The sign tells all. An afternoon photo trip to Parkersburg to visit what is left of the B&O.
The day before the temperature was 80 and the skies clear, today it is 40 and cloudy! What a change!
This photograph was taken from Belpre, Ohio as I waited to cross the RT. 50 bridge to Parkersburg. (Click on the photos for larger views.)


These two views are taken where the station once stood. When I was just a little boy, I stood here with my parents waiting for the B&O to come from Clarksburg bringing my grandmother for a visit. I was so excited to see the huge train come. I guess that is where I became enthralled with railroads.
The first shot looks back towards the Ohio River and the second toward Clarksburg. My oh my, how time has changed things.


I remember the engine rolling in, the steam swirling around me, the bell ringing, the baggage cart rolling up. Of course, when you can go anywhere, anytime by car, why take a train? Even with the cost of gasoline, I could drive for less to Texas, than take Amtrak-and get there sooner. It isn't hard to figure out why passenger trains no longer come to Parkersburg. Economics.




Here is a view of the high yard. Many industrial sidings were along where. In another post I will illustrate some of these sidings.
Today, the line is severed just a short distance east and trains no longer come from Clarksburg; well they do, but by a round-about-way. There still are several cars sitting in the yard as illustrated by the next photograph.



Here is another view of the high yard. The track in the foreground is the connection between the low yard down by the river, and the high yard.







Here is the yard engine coming from the low yard, I guess it is the end of the day for this crew (it was around 5pm). In fact they did drive up to the high yard and dismount their engine just a few minutes later.






Here are some views of the massive bridge across the Ohio River. This bridge was finished in 1871 and was for a time the world's longest bridge. Railroads obviously built things to last, but did they know it would last for 126 years?



















Here is a mixed freight rolling into the low yard in the late afternoon. It stopped and with the help of some ground crew, began switching moves. I was running out of time and couldn't get a good angle for anymore photographs of the moves. Video would have been better anyway.


Some comments about the photographs. I took a lot of photos this week. One day the sun was too bright and today there wasn't enough. Cloudy days a best for outdoor shots, but not a heavy overcast-the day is just too grey!

Russell, Kentucky!







It's spring break and so off to Russell to take in the sights, railroad sights of course.
Photo #1 is at the station at Russell. The display of the C&O caboose is very nice. Be sure to take the time to look at the bricks in the sidewalk.




Photos #2 shows Russell Tower. The tower is now owned by the city and a sign announces that it being converted to a museum.
Behind me is the former station.







Photo #3 shows the remote control unit switching a freight in the yard. Engine number 1021 is an ex-B&O SWMT slug and is followed by GP39, number 4283. At first I didn't notice the box in the operator's hand (standing on the front of the slug). After waving to him, I started to wave to the "operator" in the cab and noticed that there wasn't anyone there! That's when I figured it out. This is the first remote controlled unit I have seen. I have read of them and also the controversy about their use. Now, it seems they are used (I saw another one later in the day).

Photos #4 show the next entry on the hit parade. A unit train hauling LPG tank cars. Not a job I would want to do, but this guy is hauling them! Hauling the cars are numbers 6488, a GP 40-2, followed by RDMT, number 2254.





Here they go, slowly into the yard.







The last photos from Russell is of GP 38-2, 2507 and SWMT 1040 passing by and finally a shot of Russell Tower.
My day in Russell went well. Met a couple of track workers. One had started on the C&O in 1969! Wow! Almost forty years! I find that common in reading and talking with workers on the railroad. Many work 40-50 years on the railroad. Again, check out those bricks by the caboose.

THE END OF THE LINE
I've often wondered, what happens to old cars when their time is up. Well, today I found out.
After a stop at the hobby store, I ventured by the I&O "yard" here in Lancaster, planning to take some more photos of the seemingly abandoned CSX covered hopper, filled with sand.
As I drove by, I saw that the car wasn't alone anymore. It was being cut up for scrap. Why?
According to the two men from Indiana, the car had derailed, the bottom had split and the railroad had decided to sell the car for scrap instead of repairing it.

Here are some photos of the process of the car.

The man with the torch (on the top of the car at the left of the photo) has cut a hole in the side of the car.







Here is all the sand from that hole in the side. The cutter told me there was still more inside! The sand was destined for the Anchor Hocking glass plant in town.










Ever wonder what the inside of a covered hopper looks like? Well, here is your chance. Take a look! At the top you can see the bottom of the hatch where the sand was poured in.











Here is one of the chutes that the sand would have been emptied out of the hopper through.










Looking behind the brake wheel, is the date of manufacture. It says 1966. The car is 41 years old! One of the workers told me that it seems that railroads will scrap cars when they get this old. With the wear and tear on the cars, the life is basically over. One car they cut up for scrap had just broken into two pieces as the train started off!



Here is the front truck. Look closely and you can see the damage from the derailment that started the downfall of this car. The wheels are full of dirt from the derailment.








It was time to go, so I said goodbye to the workers and started home. One asked me if I wanted some sand. No thanks! I replied and drove away.
Here is one more shot of the covered hopper. The next time I drive by, there probably will be only a pile of sand left.
So goes the life a of railroad car.

