Kevin’s Komments 02/08/2023
Scenes that won’t be seen on the Cincinnati Northern!
A couple years back, I started dropping some miscellaneous pics in a folder labeled “Not for CNor.” Each pic had caught my eye, but was quickly demoted to the file where – “Nope, I don’t think I can use this one on the club layout.” The file has gone untouched & unnoticed for essentially the two years since I made it and filed away these shots. …until yesterday… I stumbled upon the file. I stared at it quizzically. Opened it, and then chuckled to myself remembering why I put these photos in this file. I added a few pics yesterday and today, but 75% were in the file for 2 years. It makes a bit of an eclectic collection, but interesting pics.
This is ConRail CR #4856, 1977, a GG1. (Actually, at the head of a set of three GG1s.) There were at least a couple PRR crossings on the CNor, but those PRR lines were not electrified. This is Royalton, PA, so while probably a bit more hilly than Western Ohio, the scenery in the pic is close to what we see. The scene is a bit later than we model. ConRail ran the CNor during part of its modern history. But, I don’t think you’ll find a ConRail GG1 (nor a Pen Central nor PRR GG1) on or near the CNor track. …and the van is a bit modern for us.
I didn’t spend any time looking up this electric loco – but it’s definitely a cool looking beast! It looks like a total of 4 units. But, no electric on the CNor.
As much as several members of the club have shown an interest in Shays, I doubt we’ll ever seriously run Shays on the CNor, nor any of the geared steamers. I guess we could model after the NYC that bought and used several in city service, but not in Ohio & Michigan. This is Western Maryland #6, a class C Shay that is now running on Cass Scenic Railroad. #6 was the last and largest Shay built by Lima Locomotive Works, Lima, OH. Since Lima is actually fairly close to the Cincinnati Northern, I suppose we could model a Lima Shay being transported to its owner (???). Still a bit early for our era (‘50s).
I don’t think we’ll ever have a UP Big Boy on the Cincinnati Northern. This is UP #4012 actually parked long term – note the chipped and faded paint. Even if we manage to justify something like a Challenger on or crossing CNor tracks, we would never be as disrespectful as to allow a tree to grow in its tender!
Amtrak? – Nope. Too modern. And passenger service was dropped on the CNor long before the ‘50s.
This photo isn’t totally off from the Cincinnati Northern in the ‘50s. The Bud car is getting close to our era – but probably never seen on the CNor. Check out the semaphore signals – if the CNor had signals, they were not likely to be semaphores (the CNor ran mostly dark). That’s a bit of a serious snow for our part of the country. I guess it wouldn’t be terribly unusual on the Northern half of the RR, but we tend to model late spring to late summer. The three story brick structures are decent prototypes for the medium size town structures we model.
Now that’s an awe inspiring railroad scene! The landscape is just a bit too vertical for our railroad.
Here’s a great vintage pic. That appears to be an early 10 wheeler, UP #1227, with a camelback behind, UP #766. There’s a pretty good size passenger train being pulled with wood combines and coaches. That’s the large steel trestle at Dale Creek. Unfortunately, the scene, era, and train just doesn’t match our modeling.
…Similar issue with this fantastic 1884 pic of the High Bridge – part of the Denver & Rio Grande. Also, the wrong gauge.
Here’s a great pic of loggers with large logs on skeleton trucks, Coats-Fordney Lumber Company, near Aberdeen, CA., 1920. Ohio was mostly stripped of large lumber like this by the turn of the 20th century. So not much logging was going on in the state, and certainly not for logs of this size.
Car ferries are a fantastic part of railroading that seems to have gotten a bit more popular recently. Unfortunately, the CNor didn’t contact directly with any bodies of water worthy of a car ferry. This is obviously one of the car ferries on the Jersey side across from NY City. But I don’t have much other info on the pic. (Maybe we could create an extension to Lake Erie!!!)
This pic shows a two unit NH RDC train coming from the Dover Street engine terminal, where RDCs were serviced. The train is headed towards South Station passing over the Fort Point Channel bridge. This photo was taken from South Station’s Tower One sometime in the late 1960s. So…We won’t be modeling RDC trains, no semaphores, and as much as some of us would love to take up the challenge of modeling track work like this – I don’t think we’ll get the opportunity.
As general superintendent of the Cincinnati Northern Model RR Club, I promise that our rails will never look like this!
This is N&W #608 on the turntable at the N&W Roanoke engine facilities, 1947. #608 is a Class J streamlined Northern, 4-8-4. The Roanoke roundhouse was a huge facility that completely circled the turntable except for the two entry tracks seen on the opposite side of the photo. Unfortunately, none of the CNor roundhouses can match this size, and a loco like the #608 would have torn up the light rail on the CNor mainline.
Let’s start with the auto – a Duesenberg Model J. I suppose we could have one somewhere on the CNor. The loco appears to be the PRR S1 Duplex, 6-4-4-6. This was a one of a kind unit that helped pull the PRR Broadway Limited from New York to Chicago. The S1 specifically pulled the Broadway Limited from Crestline, Ohio to Chicago. So, it likely crossed the CNor at the PRR crossing in Van Wert (I think). So…if we shift our era back about a decade, we could model this scene!
This is a ‘50s shot at the Cincinnati Union Terminal engine facilities. The engine facilities were a union facility accommodating the many lines that operated through Union Terminal. In the foreground are some late model steamers from the N&W and NYC. In the background is a set of B&O F-units, and a NYC set of diesels. All the locos shown appear to be for passenger service. On the CNor, the only location on the line that serviced a number of lines was Jackson. I suppose we could model something similar at Jackson, but none of these locos would ever wander unto CNor track.
Here’s a woodburning American, 4-4-0, in Wisconsin. We’ve seen from the recent CNor loco roster study that Americans that ran on CNor track were converted to coal.
Here’s the SP roundhouse displaying steam locos that wouldn’t run on the CNor. I believe all these steamers were oil powered.
This is a modern shot of the Mount Washington Cog Railway. No explanation required.
…A bit of a break from the normal – just an eclectic group of interesting railroad photos.
Thx,
Kevin
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