NKP #901 Restoration Celebration

Author: Kyle Montgomery
Category: News Railroads: ,

Cincinnati Railway’s GP30, number #85, has been restored to its original as-delivered paint scheme. To celebration its return as Nickel Plate #901, a special excursion has been planned on the Lebanon, Mason, & Monroe Railroad.

Nickel Plate #901 was built by EMD back in 1962. Recently, it has been used by the CNRY for power on their dinner train, and as a backup unit in Lebanon. Restoration began in August and was made possible in part by donations from the member of the Nickel Plate Technical and Historical Society. Final preparations are currently underway in the old Mason locomotive barn, including installation of an original Mars light and number boards.

#901 will leave the Mason engine house overnight on Thursday, September 29th. The special train will depart Lebanon Friday morning. There will be a one-hour lunch layover in Mason at the Brazenhead Pub. The return trip should, weather permitting, include a photo run-by somewhere along the line. The consist is scheduled to include #901 (facing South), the open-air car, and 3 of the ex-Lackawanna coaches. For more information and for tickets, visit the LM&M’s website.

Check back later this week for photos and a brief history on NKP #901. It is currently scheduled to stay in Lebanon through October, and then resume work powering the Cincinnati Dinner Train.

CSX to Expand Columbus Intermodal Yard

Author: Kyle Montgomery
Category: News

It’s been a while, but there is quite a bit of news from this summer that needs to be recapped. First off, CSX has announced recently they would be expanding their Intermodal operation in Columbus. Known to locals as the Van Yard, the intermodal operation was acquired as part of the Conrail split. It is located directly east of Norfolk Southern’s Buckeye Yard.

Crews have already begun working on the 31-acre expansion, demolishing a number of neighboring warehouses. This area will be paved and used for the storage of containers, the footprint for the rest of the site will be redesigned, tracks realigned, and improvements will be made to increase capacity.

Additionally, CSX will be purchasing three new container cranes for the site, like the one pictured above was purchased for the North Baltimore Intermodal Yard. These cranes run completely off of electricity supplies by an attached tether cable. Overall, $59 million in improvements will be made at the site.

The Columbus expansion is needed with the construction of the new site at North Baltimore. This intermodal hub, part of the National Gateway series of improvements, recently opened Phase II of the project. Click through to read the full press release after the break.
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TLE&W Robbed

Author: Kyle Montgomery
Category: News Railroads:


It’s a sad day for area railfans in Northwestern Ohio. The Toledo, Lake Erie & Western, otherwise known as the “Bluebird” was recently robbed of more than $60,000 in equipment. Thefts broke into both the locomotive and the passenger coaches, taking a number of valuable wicker seat bottoms.

In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that we published the details from my personal trip aboard the Bluebird as well as some details about the history of the line.

As of right now, the TLE&W was already closed until June, pending FRA required trackwork. With this set-back, volunteers are unsure if the railroad will be able to open ever again. The TLE&W, like many cash-strapped tourism lines, cannot afford to insure their equipment from vandalism.

Source: Trains.com Newswire

The Sandusky District: Lewis Center to Worthington

Author: Kyle Montgomery
Category: Railfan Guides Railroads:


The following is our first guest post by Giles Kennedy, taking a quick look at the Sandusky District around the Columbus area. Giles runs a Facebook railfan group called The Ohio Railroader. If you like this article, be sure to check out his page and become a fan. Finally, if you would like to guest post on Ohio Valley Railroads give me a shout. We accept articles from all over the state (and sometimes even out of it).

Railfanning this section of ’s busy Sandusky Line can be a feast or famine without a scanner. Trains can bottleneck easily, leading to long dry spells and brief periods of excitement. But, when the trains do fly by, you get a piece of America’s class 1 railroading. In this post I’m going to go over the southern part of the route and point out some great places to park and railfan.We’ll start with the portion of the line between Lewis Center and Worthington.
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The Panama Canal Railroad Company

Author: Kyle Montgomery
Category: History Railroads:

Quick, what was the first transcontinental railroad? If you guessed the Union and Central Pacific’s combined route across the United States then I’m sorry, but technically you’re not correct. The original Panama Railway completed the first route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in 1855. I recently had an opportunity to ride the Panama Railway’s modern successor, the Panama Canal Railroad Company.

