Central Ohio Odyssey

Maps, to me, are the sweetest candy. Give me a destination, a spot, and I will find the lines that connect me to it in the most interesting fashion. Of course this means following the rails. The best route between two points is not always the shortest.

So when I was presented with a choice of two destinations, Alliance and Willard at which to meet a photographic hero of mine, Misko Kranjec, my first thoughts were of excitement to meet Misko and catch up with some other friends, and my second was about which route to take.

At first it looked like we would meet at Alliance, thusly I would follow the Ohio Central's northound train out of Coshocton to Warwick, and then head east through Canton along the tracks to Alliance.

But Monday night I found out we would be meeting up in Willard, so I planned on heading north along the OC to Mt. Vernon, hopefully chasing the NHL, which runs north out of Newark on Tuesdays and Thursday, and I guess sometimes Saturdays too.

It took a little longer to get out of the house that I expected, but when I got to Newark the tracks north looked rusty. I was a little bummed, but I figured it would just leave more time to hang out with Misko, Dave Hyman and Ed Portzline. I followed the tracks north through Newark and St. Louisville, and as the tracks moved away from the road at Utica, I took off the main road (Ohio 13) to cross the tracks- just in case.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw headlights, and I rushed into town to find a spot. There was a small grain elevator, and I found a spot looking down the street to get the train passing. I peaked around the corner of the building I was standing beside as the train approached, and I was suprised to see an orange B23-7 on the point, running long hood forward. The OHCR 4201 is the former Rick Franklin Corporation 4201, which apparently was former Conrail 1904.

Anyway, as the train rolled slowly through town, morning school traffic began to arrive at my spot. Two cars rolled to a stop as the gates went down. At first I thought they would ruin my shot, but actually, in a way, it adds something. The big shadow blocking part of the locomotive and the fact that I cut off the top of the grain elevator because I was paying more attention to the cars is much more problematic.



Oh well. I fled Utica and headed north again, passing the train just a few hundred yards up the road and zipping ahead. The sun was kind of behind us both, and I began to get further and further ahead of the slow-moving train. When I crossed the tracks on Arrington Road, a bit over the Knox County line, the train was just a blob of light in the distance. The fields were relatively open, and I searched for a broadside, cross the field kind of shot.


There was a raggedy tree near the road, and I thought immediately about including it in the frame, if I could swing it. My 20mm wasn't quite wide enough, and I had to walk into the remains of a corn field to squeeze it all in. The train came rumbling along, and I shot a few frames as it receded into the distance. Then it was back on the road, heading north.





Ohio 13 leaves the tracks again south of Mt. Vernon, and I had to try some back roads to find shots. I found a suitable place on Range Line Road just south of South Mt. Vernon, and shot the train going way past a gingerbread trimmed farmhouse. Then back north, doing my best to keep an eye on the train. I had to check out some more back roads to find the train, as I was not sure where the train was going. There are some industries south of town, and I thought maybe the train would drop some cars there. As I rolled away from the tracks on a main road south of town, the gates went down, assuring me that the train was rolling all the way into town.

I found a crossing in town with a crossing guards concrete hut still standing by the rails and used it in the foreground. The train scooted past and I headed toward downtown. (I found out later that the concrete hut is actually an old B&O phone booth, used to check if the PRR crossing in Mt. Vernon was clear so a train could proceed. Thanks for Iron Man on the WLETS forum for the info.)



I have been through Mt. Vernon a few times, but I had not been there enough to know exactly where to go, and nearly made a wrong turn. I had to really hustle down some one-way streets to get the train crossing the Kokosing River an a bridge that is apparently kind of arched. Hey, pictures don't lie.



Road closures made it difficult to follow the train as it set about switching local industries, and it was getting late anyway, so I headed north, following the remains of the old B&O main until it disappeared near Fredricktown. I passed through Mansfield, and it cluster of tracks and GE 65-tonner, and then to Greenwich, where the gates went down as I drew close, and I pulled down a side street to catch a long stack train coming off the Indianapolis line.



When I got to Willard, I didn't see any cars parked across from the engine pit, so I checked the local crossings, and then headed west, as I figured the group would be at Daniels Road. As I was driving past the western fuel pad, the phone rang; it was Misko, telling me they were indeed at Daniels Road.

