A western surprise in Ohio

This is a guest post from my brother Marc who spent some time in Bellevue, Ohio with his family this summer. He was lucky enough to catch a cool meeting of freight trains on one of the Norfolk Southern lines through town. 

Summer family vacation brought us to Cedar Point, in Sandsuky, Ohio. It’s one of the largest amusement parks in the USA, and highly recommended for those that seek thrills. It also allowed my son and I to check out some trains, old and new.

Cedar Point is directly South of Point Pelee, Ontario, on Lake Erie. The park is quite large, and in has a historic railroad to ferry guests around the park. There are five steam powered locomotives that pull open carriages on a two-mile loop. I was surprised to see the fireman shoveling coal in the tender. I would have guessed the locomotives would have been converted to another fuel.

No 22 was our power, saved from work in a coal mine. Built in 1922 by Vulcan Iron Works, this narrow gauge engine made fantastic sounds.

In 50+ years, the line has moved more than 2 million guests, meandering through ponds and under roller coasters.

This wooden caboose is a static display, adding a backdrop for the “Cedar Point and Lake Erie RR” The old caboose with roller coaster as a backdrop makes for a neat contrast.

A standard practice for our family vacations is to check the route home, for anything train-related that may interest my son. Bellevue, Ohio is a small town South of Sandusky, and is home to a massive Norfolk Southern yard. It is billed as the second biggest rail yard in North America and is the railway's largest. I couldn’t catch a good shot of it, hustling down the busy highway. 

Bellevue houses the largest rail museum in Ohio, the Mad River Rail Museum. That visit deserves its own post. While visiting there, we wanted take a break for a picnic lunch. Our friendly museum host recommended a viewing platform a few streets over, along the main Norfolk Southern line. What a treat, I wish more towns had these convenient areas for sitting trackside. We didn’t have to wait long to see some action.

This NS train stopped short of us, waiting for clearance. In the distance, we could hear another train approaching. My son was delighted, as he had never seen a NS engine before. But there were more surprises.

A UP-led freight and a NS freight meeting up may be common for some, but it was all new for my son and me. A neat sight to cap off our trip home.

The UP-led train was a mixed freight with auto racks, hoppers, and many small tank cars that I don’t normally see in SW Ontario.

Belleview is worth a stop if you are in the area. It’s a picturesque small town, reminding me of a historic movie set. The Mad River museum is outstanding, and I look forward to giving a quick tour here in the future.

Some interesting visitors up north

For weeks, I have been receiving a number of email messages from my brother with numerous photos of railway action in and around Sarnia Yard. His son, almost three years old, has taken to trains. Every weekend, my brother takes his son to the yard after running errands, which has resulted in a number of interesting encounters. I have put together a few photos of some of the more interesting finds. The first few shots that caught my eye were these shots of a most unexpected visitor to Canada. A Norfolk Southern unit was paired with a CN unit in the yard on Feb. 7. Of course, it's not uncommon for outside power to appear in the yard. This is the first time I have seen any shot of a NS unit in Sarnia Yard.

 

The shot below is a closer view of NS 6677. This is obviously an older unit, since it sports the old NS logo without the thoroughbred. My brother took these photos with his iPhone, so there are some limitations to the shots you will see in this post. But I think this is good work nonetheless. That was not the only surprising find that my brother and my nephew saw.

Okay, so this is not necessarily a surprise, but I thought this was an interesting shot anyway. This a stack of chassis on their way to one of the many automotive plants in Michigan or southwestern Ontario, depending on which way this flat car was headed. You don't see these loads in Eastern Ontario!

 



My brother has captured a number of tunnel trains from the platform of Sarnia's Via station, which sits at the edge of the CN yard. On one of those trains headed for the tunnel, he made sure to grab a shot of this old boxcar with its original Southern Railway markings. I love the two slogans on the car, including the innovation one on the left.

 

The lighting on this next shot was challenging. I had to fiddle with it to the point where it looks a little oversaturated, so I could make sure that all the features of the car and the lettering were clearly visible.

This is a Klemme Co-op Grain hopper car from Iowa that was repatched for the Northwestern Oklahoma Railway. I did a quick search for these cars online and can confirm that these cars were originally painted pink. They are somewhat well known icons in Iowa. Although this car has been repatched for the Northwestern Oklahoma Railway, the NOKL reporting mark, from what I have read, is actually a mark used by a car leasing company, First Union Railroad Corp. From what I found online, this is an arrangement where the shortline railway leases out its reporting marks to a car leasing company.

And with that, I will close with a nifty shot my brother caught of an autorack train headed for Michigan. He and his boy are lucky with the embarrassment of riches they get to see each weekend. As a train-starved Ottawan, I can only shake my head. Special thanks to my brother Marc for becoming a regular contributor to this blog. I have a number of other shots he's taken that will appear in future posts. Feel free to let him know what you think of his work (Be nice!).

CLOSING THOUGHTS ON THE O-TRAIN

I was surprised by some of the comments from last week's post, which turned out to be a little more contentious than I had intended. Most of who read this blog know that I am not a fan of many elements of this city's light rail plan. However, new readers to the blog should be mindful that I am a rail fan and not an expert on city policy. I do not pretend to be an expert, as I have often mentioned. I try my best to research all the points I mention, but there are times when I get it wrong. I was wrong on a few points last week. I happily made corrections when informed of mistakes made. I would respectfully ask that anyone thinking of commenting keep their comments civil. This is a blog aimed at sharing my love of railways. It is not meant to be anything other than it is. Your comments are always welcome, but let's keep things respectful.

With that, here's a shot of a new Alstom Coradia LINT O-Train at Confederation Station, taken yesterday (March 12), on one of my errands in that part of the city. Talk about an isolated station! Very convenient for nearby government and Canada Post workers, but nary a neighbourhood to be seen anywhere. I will share my (mostly positive) thoughts on the new O-Trains soon, based on my experiences yesterday. Stay tuned for that.