Though not exactly an Ohio railroad (a opportunity it misses by about 2,000 miles) I wanted to take some time to talk about this fascinating railroad, its history, and its present-day operations.


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Photo of the Week: CIND Stoors

Author: Kyle Montgomery
Category: Photo of the Week Railroads:

CIND Stoors

I always find railroad photos to be just that much better if something interesting can be worked into the background. This photo takes that concept to the extreme with the entire Cincinnati skyline behind #4070.

Flickr user mikebiehn contributed this shot to our Flickr pool. Originally it was taken in June of last year near the old River Road Amtrak station.

Photo of the Week: HV at Summit

Author: Kyle Montgomery
Category: Photo of the Week Railroads:

Rails- Summit rt328

We’re continuing our Hocking Valley theme this week with a look back at Summit station around 1983-1984 The above photo was posted by Hank Randal on Flickr. He has a number of interesting Hocking Valley photos posted, including the remains of Eagle Tunnel and some shots of the present-day Hocking Valley Scenic Railway.
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Interactive Hocking Valley and 200th Post

Author: Kyle Montgomery
Category: Updates


View Hocking Valley Railway in a larger map

Eagle-eyed reader will notice that earlier today I put up a page on the history of the Hocking Valley Railway. This is the first real railroad history on the site that I would consider anywhere close to complete. It showcases the direction I would like to go in the future on Ohio Valley Railroads, with pages of similar length and breadth for other lines across the state.

Beyond the brief history, I’ve put together an interactive map of the Hocking Valley (seen above). Clicking on this map will take you to Google Maps, where you can then study it in more detail. From there you can also load the file in Google Earth. Google Earth is my preferred way to view these maps (it’s how I create them), because the maps web page doesn’t handle all the landmarks very well. Some of the more obscure stations get pushed down on the priority list, and are best viewed in the client. That being said, the web page works fine for casual exploration of the route.

Above I called the Hocking Valley page complete, but I use that term loosely. There is so much information out there about this road. If you notice and errors or major omissions, do not hesitate to contact me. The page is also a little light on photos. If anyone has photos they would like to share please let me know. I prefer photos to be licensed with some form of Creative Commons license, like the rest of the site, but it’s not a requirement.

Additionally, this is the 200th post since I’ve started this site. Not only that, but Ohio Valley Railroads will be three years old next week. I’ll try to write something special to have up by then, but no promises.

Photo of the Week: Oakley Station

Author: Kyle Montgomery
Category: Photo of the Week Railroads: ,

DSC_0003

Our first photo of the week for 2011 comes on a little bit of a sad note. The above is a shot of the Oakley depot, on the old in Cincinnati. The station was originally built in 1903 as part of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad. It was an important stop for workers commuting to industries in Oakley, like Cincinnati Milacron.

While not a technically impressive photo, I wanted to bring attention to the fact that this historic depot is currently scheduled to be demolished. The owner, Doug Master, purchased the station in 1991 but can no longer afford the lease payments for the land it sits on. The payments to CSX are now $1,300 per quarter.

Currently there are no solid plans to save the station, although there has been some discussion about moving the station to land with more favorable arrangements. If anything solid develops we will post about it here.

If you have a photo of your own to show off, put it up on your Flickr account and add it to the Ohio Valley Railroads Flickr Pool. Include some details like the date, location, and subject matter. You might see it featured on the main site.

Merry Christmas 2010

Author: Kyle Montgomery
Category: Administration Railroads:

CNRY #55, still dressed for the holidays, sits stoic and silent in Lebanon yard. Drained for the winter, the locomotive eagerly awaits another tourist season.

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you and your family has a great holiday season. Normal posting should resume in a couple of days.

-Kyle

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