Wheeling's GP35

2011-02-11T17:01:00.000-05:00

They have been here since the 1990 spin off from the Norfolk Southern. Hauling all type of trains over Wheeling tracks and gain over Sand Patch. Once the backbone for the fleet, the daily workhorse. One unit was ordered by the P&WV. Southern had theirs built with Alco trucks from RS3 trades. Pure Southern units to the bone, the overhead walkway lights can still be found in use some nights. Eventually, the best ones made it into the Brewster shop to receive a new lease on life. Some recently ended up at LTEX for three SD40-2 units. A sign in Brewster serves a small reminder about the role of the GP35 on the W&LE.

Wheeling & Lake Erie GP35 Sign. Brewster Locomotive Shop

W&LE GP35 200. Falls Junction Yard. Glenwillow, Ohio

W&LE GP35 2662 and 108. Falls Junction

P&WV GP35 101. Falls Junction

W&LE GP35 2662.

W&LE GP35 2645 at LTEX.

W&LE GP35 2664 at LTEX.

W&LE GP35 2650 at LTEX.

Bye Bye Kodachrome.......

2010-12-28T22:34:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, CBS's Sunday Morning show headline story was about Kodak retiring it's Kodachrome film line. The film was known for its bright colors produced. I started photographing a few years before the digital camera boom. During my short few years using a 35mm film camera, I never used Kodachrome. Soon, my 35mm would be retired for a point and shoot digital camera.

In 1984, the Southern Pacific Railroad and Santa Fe Railway purposed a merger of the two companies. Both railroads started painting locomotives yellow and red. These units would would earn the nickname "Kodachrome" due to the colors of the film's packaging colors. There would be no merger due to the lack of approval from the ICC. These units were short lived and would soon be repainted back into their home road colors.

Over 10 years ago, the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway held an employee locomotive paint scheme contest. Somehow, the Kodachrome colors would win. Two GP35 locomotives would be painted red and yellow. Recently, the ranks were thinned to one. The one remaining unit will likely stay in the Kodachrome scheme until it goes to the Brewster shop for an overhaul.

Wheeling and Lake Erie GP35-3 2662 at Falls Junction. Glenwillow, Ohio 12/5/2010

Metra’s first female engineer retires after 38 years - Batavia Sun

2010-10-18T17:07:00.003-04:00

Metra’s first female engineer retires after 38 years - Batavia Sun

I love railroad worker's stories. This is Vallorie O’Neil's story in print and in video.

Turtle Crossing

2010-09-02T09:00:00.000-04:00

With a little help, this turtle did make it across the tracks.......

Riding in Classics....

2010-07-11T23:58:00.001-04:00

Located somewhere in the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway’s Brewster Locomotive Shop, there is a sign that says : " GP35 LOCOMOTIVE BUILT:1965 BY GENERAL MOTORS (EMD) HORSEPOWER:2500...WEIGHT 266,000LBS. FUEL:2,300 GAL. ...LUBE OIL: 243 GAL. COOLING WATER:275 GAL. ...CYLINDERS 16 WELCOME ABOARD....."

As part of the 1990 sale agreement to the newly created Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway, Norfolk Southern included about 25 locomotives, specifically EMD’s GP35 model. This battalion was made up from mostly former Southern Railroad units. Over time, units underwent rebuilding at Brewster and emerging with Q-Tron microprocessor controls to bring them up modern control standards. Not all units were lucky to receive a rebuild to extend their service life. The un-rebuilt units were called to duty from time to time in traffic surges, otherwise laid-up hoping for a returned call for duty.

Recently, six un-rebuilt GP35 models left the fleet for three SD40-2 models in a sign and trade deal with LTEX. Another GP35 is being kept around for parts, but will leave Wheeling once depleted. The remaining GP35s will soldier on for some years to come. Units are currently being cycled through Brewster for their second rebuild.

I clearly remember the first time I stepped on 2645 and thought how many other railroaders had stepped aboard the battle weary unit. And weary it was indeed. 2645 responded when asked to move some cars by rattling everything on board. 2645 struggled to move cars. After that run, a call was made and another unit was shipped up for us to use........

A picture of the 2645 and the five others going to LTEX
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=327756&nseq=0

The Heaters Are On High

2010-02-20T21:20:00.000-05:00

“It’s not hard to tell when you worked last” stated a fellow conductor.
“How can you tell?”
“The heaters are on high.”
“Yeah. It’s cold from those drafty doors and windows. Don’t you feel them drafts?”
“Not really. I keep the heaters on low and it feels fine.”

Not all locomotive cabs are warm in 15 degree temperatures. Some have drafty windows and doors or heaters that produce luke warm air. The little heat that is created escapes into the cold metals that make up the cab due to the lack of insulation. It does not help that the conductor is constantly in and out of the cab since this is mostly a local switching operation. Usually when the conductor comes back into the cab from his ground duty exercises for a few minutes, the heaters goes from high to low. Since doors and windows are being opened and closed a lot, duck tape is a worthless tool to block the draft from the doors.

Most of the locomotives models (SW1500 has one blower heater) I’ve been in have two wall heaters and two forced air heaters. One set of heaters are located on the engineer side and the other set is on the fireman’s side. The sidewalls heaters provide a cushion of warm air maybe halfway up the side cab windows and the forced air heaters spreads heat around in the cab. Depending on which heaters are on, various heating temperatures can be achieved. Sidewall heaters working without the blower heaters will never be able heat the cab alone. One blower heater with both sidewalls will produce a luke warm draft around in the cab. If all heaters are on high, a warm draft will be generated in the cab. But as soon as it starts to get warms, I have to leave the cab to either drop a cut or throw a switch.

Hopefully soon, Old Man Winter will retire for the season……

Adhesion Part II

2010-01-24T00:51:00.006-05:00

In my posting “Let’s have some fun” http://clevelandtrains.blogspot.com/2009/10/now-lets-have-some-fun.html traction effort and adhesion is mentioned briefly. Adhesion and traction effort is what it takes to get tonnage moving over grades, but there are wheel slip control systems to maximize both. Some of the wheel slip systems out there are EMD’s EM2000 and Super Series, Wabtec Q-Tron, GE BrightStar and ZTR BOA/Nexsys II. These microprocessor systems can also monitor the health of traction motors, engine, blowers, alternator, water temperature and air compressor to just name a few components.