I rolled up the truncated remains of Daniels Road, and as I rolled to a stop, Misko got out of the car and I got to meet a hero.

The first meeting was short lived, because shortly after hellos it was suggested we headed west to Attica Jct, to see the crossing with NS. I agreed, and for some reason got in my car, probably because I had to pee.

So we dashed west, slowing at Attica to see the headlights of a northbound NS train and for Misko to take a picture of a grain elevator, a quintessential Ohio/Midwest landmark. CSX was quick to provide us with an eastbound, with a UP Sd70ace on the point. I shot Misko and Ed against the cloudy sky before the train dashed east. Then I went to find a bathroom, leaving them, promising to meet up in a moment.



After my bathroom break, I went back to the northern most crossing in town, where I expected the waiting coal train to head north, past the grain elevator and high school. Instead, a southbound intermodal appeared, leaving me not much of a shot. But I took it anyway, what the hell.



The crew headed back to Willard, I wanted to get a shot of a train heading south past the grain elevator, and a green signal promised such a delight. After waiting for a short eternity, I gave up. Why waste a minute of hanging out with friends?

Back to the pit, diverting briefly to watch a distant stack train thunder across the fields, enjoying the echo of a fast train from a mile away.

At the fueling pit, we hung out and talked, and watched a few trains pass before it was time for Misko, Dave and Ed to head back toward Canton. Misko had a late night train to catch, and was due in Chicago the next morning.











So off we all went, them east, me toward the west and Attica, where I would pick up the NS and follow it south. I followed the yard west, where I caught up with my second train of the day, the UP-led miscellaneous job that we caught at Attica Jct. As I got ready to shoot, a pair of cargo planes from nearby Mansfield passed low overhead.



No signals lit in Attica, so I headed south, ducking down back roads to check signals when they appeared. Bucyrus slowed my southern flight, as I searched for interesting spots and missed a northbound coal train. I did find the tiny GE Transco uses to shove cars around it's facilty. A row of sad looking autoracks was outside the gate.





Then south again, where I came across a green signal at a boring location. A grain elevator on the horizon beckoned, so I raced south, coming across another tiny GE at Monnett. I grabbed a shot, and as I headed back to my car, I heard and airhorn. To the south. I peered through my lens, and sure enough, floating on the horizon in a puddle of mirage, the last car of a southbound disappeared into the haze. How it got ahead of me in the few miles between signals I will never know.

South to Marion, passing up a trip to the diamonds to head straight south, to check in at the grain elevator in Waldo to see if I could get a picture of the critter there. No one was home (it being after 5 on a Tuesday) and I didn't dare go back into the facility, as there were big tanks with red diamond placards near the critter, and I wouldn't want people to think I was thievin' dangerous materials. So I headed south again, following the secondary road until it rejoined US 23. As I was rolling along, a bright object near the tracks caught my eye, and after a bit longer I realized it was a train. So I turned around and roared back to Waldo, where I got a northbound passing the dormant critter.



After watching the train pass, I headed south again. I was rolling along and realized that a, I had found a spot called 'Troyton' will it's classic PRR position light signal that I had seen in pictures before, and b, there was a train at said location. So I turned around again, and headed north to a tiny wide spot in the road called Norton. There was a signal there, too, a less interesting single light deal, and a second one, facing away from the tracks. I remembered seeing a picture of this signal once too, evidently it was for a once planned double tracking of the line, not yet attempted. The train passed, shorter than the last, perhaps a local returning to Marion.



The light was getting nice now, but it was also getting time for the baby to go to bed. If I hustled, I could be home in time. So I did- after a stop in Delaware to see if CSX would stir up a train for me (no dice) and passing over a northbound NS coal train on I270. But right now, being able to say goodnight to my baby daughter is just more important than one last train-no matter how nice the light.

Return to Brilliant

03/02/07
Basketball, once again, brought me to the Steel Valley. With the win on Wednesday, the Maysville Panthers had a chance to win a district title, expunging some of the demons that had haunted them since losing in Stuebenville last season in a game they had in hand.

