One of my favorite yearly events of the LM&;M Railroad are the Pumpkin Patch Express rides. These excursions travel from Lebanon to a farm just outside of Mason. While at the farm there are animals to view, a corn maze to navigate, and cider and apples to purchase. Oh, and a pumpkin patch too. This also happens to be the longest ride of the year and thus is great for people (like myself) who enjoy the train ride for pure entertainment as well as families. You can view my photos from last year on the post I wrote here. Now for a limited time students in grades K-12 can earn $3 off their pumpkin patch ticket with a quiz or test in which they earned an A. The full text of the press release is available to read on the other side of the “Read” link. Ride Times: Saturday & Sunday : 10 am, 1 pm & 4 pm Groups of 20 or more receive 20% discount.
Boarding is 15 minutes before departure.
Length of Train Ride:
2.5 hour event itinerary…
* 45-minute train ride to Schappacher Farm
* 1-hour layover at the Schappacher Farm
* 45-minute train ride back to Lebanon Station
127 S. Mechanic
Lebanon , OH 45036
Pumpkin Patch Special
Mad River & NKP Part 2
Yesterday I started sharing some highlights of the Mad River & Nickel Plate Museum in Bellevue, Ohio. Today I’ll be looking at the museum’s Coach Yard. This is the area for overflow equipment, privately owned equipment, and pieces awaiting restoration.
The coach yard occupies the space of Bellevue’s former New York Central depot. The first thing you’ll notice is the massive derrick crane. The 280,000 pound crane was built in 1923 and originally was steam powered. It was dieselized in 1959 and donated by NS in 1993.
Bellevue also joins the ranks of Lebanon and Waterville with their very own ex-Erie Lackawanna Commuter Coach. This one is notable for still having its electrical equipment in-tact.
Also noticeable for those with keen eyes are some relics from earlier times. The brick walkway was originally built for the depot and features bricks made from around the area. Above is pictured the concrete base where Bellevue’s semaphore was located.
Looking across the tracks one can see the Restoration Barn where most of the museum’s restoration work takes place. Today N&W #402 was parked in front. This was an instructional car built from and old baggage car.
This NYC snowplow was built in 1943 and weights 42.5 tons. It is steam operated with blades that can be extended to cover two tracks.
One of the more unique pieces of equipment is this car pusher build in 1920 by the Atlas Car Company in Cleveland. Its an electric locomotive that was used by the PRR at the coal docks in Sandusky, Ohio. It was donated to the museum in 1992.
I could go on writing posts all day about Bellevue, but you will just have to visit for yourself. It is clearly one of the better rail attractions in Ohio. The museum is open 12-4 daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day and some weekends in May, September, and October. For more information, be sure to visit their website. For more photos click here to go to the Ohio Valley Railroads Facebook page.
Steam in Mason this Weekend
The Lebanon, Mason, & Monroe Railroad is having their 2009 All Steamed Up event starting this Saturday. Flagg Coal #75 is in town and will be pulling trains on weekends from July 4th through the 19th. Ohio Valley Railroads covered this event when it was in Lebanon last year. I was lucky enough to be invited out to a media event today and was able to get some pictures for the site.
#75 is an 0-4-0 saddle-tank switcher built by the Vulcan Locomotive Works in 1930. It originally performed switching duties for the Flagg Coal company as engine #2. Around 1935 it was sold to a quarry in New York and renumbered to #75. In 1953 this engine and 12 others were sold to a locomotive museum where it sat for nearly 40 years. After the museum went defunct and the owner passed away, the locomotive was restored by Byron and John Gramling of Ashley, Indiana. In 2001 the restoration was finished and #75 was loaned to the Steam Railroading Institute of Owosso, Michigan to be used to pull tourist excursions.
Photo: Steam locomotives are quite the labor intensive process. Here certain purifiers are being added to the engine’s water.
Photo: GP7 #55 helps pull the train back to the Brazenhead Pub.
For these excursions the planned route is to cross the Tylersville Road intersection and head south along the former CL&N to somewhere near the end of track. The round trip is expected to take 45 minutes. This section of the line is on a steep 1.6% grade so expect to see the steam engine working hard as it travels south. Engine #55 should be along for the ride as well, used for pulling power on the northbound leg, additional braking help, as well as for additional safety on the grade crossings coming back. The difference between the locomotives of the 1930′s and the 1950′s is quite apparent, and a healthy contrast.
Photos: LM&M firemen Jim Malone will be working hard to keep the fire hot in #75.
The steam engine will be running on weekends during most of July. There will also be some special rides that include a Civil War campsite set up by local reenactors. For tickets check out LM&M’s website. All rides leave from the Brazenhead Pub in Mason. I’ll continue to cover the steam events as they happen. Those who subscribe will never miss out.
Update: The Western Star has an article on the “All Steamed Up” event.
Report from the Whitewater Valley
View Larger Map
A few weeks ago, the Whitewater Valley Railroad started their 2009 excursion season. The Whitewater Valley is a non-profit tourist railroad that runs from Connersville to Metamora in Indiana (see map above). Earlier in the year I was invited on their annual pre-season inspection trip and have a few shots of the line to share. I’ll start with a quick photo of the power for the day, heading north out of Connersville and into the WVRR’s yard. Ex-P&G S-1 #9339 was also on hand for yard switching duties.