In order to maximize traction effort and adhesion during heavy tonnage situations and or wet rail conditions, the wheel slip systems works to reduce the wheels from slipping when below 1.5 mph. This allows starting the train smoothly and not breaking a knuckle or pulling a drawbar. The system controls slippage by reducing power to traction motors (or excitation from the generator on older DC-DC locomotives). Reducing power on the slipping traction motor(s) allows them to establish a footing or bite on the rail to get moving. Above 1.5mph, the wheel slip system turns in a creep control system. Creep control allows each traction motor to develop maximum traction effort by rotating 1-2mph faster than ground speed. The wheel is allowed to spin for a few seconds until it grips the rail. Once it finds a grip after this higher speed rotation, it is at the maximum adhesion point. Wheel creep can happen at any speed and is controlled by the wheel slip system. There is a high pitched sound, similar to wheel slippage, when a wheel is creeping.

Somewhere, I have a short video of a GP38-2 creeping to share.

Conjuction Juction

2009-12-10T20:54:00.004-05:00

How could you not love the old Schoolhouse Rock cartoons. My favorite just happen to be Conjunction Junction(I wonder why....). I'm glad that I don't have to switch in yard like the one in Conjunction Junction.

Amtrak's Private Rail Car Standards

2009-10-27T20:06:00.002-04:00

Since my first train ride on Amtrak's Capitol Limited during the summer of 1993, I've been in love with stainless steel rail passenger cars. I remember very clearly the consist: a dome car, heritage diner, lounge, sleepers and Amfleet coaches. Over the years, Amtrak has sold off most if not all of its heritage fleet. Some of these cars made it into the hands other railroads, historical rail groups and private owners. Some private owner’s cars are still running, others are now static displays. Not all private car owners picked up their cars from Amtrak. Some were lucky to pick them up when railroads or the Pullman Company started selling their passenger equipment.

Some of the cars in private ownership are Amtrak compatible. To achieve that status, the car must have the following:
Amtrak PC1 - Annual Amtrak car inspection. Must be signed off by PC1 or PC2 approved Amtrak inspector.
Amtrak PC1a - Car Data
Amtrak PC2 - 40 year rebuild of trucks. Must be signed off by a PC2 approved Amtrak inspector.
Amtrak PC3 - Route/Mileage Log
Amtrak PC4 - Shop report. This must be a complete report of mechanical, electrical, and structure upgrades/repairs. Be ready to take pictures, have drawings made to document upgrades/repairs.
Amtrak PC5 - Car Clearance data.

Sound simple? These standards are just the tip of the iceberg. Performing work on a car and meeting Amtrak standards requires a lot of time, money and equipment. Depending on the car you pick up, you might need a few minor things done that will take 6 months or 10 years to complete. Some cars are restored to the way they came out of the factory while others are turned in modern plush pimp rides.

More to come on this subject.

“Now let’s have some fun”

2009-10-25T10:50:00.001-04:00

After completing an inspection of my train for hand brakes, retainers and closed angle cocks, I stood at the last car in amazement about the size of the train. This was the longest and heaviest train that I had anything to do with. All night in the cab, the engineer and I talked about making it up the hill. We were not sure if we could make it over the hill but wanted to find out at least how far we would make it.

I walked into the cab and informed the engineer to back up when ready as I started to peel off my wet Carhart rain pants and coat.

“You have a lot of faith that I can get this train moving and up over the hill.”

I knew that we had only 40% of making it up the hill. This would be a battle of traction effort and adhesion versus wet rail and the grade. Our duo locomotives for the evening, a GP15-1 leading the second unit, a GP35 would combine for 98,000 pounds of traction effort, 28 EMD cylinders, and 4,000 horse power. The battle against the grade started.

We started the train in run 2 to get us moving quickly. One of the tracks leaving the scrap yard had a slight down-hill grade that gave us some help, but not that much. We crossed the first crossing with no problem and slipped some on the second crossing. We were moving, but it was not the horse power that kept us moving, it was all traction effort. There was no need yet to run the engine at full throttle since this would only cause the traction motors to slip and spin on the wet rail. The train had movement of about 7-8 mph and the only goal was to keep moving. All 31 cars were on the straight grade, engines in run 5 and would soon face an uphill curve in the track. This is where the horse power would come in to provide the power needed to maintain traction effort that would result in us still moving. We enter the curve and started to slip. These two locomotives were couple short hood to short hood which allowed me to see the wheel slip light reflection flashing from the trailing locomotive in my window. Rapidly, we started to loss speed once more cars enter the curve. In a finally assault at about 2 MPH, the engineer notched up the locos only to have them pull some and slip. This lasted only about 1 car length before we stalled in notch 8. We ended up cutting 6 cars off the head end and placing them on a siding that was less than a quarter mile away. While walking back to make the cut, I noticed that the air was filled with a very fine sand dust. This was the result of the sanders sanding the railing, then being crushed by the locomotive wheel and the traction motor blowers blowing it into the air. Pulling the remaining 25 cars was no problem. We soon tied the 25 to the 6 at the side track and headed home.

This night we failed because of adhesion, not horse power. You need power at speed to keep a train moving at track speed. In slow, hard pulls, it comes down to traction effort and adhesion.

In an upcoming post, I will compare turbo charged and roots blown locomotives.

Very Busy Summer

2009-09-22T21:30:00.002-04:00

This summer has been one of for me personally. I was able to ride Amtrak a few times, attend Trainfest2009, investing a possible caboose, working my butt off on a growing railroad and assist the Roundhouse with several projects. If you are wondering, I have plenty of pictures to share.

Please stay tuned for updates on these items.

Ohio 3C Amtrak Survey

2009-09-11T18:24:00.003-04:00

Ohio is currently working with Amtrak to hopefully bring passenger rail service to Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.

Please take some time and complete this complete the survey.

IMG00002-20090627-1557.jpg

2009-06-27T15:59:00.000-04:00

A Lot More Railroading....

2009-06-20T14:50:00.002-04:00

I have been working a lot more lately on the railroad due to the lease of a new line. By any means, I am not complaining one bit. The unemployment rate continues to climb here in Ohio and folks are struggling to find one job. I have two and will keep them both as long as I can.

I will be updating this page soon again.