And once again, an early, safe, departure brought me to the valley well before game time. As I was rolling through Yorkville, I noticed the WLE had an AEP coal train stretched across town, and I got off to go shoot it. As soon as I got off the highway, I noticed that NS too had strung a train across town. Blocking me from my intended quarry, the WLE train. So I took some back roads, following the familiar silver hoppers (from Wednesday) until the train started to roll slowly northbound, blocking me once again from my train.

It takes a long time for a mile long coal train to pass at 10 mph, and just as the last few cars rolled into sight, I could see the WLE train blocking the crossing in front of me. Two chances to cross the tracks, both blocked by trains. Fiddle.

Once I was back on 7 north, I realized there was no way to get the AEP train, as it would most likely stop at the Cardinal plant. Both sets of tracks and route 7 run close to each other and the river just north of Rayland, with no safe access. After running around a bit, I paced the NS train as it paced the WLE train, which did indeed stop at Cardinal. I mulled shooting from an AEP driveway, and thought better of it. The southbound WLE train that leaves Mingo at 5 ish met the AEP train at the plant. Two strikes.

I wondered what would happen to the NS empties. I stopped in Brilliant, and waited for an age before finally the train lumbered through town. I shot from a hillside, the opposite from my last shot at Brilliant a few days before.


After the basketball game, and sending photos from the local paper, it was time to head back. As I pulled into Mingo Jct, a northbound was leaving. It was too close to the parking lot that overlooks the mill, so it was back to Steubenville for a quick shot past the bones of the mill. It was a longer wait that I expected, the train creeping from Mingo. In the mill a switcher was doing it's work, the roar of the engine echoing from the mill, mixing with the traffic on the nearby road. It ebbed and flowed as the engineer flogged his aging steed- indeed, it sounded as if it was working very hard. As I tested my exposures and color balance, I noticed trucks moving around in the back of the mill, drawing streaks across my frame. It stood to reason that when the train did come, there would be accompanying truck streaks too.

After my northbound, complete with waving brakeman, I headed back to Mingo for a near-traditional night shot of the mill. From the elementary school overlooking the mill, I shot a hopper being unloaded, the mill, and the steam silhouetting the ore crane.




And then it was off again, south to the interstate, and then back to the office to put the finishing touches on the day.

The Wait at Brilliant

02/28/07
Basketball brought me to the Ohio River Valley for the first time this year, girls playoff basketball, to be exact. So when I left work early my motives were not entirely pure; I wanted to get there early so that I could be assured of being there on time, and once there, if I was indeed early, I wanted to see some trains.

The tracks were quiet as I rolled north on Ohio 7, the main road north along the valley. Even the engine based at Rayland was still, sitting on the Y waiting for something to do. I headed north, crossing over a coal train just south of Mingo Jct. It was loaded, with a single former Conrail Gp40 on the rear end.

And it was occupied. Into Mingo to turn around, and then back to Brilliant, where I settled into a spot I had seen from the highway numerous times, and wanted to shoot there each time. This time, with a train, it would finally be possible.

Maybe. The train sat, the two engines on the south end crewed and ready. I stood on a ledge overlooking the tracks as the town came and went around me, at times giving me looks, at times ignoring me, as if railfans stood there all the time. I waited for the cops to come. I got bored.

Due to my complete inability to stand still, I began to explore. Up and down the road to Mingo, trying to find a way to photograph the train where it sat. Back to Brilliant, where I watched slack jawed as a WLE southbound hove into view and past the waiting coal train. If I had longer glass on, I would have had an interesting shot, but alas. I decided to chase the WLE train. Back onto 7, I realized that I would have to head pretty far south to get a shot, and balked at the proposition of moving too far from my goal of Steubenville. The tracks were inaccessible for miles, due to the Cardinal powerplant just south of Brilliant. I turned back. When I got back to Brilliant, I heard air horns and saw the lead engine of the coal train had it's ditchlights on. Action.


I parked in the car and surveyed the scene. Because the train was moving, I was not in the spot I had scoped out before, but further down the tracks. I liked what I saw though, with a somewhat decrepit house teetering over the tracks, and the hills of West Virginia distant in the background. The train rumbled past, the brakie grinning down at me as he waved. I am sure the crew thought my machinations, what they saw of them, nuts.