It was a little chilly on the crisp Saturday morning, but the ride was no less scenic. The Whitewater Valley owns 18 miles of track along the Whitewater River and we got to see the majority of it. Here’s a shot from their tallest bridge over the river.
The Whitewater Valley runs along the towpath of the historic Whitewater Canal. The railroad was originally built as the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad over the length of the canal. The line eventually came to be part the Big Four, the New York Central, Penn Central, and finally Conrail. The Whitewater Valley began leasing their line from Penn Central in 1974 and formally purchased it in 1983. In a number of places the canal is still visible, and near Metamora it is partially restored as part of tourist operation during the summer.
Here’s another shot of the shops at Metamora. Not a lot was open but I’m sure once Spring hits in earnest things will get a lot more exciting here.
One of the Whitewater Valley’s wooden cabooses were also part of our train. This made for some interesting (and lengthy) switching moves at the runaround track at Metamora.
I had a good experience at my visit to the Whitewater Valley Railroad. There still were some bugs to be worked out with the crew, but I’m sure when open to the public everything went fine. I intend to return as soon as I can this summer to get some more photos with the summer foilage. If any readers are looking for something a little farther and different than the LM&M I would recommend them. It makes a nice day trip from Cincinnati.
References:
New Name, New Design, Same Site
Well, it took a little longer than I expected, but I would like to welcome everyone to the new Lebanon Railroads site, which has been renamed Ohio Valley Rail.
It turns out that as much as I enjoy writing about Lebanon, only 1 road every went through the town and I felt like the title was a bit limiting. I’ll still be writing plenty about the LM&M and the CL&N, but now I feel like I have the freedom to expand out and write about other railroads.
In addition to the new name, the site also has a new address. Feel free to update your bookmarks to our new domain at www.ohiovalleyrail.com (or, ya know, don’t update cause the old domain will work too). Also check out the new favicon that shows up in your browser. If you squint hard enough you can see a steam locomotive in front of the state of Ohio.
Since we were getting a new name already, I went ahead and took the opportunity to completely overhaul the site. It looks a bit different doesn’t it? I hope you enjoy the new design (email me if you don’t). I want to go ahead and point out some new features the reader might be interested in.
- New Feeds: I’ve replaced blogger as the default feed for the site with feedburner.com. This allows me to add a number of new features to our rss feed and also allows the new subscribe by email option. RSS too complicated for you? Just type your email address in that form on the upper-right and click subscribe. Ohio Valley Rail updates will soon be flowing to your inbox.
- Amazon: There’s a new Amazon banner that I worked into the header of the page. It should feature railroad related products most of the time. It’s there if you’re interested, if not ignore it.
- Categories: Also up top I added some navigation to the most popular categories on the site. Clicking History for instance brings up all posts that relate to history.
- Posting Schedule: Finally I’m going to experiment with something different when it comes to my posting schedule. As close as I can manage, I’m going to attempt to post on Fridays with a history post every week. On Wednesdays, I’ll try and post something about modeling. This may not happen every week because I don’t write about modeling, but when I do it will be on Wednesday. If I have time, I’ll also write a Sunday or Monday post and this could be about anything. We’ll see how it works, but hopefully I can get into a rhythm and keep everyone coming back for more.
In conclusion, I hope you are excited about the new site as much as I am. I thrive on feedback, so let me know what you think. And remember, the comment box is always open under every post for your use. Now go out read some articles, and enjoy!
Please be patient over the next hour or so (hopefully) while I update Lebanon Railroads with a new design. They’ll be new colors, a new name, and all kinds of shiny goodness, so stick around cause it’s going to be awesome!
Also, it’s a perfect time to use this under construction graphic. It’s 1998 all over again!
LM&M Easter Bunny Express
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.
LM&M Starts 2009 Season
Tomorrow marks the beginning of another year of tourist operation for the Lebanon Mason & Monroe Railroad. This will be 24th year of excursions in Lebanon and the surrounding communities. The LM&M looks to be continuing the business plan of the last several years, featuring a calendar loaded with special events. Here’s a quick look at their 2009 Calendar.
- Easter Bunny Express
- Railroad Revealed
- Civil War Train
- Curious George
- All Steamed Up!
- Muggles Express
- Clifford’s Big Red Train Ride
- Mason Heritage Festival
- Day Out With Thomas
- Pumpkin Patch Express
- Tea Party Mystery Train
- Mystery Dinner Train
- Lebanon Carriage Parade Shuttles
- North Pole Express
- One Hour Train Ride
This year also marks the return of tourist operation to Mason for the first time since the 1990′s. Due to refurbishment of several bridges along the Lebanon Branch the track is currently out of operation until July (something we covered extensivly earlier in the year). Instead the LM&M will be running their early events in the year from their Mason Station located at the Brazenhead Pub on the corner of Route 42 and Tylersville Road. From there they will be running through Mason, across Hageman Junction, and to the LM&M Junction located at the Southwest Golf Ranch.
For those who might be looking for a cheaper vacation close to home, or just wanting to spend some time with the family on a weekend, I would recommend the calm trip down old CL&N tracks. For more information and to purchase tickets, check out http://www.lebanonrr.com/.
Update: I’ve obtained an exclusive image taken on a camera phone of CNRY #55 at the Mason Station awaiting the first passengers of the season.