ClevelandTrains Web Existence

2009-05-31T22:16:00.007-04:00

I was reading a post over at Trainorders about the ten anniversary of the Conrail split up between NS and CSX. This made me think about back 10 years ago. I remember the break up very well. I was in my second year of college starting my summer job as a labor for a great group of carpenters at Cleveland State University. During this time, I was able to take some great pictures of the NS, CSX and Amtrak trains due to split. Some of these pictures made it to my first website that was hosted at www.trainweb.org/clevelandtrains. Thinking about my first site at TrainWeb made me wonder how long I have been on the web and how things have changed. I don’t remember my go live date, but for this post, let’s say that I have had a web presence between 10-11 years. I have hosted over 40,000 visitors at my sites. I have noticed that my visitors span the globe. More impressive is that I receive visits from Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX, NS, CP, CN and even DB Bahn in Germany.

Now instead of mostly taking pictures of trains, I lend a hand to a great group of guys at http://www.midwestrailway.org/. I’m also so grateful for the short line that has allowed me to fulfill my dream of working on the railroad. Because of this possibility, I have a totally different view of railroading. When I’m at work, it’s just that. Safety is always first.

Since I know that staff at Class I railroads visit, I am going to ask you for a kind favor. Is there any way you could consider donating a couple of locomotives to Midwest Railway Preservation Society? The units would be used on excursions and at our open houses. We are a 503(c) organization if you might be wondering about tax status. Pretty please? Let’s talk……..

I think I can......

2009-05-31T14:40:00.002-04:00

Remember the story about the little engine that could? Well, this is a real life railroading story about Amtrak being contracted to move 20 ex-American Orient Express (AOE) cars to Denver. Enjoy the post and pictures.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1945762

Buckingham Lining Bar Gang (Gandy Dancers)

2009-05-26T21:22:00.008-04:00

During Trainfest 2004, I had the honor to watch the Buckingham Lining Bar Gang perform some of their songs while demonstrating how they lined track (tamping). Usually a track consisted of 8 to 12 men. The gang would lay new rail, replace rail, replace railroad ties and spread ballast. This was done manually. At the roundhouse, I had the chance to help lay about 60 feet of 90 pound rail. And I must say, laying 60 feet just almost killed me! I have nothing but the upmost respect for these men who did it day in and out no matter the weather.

I have posted my pictures of the Buckingham Lining Bar Gang in my photo gallery.

I was also able to find this short documentry on Gandy Dancers at FolkStreams.com

CVTX 2732

2009-05-24T22:37:00.003-04:00

Our new coach arrived finally at our yard. As promised, the picture.

IC coach leaves BGRM 4-20-2009

2009-05-19T12:31:00.002-04:00

This car is making its way to the Midwest Railway Preservation Society. I will post pictures of the car once it makes it to our yard.

Becoming A Better Writer

2009-05-11T12:54:00.000-04:00

Over the last few days, I have started reviewing some of my early works taken with my old Canon Powershot A20. This model only had 2 mega pixels, but it did deliver some great shots. My review was inspired by my recent railroad readings and reviewing works by other fellow rail photographers especially Scott Lothes. I mention Scott Lothes because of his speech “Great Writers Lessons for Railroad Photographers”. I’m finding my writing is straining to convey a story, but my photography skills are improving. I’m traveling to places I have been many times with hopes to understanding my scenes better. Anyone can take a picture, but I wish to take meaningful pictures that include more than just a train. Most of my shots are taken in an urban environment. Most rail photographers try to stay away from urban areas for safety reasons. These places are not in the best of shape or the prettiest, but one could still convey a story from these scenes. If it was not for my grandmother’s Ambler street home being located next to Conrails’s Shortline route, I would have little to no exposure to trains. This is my way of paying homage and sharing the story of trains and the folks who reside by the tracks.

Below is a photo I snapped on 1-7-2003 at Cleveland’s Amtrak station of train number 43 conductors walking back to their train. The Pennsylvanian was a “junk” train when it ran between Chicago and New York City. It usually had two units, three coaches, 1 café/coach and 20 roadrailers. This train was usually ahead of schedule that allowed an abundance of time to photograph it sitting in the station. On this day, 43 had plenty of time to kill. The assistant conductor and conductor would go into the station and talk with the station agent while the few passengers aboard who smoked enjoyed several cigarettes and the remaining passengers looked at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from the platform. Those days are now over with since the Pennsylvanian now starts and ends in Pittsburgh.

Train Jumping In Mexico

2009-04-29T16:08:00.002-04:00

This is the story of Latin American migrants who hobo trains in Mexico for ride north in search of a better life. Some make it, others lose body parts and a few die during this jagged quest. The rails south of the border gives new life to the phrase "magic carpets made of steel".......

The article link

Photo slide show - Be warned that some of this pictures are not pretty and contain people who are missing various body parts.

My Daddy Was A Railroad Man

2009-04-26T17:43:00.004-04:00

I used to work for The Great Train Store located in Tower City. From opening until closing, we had to play train related music. There was a 5 disc changer that had the job of playing music for 10 hours a day. After hearing the same music over and over again, it just started to drive you crazy. You started to hate some songs and love others. The best weekend I ever worked there was when the disc player stopped working. Nothing could replace the silence that filled the store all weekend.

I found a link to one of my favorite railroad songs, My Daddy Was A Railroad Man by Boxcar Willie. I did not mind hearing this song over and over for some reason.

GTW 4070

2009-04-24T20:00:00.003-04:00

While Googling (yes, this is a word, verb, the act of using Google) for Midwest Railway, I came across this webpage about someone's first trip behind steam engine 4070.
http://paleoferrosaurus.com/gtw4070.html

Rebuilding Rail Passenger Cars

2009-04-20T21:40:00.007-04:00

Over the years, I have followed some folks and groups who have rebuilt their passenger rail cars to Amtrak operating standards.

Here are a few cars that I follow.
ERIX RailCar
Colorado Pine
NYC 3
Mt. Vernon
Dover Harbor

One car that I really like is the NKP 1. It was built for the Nickel Plate Railroad in 1929 and used by the Van Sweringen brothers.

I'm working on a post to explain what it takes(besides money) to get a private car up to Amtrak standards.