After a shot of a hopper (built in 2005/6) for my collection, I drove down the road a bit to get the helper pushing past some houses. As a bonus, a little knot of people were talking in the street. They give me a glance, the train a glance, and ignored us both.


Once the train cleared, it was back to Steubenville, for dinner and basketball. My team won, so I would return.

Blue and White

I had a morning off recently, and caught up with the eastbound Cambridge local in New Concord. The train was drifting through the recent snow, and I shot it from the ancient hump bridge that spans the tracks in town. The ice on the trees is rendered invisible by the morning light, but it shows up a little in the going away shot.


After the bridge shot it was off toward Cambridge, dodging black ice and the occasional snowplow. I rambled down back roads searching for a spot to shoot, only to be repelled by a lack of parking places- even on the most deserted roads it is usually not such a good idea to park in the travel lanes, especially in slippery conditions involving sharp curves. So I was repeatedly skunked until I found a road wide enough to park on. After surveying the situation briefly, I decided that my first attempt at a shot at this spot, some two years ago, would suffice, as it was boring and unscenic. On my way to turn around, I noticed an open field leading to the tracks, pulled over, and waited for my blue friends to show up. I shot a number to times as the train swept across the scene (with a disappointing lack of flying snow) and found a shot of the train just before plowing over some horses most satisfactory.



Nature was calling when I got to Cambridge, painfully so, so I missed a shot in town. I caught up with the train as it was attempting to enter a flexiflo terminal. I drove around and around, looking for a place to park, and finally ended up walking back to the crossing from a few blocks away. The two engines, separated from their train, were sitting at a switch, which was apparently iced in. As I was walking to the crossing, an MOW crew I passed on the way into town came to the rescue. As I shot a rescuing MOW worker heading into the sun, my boss called, inviting me to come to work for the afternoon. It was a fitting way to end my chase.

Timing

I was in Coshocton on Super Bowl Sunday, arriving early and stopping for lunch at Tim Hortons. I parked at my usual lunch spot by the tracks, and just as I was about to head off to my assignment, headlights appeared to the south. It was an empty OC coal train, heading back to the mine at Cadiz. Five minutes later it was rolling past, my coming toward shot ruined by lousy light and a boring sky. But the going away, of a still-clean 4027, was pretty nice, with the towering stacks of the rail-served Smurfit Stone Container factory behind the power.

Then it was off to my assignment. Despite the extra few minutes, I was still quite early for my assignment.

After my assignment, I drove around for a while looking for wild art. The front was taken care of already- it was Super Bowl Sunday, but maybe we had space inside. I had nothing to do before the game anyway. I headed east, and caught up with a train near West Lafayette. I shot the train with a bit of the abandoned humpy bridge in the foreground.



The train was a Pennsylvania Power and Light coal train, a run through job from Norfolk Southern. It consisted of mostly PPLX hoppers, an interesting assortment off hoppers built in the late 1960s. They were never painted, and adopted a variety of rusty hues.

Snow Day

02/02/07
We have gotten a lot of snow this winter, but due to other commitments I have not been able to shot any trains in said snow. So I get all the hassle, but not much of the joy.

That changed back on the second of February, when luck had me going to lunch as the northbound GLT crossed State Street with still clean 4027 leading, and the sun came out on the fresh snow as the two resident Super 7s, waited for their call to head to Newark later that night.

New Face on the Local

With a morning assignment in Coshocton Wednesday, I left early to give myself a chance to catch the Coshocton local before heading to work.

I caught up with it on Paper Mill Road, backing onto a cut of cars sitting on the main. Not sure what he had been up to, but the consist also had two cabooses in it. The locomotive was the 3185, a newly arrived (from CSX) Super 7, still in fairly fresh 'dark future' paint and no OHCR markings. I shot the little train heading to the small yard in town, and after some rushing around, I found him picking up a long cut of boxcars that had been sitting on a siding for months. The landmark Coshocton Grain elevator was looming on the horizon, and the ancient trees lining the road providing shadows.

The First Train of the Year...

... same as the last train of the year.

I was out looking for some wild art Wednesday, January 3 and saw a crew from the city taking down holiday decorations. It was evening, and the light, while slightly diffused, was nice. I stood on the Y bridge and waited for them to come and take down the wreaths decorating the bridge. Free from the downtown canyon shadows, it would have been a nice photo had they ever come. Instead they turned just short of the bridge and headed back the other way.

