Tag Archives: Ohio

Conrail, Conrail, CSX-Chessie-SBD-CRR-L&N-SCL-ACL, NS, NYC, Penn Central, Railroad General Discussions, Railroad History

Berea, Ohio Interlocking- Conrail, Penn Central, New York Central- now Norfolk Southern & CSX

Berea, Ohio Interlocking, or BE Tower- has always been a busy spot for railroad traffic.  Originally part of the Lake Shore Michigan Southern (LS&MS), Big Four, and Cleveland Union Terminal (CUT), then to New York Central (NYC), and Penn Central (PC- 1968), Conrail (CR- 1976), then to Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX (1998-99).

To this day BE Tower is still a busy place.  The tower is no longer used today, but still stands.  The original CUT/NYC Depot still stands as well, across the Short Line track along Railroad St.  This place is a great spot for railfanning.

The lines running through BE are now NS’s Dearborn Division-Chicago Line (west of Cleveland, OH- ex-LS&MS/NYC Water Level/PC Buffalo-Chicago Line-Lake/Toledo Div./Conrail Dearborn Div.-Chicago Line), and CSX’s Chicago Line (east of Cleveland, OH), Short Line (NYC/PC/CUT Branch- Cleveland Short Line Branch/Conrail Short Line) and Indianapolis Line (PC Columbus-St. Louis Line, Columbus Div./CR Indianapolis Div. and Line).  The W&LE regional railroad also runs a few trains through here.   All of the lines actually run at a SW to NE direction at BE Tower, then west and east, and north and south.

The Chicago Line (NS side) runs west to Toledo, OH and Chicago, IL, and the east side (CSX) runs to Buffalo, and Albany, NY.  The Short Line starts at BE Tower, and runs to Short, Parma, orig. to the Flats, White, Collinwood Yard, then to Alliance, and Pittsburgh, PA.  The Indianapolis Line runs south to Galion, OH where it branches off to Columbus, OH, and splits west to Marion, OH, Indianapolis, IN,  and St. Louis, MO.

Below is a map of BE Interlocking duinrg Conrail days:

Photo of Berea, OH Interlocking Map by 1-West Productions™/PJ

(map by 1-West Productions™/P. Jordan)

One can see many freight types of stack, TOFC, auto rack, coal, locals, and more.  Also Amtrak runs trains 29, 30, 48, 49.  Most if not all of the original NYC/PC/CR signals have been taken down and updated to modern signals by NS & CSX.  CSX also double-tracked the ex-CR Short Line after the Conrail split between NS in 1998-99.  Over 100 trains a day pass through BE, with NS having the most traffic. Railroad scanner frequencies in use today are:  NS- 161.070, 160.980, 160.350 MHz, and CSX-160.800, 160.485, 160.860 MHz.

Our new video BEREA, OHIO INTERLOCKING WITH CONRAIL & AMTRAK, 1996™, shows BE during Conrail in 1996.  At that time BE tower was still in use, and many freights, including Amtrak, were filmed on all the lines at this location.  This video, originally filmed by Keith Lehman, was orignally our Keith’s Trains Series™ #50 title, which was remastered and updated to our new title. 

 

© 2018 1-West Productions™/PJ

 

 

NS, NS

NS in the 1990s

What was the NS like in the ’90s era?  Things were still pretty much

Photo of NS in 1990s 1-West Productions

the same as in the ’80s, with standard older units in NS, N&W, & SOU paint, fallen flag freight names on equipment, a few cabooses, older track layouts, original signals, and more.  The 90s also brought the new Triple Crown service between CR & NS, and the newer W&LE Class 2 regional RR out of Bellevue & Brewster, OH.  NS 1990s Part I is a good example of this coverage.

 

Photo of W&LE train 1990, 1-West Productions

 

Also the ’90s brought more freight cars with the applied NS roadname, CSX cars were showing up more on trains as well.  NS GP30s and SD35s were showing up in loco deadlines, fewer cabooses were being seen on freight trains, although still being used on most locals.   Steam excursions were still on the rails, but coming to a slow down due to NS’s concern over liability concerns, after a few derailments.

 

 

Photo of N&W 1218 steam by 1-West Productions/PJ

The NS merger proved to be one of the very few mergers that made sense, and actually prospered financially and efficiently, until the CR break-up in 1999 with CSX.

 

We will cover NS in the ’90s in our NORFOLK SOUTHERN 1990s™ Series as they become available.  We also cover NS in the 90s in our Keith’s Trains™ Series.

 

 

 

 

Blog Article & All Photos © Copyright 2016 1-WP™/PJ

 

1-West Productions™ Series Railroad DVDs- Vintage, Featured Products

NORFOLK SOUTHERN 1980s Ohio Lines Series from 1-West Productions™

NORFOLK SOUTHERN 1980s Ohio Lines Series from 1-West Productions is produced and available for purchase on this website, exclusively from 1-West Productions™.  We have Vintage titles, such as in our NOROFLK SOUTHERN 1980s Ohio Lines™ Series avilable for purchase.  Converted from original color VHS tape, filmed in the 1980s, this Series captures what NS looked like during its early years of the merger.  Most scenes are shown around the Bellevue, OH area, one of NS’s main Terminals of the time.

1wpftrsrsBBBellevue originally was home of the PRR (Sandusky Branch Main that later was purchased by the N&W in the 60s), Nickel Plate (Buffalo and Chicago Mains), Wheeling & Lake Erie (Toledo and Brewster Mains), and the New York Central (Toledo Branch that went to Elyria).  In the 1960s and 70s, Bellevue was the home of just the Penn Central, and N&W, and then just NS in the 1980s to today.

NS was formed in 1982, by the merging of the N&W and Southern Railways, to keep up with the soon-to-be merging of Chessie and Seaboard System, to form CSX in 1986.

This Series shows many fallen flags on freight equipment on NS trains, older facilities, crossovers, track layouts, and switches that have since changed, older signals, some cabooses, older EMD and GE locomotives, caboose and locomotive deadlines, older yard shots, and more.  Not all trains are the same, and the transition of the merger shows as time goes on. This Series is a must-have for collectors and railfans alike.

All DVDs in this Series have part narration, subtitles, disc menus, original sound, and color, original content, approx. 60 mins each, and video to Standard Digital and 4:3 format.

Buy yours today for your collection or library Here.

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