Clevelandtrains.com

2009-04-20T12:34:00.004-04:00

This past Friday, I was able to purchase the www.Clevelandtrains.com domain name. When I started my website at Trainweb.org, I had no need for my own domain name. A few years later, my photo collection started to out grow my space limits on Trainweb. With some suprus server equipment laying around my office, I decided to give web hosting a shot. When I had my own webserver configured and ready for use, some company had purchased the .com of Clevelandtrains and wanted $1,000 to purchase it. This is how I ended up with the .net domain name for $6.99 a year. The company holding onto the .com domain decided to give it up. I was only able to find this out by going to some webhosting companies to see what kind of rate they are charging these days for services. Something told me to check on the .com name. I'm so glad that I did follow that voice. Both sites are pointed at the same server, same files and will be for some time to come.

CSX 1st Quarter Report

2009-04-15T14:59:00.003-04:00

There has been a lot of folks waiting to see CSX's 1st quarter earning report. Some are using this a gauge of how the economy is expected to do this year. Usually railroads will see traffic rise or fall 4-6 months before it hits Wall Street reports.

Below is a link to the report.

There is a great table on page 9 showing the revenue by product, profit by product and the profit by unit. If you ever wondered how much a RR might earn for products carried, here you go.

CSXT 2009 1st Quarter report

Pullman Porters

2009-04-13T22:57:00.001-04:00

When time permits, I try to read the local newspaper online and the NYTimes. The NYTimes recently ran an article about Amtrak honoring Pullman porters on National Train Day. Reading this article took me back many years to a conversation I had with my godfather, Richard Gunn.

One day while waking Smokey, his little black dog, we heard a train horn from the train tracks near his Mt. Overlook Street home in Cleveland.

“Can we walk down to the tracks to see the train?”

“By the time we walk down to the tracks, the train will have left town” said Richard.

“One day I want to work on a railroad as an engineer. Did you know anyone who worked on the railroad?”

“Yeah.”

“Who?”

“My father. He was a Pullman porter mostly on the C&O trains.”

“Really? Did you get to travel on trains using a pass?”

“Yes, but all railroads did not honor the passes completely or at all. Some railroads did not honor the passes because they had their own porters, not Pullman porters though.”

“Did you ever get to ride on the 20^th Century Limited?’

There was a chuckle from Richard before he proceeded to answer my question.

“ The 20^th Century did not stop in Cleveland. It used the New York Central track near the lake that bypassed the Terminal Tower. It would have been a schedule killer to route the train into the Terminal. Plus the Terminal did not want steam engines smoking up the building, so you would have to put on some electrics or diesels on it and then take them off at Collinwood. I don’t think the New York Central would have liked some family of a Pullman porter riding their flagship.”

After that was said, there was nothing more for me to ask and nothing more for him to say. We continued are walk around the block, stopping at the Preisler Home Lumber Center on Woodland Ave. to say hi to the staff and get me some gum from the Ford $.10 gum machine.

I'm currently doing research on my God father's father. Hopefully I can find some information out and add him to the Pullman Porter Registry.

Hand Signal Day on the Railroad

2009-04-11T07:48:00.004-04:00

Here is a link to the railroad hand signals that most brakeman/conductors used in the past and still today.

I am #1

2009-03-25T05:51:00.007-04:00

Sometime in January 2002, I was at Collinwood Yard taking pictures. I was lucky enough to catch CSX AC44 unit #1 coming into the yard. I was able to pull off the photo below with some luck. This pan shot was taken with an old Canon Powershot 2mp model. If you know anything about the old Canon digitals, you know how hard it was to get a picture of something if it was moving. You would press the button and hope that it would take a picture in the same life time. Lucky for me that this train was moving slow, a steady hand and a lucky aim.

You can click on this picture for a bigger view. This also applies to most pictures posted.

Shortline Tour, Part 1

2009-03-24T12:30:00.019-04:00

I work for a short line railroad that runs from Glenn Willow, Ohio to Cleveland, Ohio. Our little line hauls scrap metal from a huge junk yard in Cleveland destined for steel mills near the Ohio~Pennsylvania boarder area. Once and awhile, we receive a coiled wire type of steel that is used to make rebar. This steel arrives in very nice cars from the CN railroad for a customer along our line. We interchange with the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway (WE) at Falls Junction Yard. The WE brings us empty gondolas and sometimes coiled steel for delivery. In return, we bring them loads of scrap metal. We have a very basic and simple operation that only requires us usually to run once a day during the week. If we have more than 19-20 loads, we will usually make 2 trips to avoid stalling on our little hill.

I've decided to start posting about and sharing photos of our line to give folks a better idea of my stories. This is picture was taken in the same area of my famous bunny story.

Here is a picture taken from the Havard Road bridge near East 103 Street. Currently the crew is sorting out cars using the passing track and house track in the 93rd Street Yard..

The Obama Express Locomotive Engineer

2009-03-13T20:32:00.006-04:00

Who knew it was this easy to get selected to run this historic train. I know guys who fight over who gets to blow the whistle. I know one engineer that has a need for speed. Let's call him Casey for this example. No matter how many secret service agents that would have been in the cab with Casey, he would have them sitting down and holding on to something bolted down.

Here is a link to Carlyle Smith's story.

Out of Conrail GP40-2 Locomotives Pictures

2009-02-07T21:04:00.006-05:00

As promised, the pictures I've taken of the ex-Conrail GP40-2 units.

This is the picture from which I named my last post, "Walking Away". Now you can see why.

4420 was often mated with 4410 or 4411. Here they are in the middle of the night with there rear class lights on. The front class lights were blanked out as you can see in the next picture.

4433 was one the the first Conrail units I found painted in the new scheme.

Not the famous SP 4449, but CSXT 4449.

Walking Away.....

2009-01-31T17:47:00.014-05:00

There is a power plant in Eastlake, Ohio that receives Power River Basin coal trains from the BNSF Railway. At one time, there was always a pair of EMD GP40-2 locomotives to pull the coal cars down to the car plant for dumping. These units where kept on a siding next to a small trailer that was used a depot for the crews. The units where usually ex-Conrail units that went to CSX. The usual units that got to handle the coal traind where 4407, 4410, 4411, 4420, 4447, 4449 and others in series.. These units were once used to tow hot TV (Trailer Van) trains across the Conrail system. Soon, they where bumped to handle general freights due to displacement by newer power to handle that could handle longer trains. By the time CSX recieved these units, there where being used in local and yard service. When not being used to shuffle auto racks and pull long cuts of flat cars in Collinwood, you could find them working on the coal cars for the power plant.