But while I was waiting, the southbound GLT empties crossed the former B&O bridge in the nice evening light. The same set of power was on the train as the last time I saw it. The sky was bleached out by the last light, the blue sky of the day gone, and as the train slowly crossed the bridge, I thought about panning.

And tried it. But to pan a train moving less than 10 mph, you need a long, long, LONG exposure. Still, it worked out, more or less, and was a pleasant way to start the railfanning year.

Last Train of the Year

I had just finished adding up my time card Friday afternoon, and having discovered I had but a few minutes to finish work before overtime, I thought to myself, wife is out with a friend for lunch, I can chase the train. I wonder if it has been through.

No sooner had I completed that thought than I heard the train blow for the Main Street crossing. I still had a few things to complete at work, and then head home to get my gear and the dog out. By the time I caught up with the train again it was north of town, disappearing into the woods off North River Road. I headed to a spot overlooking the river, but my landmarks to find the spot were long gone, as it had been almost a year since trying for the spot. While I scuffled around on the cliff side, the train appeared through the trees, belching exhaust and roaring up the slight grade. It would have been a good shot, with exhaust back lit through the winter trees. Next time.

I headed north again, to Ellis, where the tracks pass near Ellis Lock, and where the PRR used to come within kissing distance of the old W&LE. The train was in sight when I got there, and I shot the leaders coming down the tangent, and the trailing engine, Sd40-2 5855, rolling past the big red house hard by the tracks.

I had wanted to shoot the train where it emerges from the woods on an S-curve to parallel Beech Rock Road for a quarter mile or so, but my trip along the dirt roads (which included some quick car repairs when a branch caught in the chassis) was much longer than the train's. The 5855 was rolling past when I came down the hill, and again I ventured across the hills to find another spot.

Dresden Road is a winding and hilly drive, at times dirt, at times fairly new pavement ducking and weaving across the hills. Near Dresden it settles down somewhat, coming back to water level not far from the river, where the OHCR's former WLE comes out of the woods again, with the PRR's remains paved and trod by bikers and hikers close by. The sun had not swung around quite enough for the photo I had in mind, and had made before, but it would do. Winter.

The tracks cut right through Dresden on a right of way narrow enough to be considered street running, I guess. Only the latest evening light is right for the northbound train, and only the latest trains ever face that light. Friday the train was not late enough, having made good time from Glouster and Zanesville, and the train was somewhat back lit. Not enough for a decent glint, just enough for more winter. Bare trees and low, cool, light. I was trying to figure out how to get the leaders passing the old mill near the tracks, and thought the trailing engine would look much better.

At Trinway I looked for a place to shoot the train, and didn't find one, so I went north to Adams Mills. The Panhandle and the Wheeling are close through town, the former WLE still in use as storage, although not through the village. I looked for a spot to shoot the train to include the town, and was only partly successful.

After Adams Mills I headed to Conesville, but let the train roll through town unmolested, as my final chase of the year had come to an end.

Afternoon Suprise

I went to Coshocton Tuesday afternoon to bring my daughter to see her mother, and as I pulled in to the parking lot behind her school I heard a steam whistle. I figured the local paper factory was blowing it's noon whistle. At 12:30. Which was a little odd.

When it blew a second time, I handed by daughter to my wife and headed block west to investigate. Because it sure sounded like a steam engine...

It was. The former LS&I 33, nice and clean and full of life, and steam. It simmered for a few minutes in front of the OC depot, and the headed south, perhaps on a break-in run for one of the Ohio Central's Polar Express trips, or maybe they were just running it because they could. Either way, I felt darn lucky to have chanced up it, as did another fellow who was out and about and stopped to take a look.

A Local at Dawn

A morning trip to Coshocton yeilded another visit with the Coshocton Local, this time as it switched the Clow pipe works on the south side of town. I came across the local as I took my convoluted trip through town on the way home, hoping against hope that I would find a train in the flurries and predawn light.

I came across the 8702 sitting just short of the Clow gate. I had never seen the 8702 before, and better yet, it was lettered for the Pittsburgh and Ohio Central, something else I had never seen. A small group gathered near the gate to examin the switch with a broom.



