I was fortunate enough to get down and visit the LM&M during their opening weekend this past Saturday. It was a beautiful spring day and a perfect day to ride the railroad. I had the opportunity to spend some time at the back of the Mason car during the shove north from Mason. Here are a few shots from the train of the former CL&N line that makes up today’s I&O Mason Subdivision.
CF&E #3884 was power for the Mason Local today. By the time of our late-afternoon ride they had finished for the day and tied up on the engine house track. The CF&E, like the I&O is a Rail America line. They frequently share power and you will just as likely find an I&O unit on the CF&E as this GP 38-2 in Mason.
Here’s an interesting shot of the fill just north of Stokes. There was a 5 mph slow order in here due to some track settling a bit from the spring rains and warm temperatures.
Here’s a shot of the former M&C interchange track to Middletown. This is the only connection from Mason and Lebanon to the rest of the rail system. Today the interchange track is actually considered the main, and the LM&M train often has to stop and throw the switch to proceed onto the Lebanon branch.
In some places the remains of the once active CL&N are more apparent then others. Here’s a photograph of the foundation for one of the semaphores that protected the junction at Hageman.
In addition to shots on the line, I also was able to take a few good photos while waiting for the train to pass through Mason. For more information about the Mason area, be sure to check out my previous article on Mason.
This is the location of the old I&O’s ticket office for Mason excursions. The nearby grain elevator has recently been demolished.
The old Mason CL&N depot was located in this field. The team track also ran behind it closer to the road.
My ride on the LM&M was pleasant as usual. It was only chance that I even managed to make it on the train. They were running a great deal behind schedule, mostly due to the fact that they were forced to take a siding and allow the Mason Local to pass. It was probably the first time in a long time that a loaded passenger train had passed a loaded freight in Mason.
Just to clarify, we waited on the main behind the freight as they hooked up off a siding and moved ahead of us. We followed them back to Mason.
Comment by Fading — April 15, 2009 @ 8:18 pm