Over the years, I been able to catch the bandits mentioned above around Cleveland.

I'll post the pictures tomorrow.......

2009-01-14T22:03:00.004-05:00

Thanks to mother nature, I was able to receive my first lesson in winter railroading 101. When working in the extreme cold(10 degrees) and snow, you have to take your time when walking and dealing with the equipment. There was plenty of snow that caused problems when walking and climbing up the freight cars to tie them down. You sink into inches of untouched snow. In normal weather, it takes seconds to get to from one car to another, that is now minutes. Equipment takes on a new lifeless form. Brakes do not like to do their job on the cars when applied right away. Make a couple of reductions and keep pulling. The brakes on the car will heat up sooner and hopefully not later. Most of the times, you will come to a stop. This makes things tougher when switching in yards. Not enough time to drag the cars around to heat up the shoes to grip. A road hogger can put on his first reduction on at speed to get his brakes to heat up pretty quickly. Lucky Guys.....

2009-01-05T22:46:00.008-05:00

This train stops for bunnies.........

I was riding on the rear platform when I heard the and felt the locomotive coming to a quick stop. I quickly entered the cab to see what was going on.
"Why did we stop" I asked the engineer?
"There was a rabbit in the tracks and I did not want to run it over"
"'What kind of rabbit was it"
"I don't know. It was one that was between the tracks. Can you go check to see if it cleared the rails?"
"Sure"

I walked out the fireman's door, slammed it shut behind me and proceeded to the front of the locomotive. When I made it to the front, I did not see any rabbit. I radioed the engineer to tell him that there was no rabbit in between the tracks or near them and to start moving our engine moving forward again. I returned to the cab to start my questioning.

"What kind of rabbit was it again?"
"I don't know." "It was a Playboy Bunny."
"That would been worth us stopping."
We both had a good laugh.

Other than this happening, the nightly run was uneventful. It was cold out with temps in the 20s. We ran slower than usual do the the cold. Rail has a higher chance of breaking in cold weather. I'm guessing that our rail with various dates stamped from the 20's would be prime supects for cold weather breaks.

I forgot to mention that I lost my Carhart knit hat. It might have escape from me somewhere in the depot or near my car in the yard. One of our crews is working tonight. I wonder who will find it first, a CCR crew or Wheeling. There have been hats in the yard before that just end up laying around for weeks until someone speaks up about their hat blowing off.

2008-11-03T10:32:00.005-05:00

I've submitted two pictures to Railpictures.com only to have them rejected. The second one was rejected on this account:
"Poor lighting (Cloudy): Common angle cloudy day shots of common/standard power are generally not accepted." Alrighty then. I give up trying to get my pictures posted on their site. Why do I need to post them on their site anyway? I have my own site and I am the editor. If someone is looking for a locomotive, they usually use Google to find pictures or location information.

Here is there rejected picture

cvtx 574.jpg

2008-09-11T18:42:00.001-04:00

Picture of Midwest Railway SW1 571 at Shiloh.

2008-09-09T22:55:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was a very interesting day on the railroad. Several things happened. First the Wheeling crew somehow forgot to give us all our empties. I am still trying to figure out how they thought 10 empties should stay on their train and not go with the other 31 empties we had. Second, a locomotive is only capable of pulling so many cars going up a hill. We currently have a GP15 (LTEX 1420) that can pull about 20 loads on our line. I bet it could pull more the line of you could move the hills to somewhere else. Since this locomotive has not been put to the test, yesterday was the day. So 23 loaded gons were attached to 1420. Off they went at 20 mph and would soon drop down to 9 mph. What killed the train was a curve. This train went from 9 mph to a halt. Half the train was left outside the yard and the other half about 5 miles back at the bottom of the hill.

After the Wheeling crew placed the 10 empties in their train and tied them down to our cut of empties, we proceeded to get down to business. Our first move was to get the loads that where left out on the main outside the yard. Once tied on to the loads, we pulled into the yard and tied on to a cut of 6 empties. This cut was place on the front of the locomotive. So we started to move to the rest of the empties that were being stored across the crossing. Once across the crossing, we made the tie on to the empties. I connected the air hose. Once that angle cock was opened, I gave the engineer "ahead" over the radio. Very slowly, that little GP15 started to shove 41 empties and pull 11 loads at the same time. That poor little engine did it somehow. It was slow going at first, but soon it was the train was moving at about 4-5 mph. We shoved the empties out of the yard onto the main so that we could have room bring our second section of loads into the yard. By the way, this way is small yard. A main line, with a long siding and a short siding attached to the siding. I have to look at my map to see how many cars can fit into this yard. We shoved the loads to the siding track. Once the loads were parked, we ran pulled back onto the main to head out to get the rest of the loads.

To be continued…..

w&le 301.jpg

2008-09-09T16:47:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway GP40 301. The crew on that train did some goofy switching yesterday.....

2008-09-05T18:44:00.003-04:00

This is a picture of the rear half insides of a GP15. Usually only one door is open to start the locomotive. This time, we have a few doors on the open trying to figure out why the engine stopped running. After the engineers goofed pushing buttons, we left. Not in a train, but a truck to the location of our other locomotive. We had to start our night at the scrap yard and work backwards using the SW1500, 1185. This little engine is a beast. The max number of empties it has pulled is 63. On a great day, it will pull about 20 loads. When pulling 20 and in run. 7-8 for about 20 minutes, you will smell this funky rubber smell. I'm guessing that is the smell of the traction motors cooking. I often wonder how many cars a SW1500 could pull on a flat grade..........

nate working.jpg

2008-08-27T09:03:00.001-04:00

I've been working on the railroad. All the livelong day that turned into the darkness of night.......

IMG00012.jpg

2008-08-23T14:13:00.000-04:00

Our steam engine, 4070. Maybe it will run again one day.

IMG00011.jpg

2008-08-23T10:55:00.001-04:00

Under our RS3 #123

2008-08-21T08:48:00.001-04:00

Good news, the hard drives are good. Something on the motherboard went south. I am moving stuff over to the new server right now. I hope to have the site up by the end of the day.

IMG00010.jpg

2008-08-18T13:29:00.001-04:00

A picture of my train of 33 empties.