I left the train and went to find a photo of the train coming through the neighborhood near the plant, but when it appeared I realized it would be pushing it's newly aquired bulkhead flat car of pipe. But the brakie was riding the rear, and undoubtably freezing his ass off too. While the photo is short on neighborhood, it worked out ok in regards to a canopy of trees and a little bit of snow.



The brakie jumped off beside me, flagged the crossing and was back on the rear without ever coming to a stop. The train pushed past, and he was off again to line the switch so the train could head south. Snowflakes were lit briefly by the headlights in the predawn shadows.



I folled the train south to Paper Mill Road, where the train would pass near the mainline, and also past the OC's headquarters. The tracks were still in shadow, but I still got a broadside of the frumpy rebuilt geep.



I went down the street to the main line, where the local would back past again to head into town to switch some other industries. I waited and waited, photographing some weeds against the dawn, hoping against hope that the train would come while the sun was out, and backlit snowflakes danced across the tracks with alarming sparkle. But instead the train took forever, and the sun (and floating sparkles) were gone by the time it game. So I got low and shot the tiny train as it backed past, giving the brief illustion of the middle-of-nowhere before disappearing under the highway bridge in the distance.

Night in Steel Valley

The end of football season brings playoff trips, and this year I drew a trip to Stuebenville, my fourth trip east this year. I left early, to assure a prompt arrival at the stadium, and maybe allow for a train or two before the game. I enjoy the trip along the river between Bridgeport and Stuby, and always prefer it in daylight.

I breezed through Mingo and Stuby, arriving first in Mingo Jct the same time as a northbound local, and in Stuby in time for... nothing. I followed the tracks up to Toronto, looked around Toronto and headed south again. Nothing stirring in Wierton, either, and the light was rapidly fading. I headed south to Mingo, and as I pulled into a small lot overlooking the mill, I saw a row of coil gons rolling north.

Back north to a small crossing in Stuebenville, a crossing I had seen each time I had visited, but never explored. I had a feeling you would be able to see the mill from the crossing, and would make a good shot if I could beat the train.

I pulled down to the beaten up crossing, half expecting the train to be thundering past by the time I got my car parked. It was an industrial driveway, and despite being only 50 yards off the road, was the kind of place you don't really feel like staying after dark, setting up a tripod. But it only took a moment for the train to appear, it's bright lights and glowing rails sharp against the looming skeleton of the mill.



The train rumbled past, and I whipped the tripod around to get the trio of blue engines rolling toward one of Stuby's suspension bridges. In the distance you can see the strips of a sheriff's office cruiser parked outside the county jail, another good example of the intellegent use of riverfront property.





The train was moving fairly slowly, so I hopped back in my car to chase it up river. By the time I got to the edge of town I was ahead of it, despite having travelled on a mile or so, and I pulled down the bumpy dirt road leading to the marina. It took a minute to see what my shot was, and as I pulled in, a car started up and left. I wondered what they were up to in there before pulling out my tripod and setting up. As the train neared, I noticed it lit up the side of a caboose on display, and quickly recomposed, resulting in a somewhat awkward shot.



The train picked up as speed as it rumbled away, lighting the concrete retaining wall and then smoking it up after the power was out of sight.



It was time for football, where I photographed the valiant, but losing effort of a local high school team playing the defending state champs on their home turf. After shooting the game and getting my photos emailed back to the paper, it was time to head home.



But not after a few night photos in Mingo Jct.
There are always a few switchers sitting outside the mill, parked outside the roll up doors that lead to the engine house. This time, hidden in the starry lights, a fellow remote control switcher was pushing ore cars over the dumper, a line of flame marking their progress over the heaters. The night wasn't that cold, or else the smoke effects would have been more profound.





As I stood on the hill outside the school overlooking the mill, I saw the familiar triangle of lights creeping through the trees. I wanted a shot of the train passing the mill, lighting the gondolas and mill with headlight wash. So I stood there, trying to guess if I could beat the train to the parking lot, despite the various stop lights between me and my destination.

Long story short, I could. But only because the train was switching the yard. After running around town a few times, thinking the train was leaving, I gave up, and shot it where it was, and then began the long ride home.