Old Amtrak Coach

When I walked into this coach, I got really excited. This reminds me so much of my family's first Amtrak trip years ago. The red seats, brown carpet and orange curtains. It even had that old heavy duty oil mixed with must smell. The only thing that is missing is a pair of F40 units......

Cleveland is the city where I'm from. Born, raised and schooled; more than one way. Once a midwest powerhouse. Factories used to run three shifts. Fisher Body, LTV Steel, Kirby, Ford, Chevrolet, Sherwin Williams, the list goes on. Some are still here, barely. Huge empty fields serve as reminders of the once mighty powerhouse. Jobs started to go away. No work for the people, Reaganomics was at it’s finest.. The “Just Say No To Drugs” campaign in the mid-80s could not stop a new cheap, powerful drug. Crack-Cocaine was introduced. What a money maker. Who could forget CSU’s Kevin Mackey and the Brown’s Kevin Mack crack issues? It hit hard. Everyone. Color, income, class; it did not matter. CPD was working around the clock raiding spots. Gangs fighting over street corners to make that money. This played out until the early 1990’s. Things started to recover some. Terminal Tower was turned into Tower City in 90. Randall Park Mall was where everyone wanted to be until the gang fights ran people away. The court ordered busing to stop in 96. Go to your local neighborhood school. More people are out of work. Small factories closed. Huge industrial parks in town with vacant space. They make it cheaper in China. Housing boom and crash. If your heart pumped blood, you can get a loan for half a mil. Sign here. Still no real jobs. People lacking skills for the New World Order. A lot left behind. Old drugs are new again. People are still using. Not enough cops to make a dent to get the supply off the streets. Cocaine wars in Mexico has dropped the price to records lows. Watch out, that siding on your home might be coming off soon. They don’t care what you had to do pay for it. Oh, there is a shed that the railroad is not using any more. Little by little, it started to walk away, even the fence. I’ll remove that old crap from your home for cheap because I can dump it over there. Maybe there will be some railcars with some metal in them worth stealing when I dump. This will never end. The names will only change and the location in town. The city will be the city, always. And it will always be a little worse near the railroad tracks. Both sides are on the wrong side of the tracks in the heart of the city.

American Steamship Company's Buffalo

For those who wonder if I take pictures of things other than trains, you are in for a treat. Here is a picture of the Buffalo, a ship used to fiery Taconite from Whiskey Island to the Cleveland Works mill.

American Steamship's Buffalo 6-4-2012.  Cleveland, Ohio.  Cuyahoga River.

The Wheeling Way

Wheeling's 663 crew has just secured their train on the Solon Branch after a long day that started in Akron. Two rookie conductors were guided by a nine year vet engineer. They did fine. Safety first, The Wheeling Way. 

Wheeling GP35-3 110.  Solon Branch.  3-29-12

BNSF SD9 6154

On June 26, 2005, I was able to catch a BNSF SD9 working a CSXT mainline freight. The BNSF power policy that was in place at this time must have allowed anything that ran to pull any type train. These old classics started popping up all over the place, even Toronto. For about two or three weeks, BNSF SD9 6154 roamed around on CSX. I was able to catch it here in Ohio somewhere in Lake County. The engineer had the units notched out, but it was still not enough to make max track speed.

BNSF SD9 6154 trailing a leased SD40 on 6-26-2005.