IMG00009.jpg

2008-08-16T19:34:00.000-04:00

I had a few moments to snap this picture of myself. I did not have my Carhart overalls on today. My Carhart's are the best. Anybody looking for some Dickies?

IMG00008.jpg

2008-08-16T13:03:00.000-04:00

I was not expecting to work today. We have to get a cut of 33 empties and bringing up 4 loads.

2008-08-10T17:06:00.002-04:00

Those cars ahead will turn my passenger train in a freight train. There are 15 empty gondolas and 1 loaded with wire metal. Should be fun switching with a load on the rear and in the rain.....

2008-08-10T15:04:00.001-04:00

The train that I am working today as a brakeman.

IMG00014.jpg

2008-07-31T12:00:00.001-04:00

Here is a picture from our trip this past Saturday. More to come.

IMG00010.jpg

2008-07-05T19:54:00.001-04:00

IMG00009.jpg

2008-07-05T19:45:00.001-04:00

2008-07-04T19:01:00.002-04:00

It has been awhile since my real last update. My last update was from my new Blackberry device. I must say that I was impressed with its ability to take a decent picture and post it to Blogger.

My railroading 101 intro Brakeman class is over with. I’m now a certified brakeman thanks to Midwest. To pass the test, we had to tie on to two empty gondolas, make an air connection, release the hand brakes and use the radio to the engineer to move past the switch. Once past the switch, we had to back our train up to clear the switch and set off one car. We went back and forth with two cars using the radio and hand signals. Once done, the instructor told us if we passed or failed. Out of the three folks who were on hand for the test, all three passed. Next class in line will is for the famous Conductor.

Days before the test, I decided to purchase a pair of overalls. I figured if I was going to work as a brakeman, I should look like one. To my surprise, OshKosh stopped making adult work wear. So I was left with pickings from Carhart and Dickies. After trying on a pair of overalls from both makes, I went with a pair from Dickies. Going forward, my next pair will come from Carhart.

2008-04-03T13:55:00.000-04:00

It has been some time since I've update my blog . I've wanted to update my blog and website with some new pictures from the roundhouse. My brakeman class is almost complete. I have learned a lot since this class started. In a couple of weeks, I will have a test on what I have learned in the class room. So far, I have not received any hands on experience. I will find out this Saturday when I can get a ride on a local shortline here in town.

I promise, I will update ny blog again within the next few days.

2008-02-23T21:16:00.003-05:00

I’ve been away from updating my blog for sometime now. There are no real excuses expect pure laziness on my part. My very brief statement sums my new found thoughts and feelings about railroading.

For the last 5 weeks, I’ve been learning the trade of a railroad brakeman. My class is taught and held at Midwest(http://www.midwestrailway.org/). I usually tell friends and family that I’m going to hang out at “the roundhouse”. For about two and a half hours every Saturday morning, we have reviewed railroad operating rules and air brakes. I will admit that I thought I knew everything about railroading until I started to learn about railroading. This class brings me a different aspect on the world of railroading and those who perform duties for a living. It’s hard work that must be performed with the up most safety and respect for the equipment at all times. The air brake system for a train is really interesting to me. There are so many parts that make up this system. You have the triple value, reservoirs, compressors, air hoses, brake pipes and so on. You learn little things. It takes 7 minutes to charge the air on a train, 8-11 minutes to charge up to 50 cars and 18-25 minutes to charge up to 100 cars. I’ll guess it takes a lot longer to charge trains over 100 cars. I’m confused how trains with helpers and how they are able to help recharge the brake system. We will soon learn how to get on and off equipment that is moving (not fast, just up to 5 mph), couple and uncouple cars, learn the hand signals and read railroad timetables. But before we can learn how to do the things above, we have to put back our turn table.

The roundhouse was built in 1906 and I will assume that the table was installed at the same time (that makes it 102 years old!). A few years back, someone was working on something and had the Pettiebone crane on part of the table. Somehow, some of the wood ties became cracked. This issue soon opened the door for other issues. When our RS3 locomotive was placed one the table to move cars around, the one end would dip down about 7-8 inches. This would cause the engine to have to climb to the track near the roundhouse. We started the project with hopes to replace the bad ties. Now the project has taken on bigger issues. For the first time since the table was built, the wheels have been turned. They are all nice and round now. This will allow the table to rotate smoothly now. Also, the housing for these wheels will allow for regularly greasing. Next week, I’ll post pictures of our turn table.

2008-02-18T16:45:00.002-05:00

I've been a huge slacker lately. I have plenty to share from a new and fresh view of railroading, kind of.

I'm now in learning how to become a brakeman. There is a different side of railroading that I have been exposed to.

A lot more to come really soon.

2008-01-03T00:03:00.000-05:00

Another year is here already. Some people like to make goals for the upcoming year. I really don't make goals at the start of a new year. One thing that I will do this year is upgrade my lenses for my Canon Rebel XTi to Canon's L series.

Over at Railroadforums.com, there is a monthly photo contest. For the month of January, it deals with the cold(http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21540. While driving home last Saturday from the roundhouse(Midwest), I passed the old Erie Railroad yard on East 55th. NS was there putting a train together to clear out the yard for the week. Some of the cars in the train contain scrap metal that was steaming. If I was smart that day, I would have pulled over to get some pictures of steam coming from the gondolas. I still have the rest of the month to come up with something interesting........

2007-12-24T22:43:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to consider myself more than an amateur photographer. I have had my website for years now. It is time for my photos to be share with the outside world, not just to rail fans. There are a few websites out there that are viewed by other photographers. Two that come into my mind are Flicker (www.flicker.com) and PBASE (www.pbase.com). I have recently opened an account with Flicker (http://www.flickr.com/photos/clevelandtrains/) and soon at PBASE. I'm still trying to figure out which site to go with. Maybe for more exposer I should use both. Updates will follow about this subject.

2007-12-24T14:50:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays!

Once again, I'm in Philly, home to a lot of things. I will admit that I have not found any nice rail fan spots to hang out at yet. I did make one huge mistake by going on the Ben Franklin Bridge to explore New Jersey. I soon found out that I was in Camden. Man. The homes are really old, most seemed to be boarded up or gutted for anything that could bring a quick buck at the scrap yard. It kind of reminded me of the HBO TV series, The Wire. There were drug dealers on a lot of the streets, ladies of the night working during the day and crack heads looking for some dope. It was a sight to see. After driving around for about 10 minutes and looking at this sad place, I found my way back to the Ben Franklin Bridge and headed back over to Philly. I had to pay a three dollar toll to cross back over. I asked the toll collector ‘What the fuck happened over here?” He had no real answer while he passed me my change. I wonder what he thought about my statement.

