Re: PC: Cleveland area tracks

["J. Henry Priebe Jr." <root@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004, Alfred Olsen wrote:

> Last Monday afternoon I was sitting in Terminal D of
> the Cleveland airport waiting for a connection. 
> Searching maps I've discovered the highway right next
> to it is 480.  On the other side of the highway is a
> railline on which I saw a NS intermodal fly by.
> 
> Was that a former Conrail/PC line? 
> 
> I thought it was ironic that that terminal is so close
> to both a road AND a railroad!

That area is actually a major rail hotspot.

The ex-NYC LS&MS (Lakeshore) main is the closest set of tracks to Hopkins and
is used by NS now. Rockport Yard is just northwest of the airport as is CP 190
(Belt Jct) where NYC's Cleveland Short Line (CSL/Short Line) ends at the
Lakeshore line. Rockport Yard is on the Short Line between CP 190 and CP SHORT
(Short Line Jct) where the CSL and ex-Big Four (CCC&Stl) crossed. I-480 runs
right by Rockport Yard.

Berea is due south of the airport and is where the Lakeshore and Big Four
lines come together. In NYC/PC/CR days it was a major interchange point where
Lakeshore and Big Four trains would crossover onto each other's mains, but
today the connections are rusty as NS runs the Lakeshore to Toledo and CSX
uses the Big Four to get to the B&O main at Greenwich, OH (greenwitch not
grennitch) and Indianapolis. Berea was one of CR's biggest hot spots as it was
the choke point for all east-west trains running through Cleveland.

Cleveland RTA's heavy rail trainsit line also terminates at Hopkins and uses
both Lakeshore and Cleveland Union Terminal (CUT) RoWs to get from there to
downtown. Back in the days of CUT electrification, passenger trains would swap
juice motors at Linndale (northeast of Rockport on the Big Four) and
steam on trains to and from downtown Cleveland.

Even though trains through Berea don't swap lines anymore, it is still a great
railfanning spot as there is lots of traffic on both NS and CSX.

Berea's depot is now a restaurant with a bar and an outside patio, it's a 
great place to relax and catch a lot of rail action.

Henry

J. Henry Priebe Jr.    Blue Moon Internet Corp Network Administrator
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