A Railroad Tour in Lancaster

Running around Lancaster the other day, visiting the hobby shop to get a few things for my model railroad, I decided to take a "tour" of my hometown and see what the local Indiana and Ohio (I&O) railroad was up to. It being Saturday, I didn't expect to see anything, but you never know!
So sit back and enjoy my little tour.
Once upon a time, Lancaster, like a lot of towns in Ohio was a town with two railroads, lots of track, a large yard, frequent trains that came from somewhere and went somewhere. And, as we all know, economy changes, times change and today, all Lancaster has is a short line that serves two industries, a glass plant and a cereal making plant. Let's see what is left.
First is the glass plant, here are two shots, one shows (top photo) the cars waiting at a siding near the plant (in the background). I've posted two shots, one distant and one close.

On the other side of the plant is another siding, this one descends into the plant. Here are a couple of cars waiting their turn. Some days this siding is full of cars, but not today!

After visiting the glass plant, I drove out to the plant's warehouse. Maybe I will catch the switcher pulling some boxcars out of the warehouse? Let's see. Nope, looks like no one is here either. Here is the switcher, a leased MP15AC (ex-TVFM)(via http://www.ole.net/~rcraig/MPR.html, The Diesil Shop).


To the left of the photo is the warehouse. The engine goes inside the building to retrieve its cars.
Now its turn to check out what is left of the yard downtown. Once upon a time, there were two railroads running through this area. Today, one is gone and the other has passed on (It was Hocking Valley Railroad, then C&O, now I&O). What will we find?

First we see what is left of a loading/unloading ramp. Someone has made it a home! (Right click on the image and open in another window to see who!)

Look here! Here is a CSX hopper, just sitting and it looks like it has been sitting, sitting and sitting here for a long, long time. Look at all that sand under the wheels! Did it leak out? Why is it sitting here?


Here is a full shot of the hopper. As you can see, its been here awhile. Does anyone remember me? Here is a view of the yard with the old C&O freight house in the background. It is now a FOP building.

Next photo is the cereal plant just outside of town. Here you see the grain cars waiting to be unloaded.
Well, we've come to the end of the line, so to speak. Where I stood to take the photo above, I just turned around and took the last photo below. This is the end of the line east from Lancaster. Once it went to another town and west to Cincinnati. But now no more.
Thanks for taking a tour with me!

Went south to visit my son, daughter-in-law and grandson in Louisville this weekend and my son and I went off to visit the local CSX yard. Osborn yard is very large and as we found out, hard to see. There are a lot of trees or buildings between you and the tracks. Unlike the Portsmouth yard in Portsmouth, there is no convenient parking lot near the throat of the yard.
But if you drive around for awhile, you can see lots of interesting things. And a journey down this little side street, tucked away between to buildings produced some photo ops!
In the first photo, we had just pulled onto the street and here comes a very slow moving freight. Then right behind the first freight was a smaller one. I have never seen two trains moving so close together.
After taking photos of the "train tag" team, we went across to the other side of the tracks (via a road way of course) and caught another two more leaving the yard!
I got a few more shots before my camera's batteries started to go and the rain started to come again, so off we went, back towards home. But along the way I caught sight of this old, beat up B&O gondola. The photo is back lit, so it is hard to see the faded emblem, but it is there! On the left of the car. On the right is the Chessie symbol. That was the last photo, as the batteries finally quit and with the rain, this one was taken from the car window. Not the best photo, but then the day wasn't the best day for photos. You take what you can have. It still was a fun afternoon!

SIGNALS!

I have read about signals in trying to learn about railroads, and this I have learned, you have to know the railroad and its system! Fortunately, green still means go and red still means stop. But the mysterious yellow (or white) signal means maybe?
So when I see a green light! Hey a train is coming! Then you have to ask? When?
Here are some signal photos.






Near Portsmouth with NS getting the green light. Click on the photo and notice that the lights on the photographer side are red.
Here in Fostoria are some more signals. Experts in railroad yore can tell you the type etc. I don't have to know what they are to know that red means stop! Green means go! But I think they are old B&O signals?















Here is a NS freight near Chillicothe.













Back to Fostoria, it isn't hard to figure out that red light!

























That's all for signal lights. The top photo is in Fostoria.

Fostoria, Ohio
Having read about Fostoria, I decided to take the time and visit the city. It was worth the drive. CSX, NS both run through this town. But that wasn't all! UP! BNSF with brand new cars westbound for the coal mines! I mean these cars were right off the lot-well from the factory. My nephew could read the date on the fast moving hoppers and he told me it read 06-06. That is fairly new!
So enjoy the photos! From top to bottom: UP with coal heading east. BNSF with those new cars heading west. NS heading west. To the right, out of the photograph, is the Fostoria station (not open) which has a parking lot between the CSX and NS lines. Good location. The bottom photo was taken near the F tower, near the CSX diamonds and NS. The CSX is heading east. Go to http://www.trains.com/trn/default.aspx?c=a&id=529 for more info.