I was driving back to my sister’s home on I 95. While driving, an Amtrak train came up on the left of me. I was going about 70mph or so and was able to pace the train for a few seconds. What was so cool abut this moment that this train was so quite. No GE or EMD locomotives smoking at 80 mph. Pretty cool sight.

2007-11-09T00:38:00.000-05:00

I have found some old maps of the rail lines and yards in the metro Cleveland area. One map dates map back to 1934 http://www.railsandtrails.com/Maps/Cleveland/CleveMap-100a.jpg
No date on this map and no color http://www.railsandtrails.com/Maps/Cleveland/ClevelandRRMap-100.jpg

How do you start a locomotive with weak batteries? You jump it. Kind of like jump starting your car, but only with a lot more juice. This past Saturday, I got to help and see this happen to a Alco RS3 locomotive. This old lady did put out a lot of smoke at first. Then she started to do a slow chug. With each chug, more smoke would puff out. As the chug became quicker, more smoke came out. Soon, she was running on her own power and the smoke died down some. If you have a chance on November 25, come down and see her running. See the post below for details.

2007-11-07T13:39:00.000-05:00

It has been some time since I have updated my blog. During this time, I have been very busy with work and volunteering. Yes volunteering. I joined the Midwest Railway Historical Society (http://www.midwestrailway.org/). It is a small group of folks with a vision to restore an old B&O roundhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. If you happen to be in interested in looking at the equipment, learning about the past, come on out to to the open house on November 25, 2007.

I will post pictures of some of the equipment. The coolest thing that I personally like is GTW 4070. 4070 is an old USRA light Mikado steam locomotive. I hope to be part of the group helps to bring life back to this unit.

I hope to see you at the open house!

2007-10-11T22:20:00.000-04:00

Well, there was a big time train derailment in Painesville, Ohio on CSX. No on is sure what caused this derailment. I'm pretty sure that they will get down to the root cause of this one soon.

Here is a link to a thread at Trainorders - http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,1509910

R.J.Corman is at the scene. I have seen these guys in action once. They will have there work this time removing the wrecked cars.

2007-10-03T15:56:00.000-04:00

Norfolk Southern runs a coal train that comes from the Powder River Basin. This train starts somewhere on the BNSF. I'm guessing that it changes hands in Chicago. Somewhere a NS unit with cab signals gets added for the Cleveland Line. This line once belonged to the famous Pennsylvania Railroad. Some trains make there run over the Cleveland Line at track speed while others crawl. Amtrak's Capitol Limited glides along this line at a pretty good clip. There is a coal train that heads west that receives helpers on the rear end. I'm not sure where this train starts at.

Here is a picture of the coal train mentioned above. A trio of EMD SD70 series units (NS SD70M and BNSF SD70MAC) working hard to pull PRB coal upgrade near downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

2007-09-24T23:08:00.000-04:00

I have posted questions about the GP39 at the following links:
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,1498636
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20158

2007-09-23T22:06:00.000-04:00

In the April 1992 issue of Trains magazine, there is an article "Run 8 to Apex" by Kevin EuDaly. Apex was located on the Johns Creek subdivision in Kentucky. In Kevin's article, he briefly talks about the C&O locomotives assigned this coal hauling division. From his pictures, it looks like the C &O used GP7/9's, GP38's and GP39's to haul cool over the Johns Creek sub. The ride up to Apex hit 3% causing these units to run in the red zone in run 8 with wheels slipping and engines screaming off the mountains.

While out today taking pictures, I had a chance to find a GP39. It not too often that you find a GP39 on any Class 1 railroad today. EMD only produced 23 units; 20 ended up on the C&O. No long hauling coal in Kentucky, CSX 4298 (C&O 3918) is now configured as a remote control unit.
I wonder if this unit ever had to go over Apex........

2007-07-23T21:36:00.001-04:00

I created a "pen" name, Boomer Hoghead. My favorite author inspired me, Samuel Clemens. Most boys of his era who grew up along the great Mississippi dreamed of working on a steamboat and maybe becoming a river captain. So I guess that while learning the trade and terms of being a riverboat man, he picked his pen name. Mark Twain" (meaning "Mark number two") was a Mississippi River term: the second mark on the line that measured depth signified two fathoms, or twelve feet—safe depth for the steamboat. So what that in mind, I searched for a suitable railroad name. I decided to combine two terms from the railroad. Boomer is a person who has worked for many railroads due to the lack of work on the roads. Hoghead is a old term for engineer. So I just combined the two to form Boomer Hoghead.

Over at Trainorders.com, there is a post at about the term Boomer. Check it out at http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1454469

Here is a post about a F40 being used in work train service. I never liked what Amtrak did to these locomotives to make them ready for freight service.
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1454008

2007-06-07T00:22:00.000-04:00

I am current in the state of Kentucky on I75. I must admit while riding in the car, I have been pondering the old days. Yes, them days when there was passenger trains to take you to cities far and near, big and small, rich and poor. These days are long gone. Most of us either drive or fly. We love traveling this way that Greyhound is feeling the hurt. I just heard a few stories from my mother about riding the bus down south to visit family. She makes it seem like 100 years ago but it was just the 60's. With gas prices hovering over 3 dollars and some folks saying that this might be the year of 4, something must be done. Another fuel source or a band new type of engine that will allow you to travel 200 miles on a single gallon. I don't want to tell my grand kids about the good days of driving my Chevy across country in a car powered by gas, telling them about the smell of it and the different types.

2007-05-29T22:11:00.000-04:00

Over at Trainorders.com, there is a post about an Amtrak water rumor; http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1415509

I have been on many Amtrak trains that have been filled at many different points while in route and never seen or heard anything like this before. By no means do I think this rumor is true.

2007-05-19T15:49:00.000-04:00

This weekend, I am in the city of brotherly love, Philly. I have not been out taking any pictures of trains this weekend. But I did get a chance to see an Amtrak train of Amfleet cars but push by a eletric locomotive. I was really impress2d by the speed. It had to be going about a 100 miles an hour. I guessed if I blinked, I would have missed it completely. I have been to Germany and a chance to ride an ICE train. I wonder what it is like to travel at high speeds on Amtrak. Maybe it is time for an adventure.

Natef40Amtrak out

2007-05-06T10:03:00.000-04:00

Back in 2000, there was a discussion over at Trainorders about the different models of locomotives used by Amtrak. Somehow, this discussion turned why Amtrak should rebuild it's F40 fleet. I was strongly against rebuilding these machines from a business standpoint. A lot of railfans forget that railroads are in business to move freight in a way that will make them money. One of those ways involves saving fuel. Running locomotives that sucks down thousands of extra gallons a years does not help the cause. To prove this point, the MRL was able to buy 16 new EMD SD70MACe locomotives that saved 20% in fuel over their current SD45. I bet the savings in fuel alone pays for the lease on MRL new locomotives easy.

Back to the F40. Recently, Via rebuilt F40 6400 (http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=174604). I am not sure of all the upgrades involved in the rebuilding process. It will be interesting to see if Via rebuilds more.

I am still learning how to take better pictures with my camera. My new format to take pictures is RAW. I will let you know how that turns out.

2007-04-08T08:34:00.000-04:00

It is still snowing here in Cleveland. Yes, I said snow. And once again, 48 is late. Maybe I will go try to catch him at Collinwood again today.

2007-04-07T20:19:00.000-04:00

What in the world is going on? Why is it snowing out side on April 7. 2007? This is crazy. Never the less, it was great to get some last pictures trains in action in the snow. For some reason, the Lakeshore Limited can not get over NS for nothing. Do not place any bets on this train because you will be broke.

Pictures of the Lakeshore Limited enter Collinwood yard.

Sad news, MRL is sending some SD45 models to the junk yard. It was only a matter of time after the newer SD70MACe units arrived. CN has also retired its fleet of SD45's.

http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17746

2007-03-31T14:21:00.000-04:00

Another day spent track side waiting for a late Amtrak train. This time it is #29, The Capitol Limited running from Washington DC to Chicago. Some freight train cars are on the ground (derailed) either on NS or CSX. I bet the folks on board are not too happy right now. Them poor souls are stuck on this train until they reach their destination. For those that are transferring to another train west in Chicago will have to wait until tomorrow. Hopefully, Amtrak has a spare set of passenger cars to put together for tonights #30. If not, another daylight Amtrak through Cleveland. As the saying goes, late trains only get later......

I was able to find CSX F40 9999 at Collinwood yard. This is ex-Amtrak unit 288, built in 6/1978, build number 777063-9. At some point this unit was retired from Amtrak, then in 2003, the Ohio Central RR purchased 288.

Enjoy the pictures from today.
http://www.clevelandtrains.net/emd710/station/33107/index.htm

2007-03-27T16:22:00.000-04:00

Well, spring is here again. Along with spring comes more daylight hours and warmer temps. I have been track side a lot more this year already due to my new toy. So far, I have about 400 new pictures taken with the new camera. Some shots are good, some are bad. But like with anything, there is a learning curve.

Amtrak is having some problems getting train numbers 30 and 48 out of the Chicago on time and over NS. This kind of remind me of the Conrail meltdown. After NS and CSX split up Conrail, it became very common to see Amtrak trains in Cleveland at sunrise. I will have to dig those pictures up and post them......

I will be using more Adobe products to update the site. I am looking forward to the results.

Stay posted.......

2007-03-21T22:53:00.000-04:00

My website is now up and running again. There was a small problem with the DSL router.

I have been out and about taking pictures with the new camera. I will update the site with some new photos from the soon.

2007-02-24T09:19:00.000-05:00

After about two years of talking about purchasing a new camera, I have finally did it. I said so long to my 4 mega pixel A85 and hello to my new Canon Rebel XTi. I try to get out and take pictures after work and on the weekends. Here are two examples from the new Rebel. I must first warn you that these pictures are huge and might take a few seconds to download.

I think I will have a great time with my new camera. Look for more new pictures for Clevelandtrains.net

2007-02-06T21:06:00.000-05:00

I am coming back. Yes indeed! New camera is on the way. That means new pictures to post!

But in the mean time, here are some videos and pictures from the KLYE Railroad. The KYLE Railroad is located in Kanasas.
http://www.dropshots.com/geoaco33
http://www.ngdiscussion.net/cgi-bin/NGDFcook.pl?noframes;read=87273

Map of the KLYE
http://www.railamerica.com/railmaps/KYLE.htm

Enjoy!

2007-01-23T22:17:00.000-05:00

I am having some trouble posting....

2007-01-23T22:15:00.000-05:00

One interesting post to share. The Ohio Central has sold a couple of F units to a short line. You can follow this post here, http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,1320586

One of the units on the move is ex-Milwaukee Road 82C.

2007-01-23T21:48:00.001-05:00

One interesting post to share. The Ohio Central has sold a couple of F units to a short line. You can follow this post here, http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,1320586,

One of the units on the move is ex-Milwaukee Road 82C.

2007-01-23T21:48:00.000-05:00

One interesting post to share. The Ohio Central has sold a couple of F units to a short line. You can follow this post here, http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,1320586,

One of the units on the move is ex-Milwaukee Road 82C.

2006-11-16T18:46:00.000-05:00

The thrill is gone. I am in a slump. I have not been track side for awhile now. I wonder what will bring the the excitement back.

2006-10-07T19:48:00.000-04:00

No news is good news. My summer was short and too busy. Now that fall is here and things are slowing down some, I can focus on some trians.. Now I have some time to update the site, maybe.

Check back soon.............

2006-07-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

Where should I start at with this post? There are so many rail related issues on my mind currently. The Ohio Central had made it offical, after this NHRS meeting, there will be no more passenger trains on the OC. This explains why the F9's went to the CP. Now the big question is what will happen to steam operations........

I have post some new pictures on my website of some BNSF ES44AC locomotives.
http://www.clevelandtrains.net/ngallery/albums/28.aspx

Check them out and the rest of the galleries there.

2006-07-01T22:30:00.000-04:00

Being a hobo must be cool to some. Check out this different side of railroading.

http://www.pbase.com/canadaman/inbox

2006-06-05T16:20:00.000-04:00

It looks like those Ohio Central units are on there way to CP. Here is a link to a current post at Trainorders

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,1174532