The City of Cleveland was not just parked randomly on the shore of Lake Erie, it was built around the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, which provided port infrastructure that later allowed the city to become an industrial hub where iron ore delivered via boat could be combined with coal delivered via rail to create steel. Later the river port became useful in international trade with other industrial concerns able to send and receive their goods via the St. Lawrence Seaway. Although the river is best known for catching fire several times in the mid-20th century due to extreme amounts of pollution, the more lasting legacy are the large number of drawbridges that span the river as it winds its way through the historic Flats part of the city to the large industrial zone several miles inland.
In the fall of 2020 I went on a little walk from the east side of DRAWBRIDGE interlocking, located at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, to the west side. DRAWBRIDGE interlocking and its associated Bridge One srawbridge are located on the former Conrail Chicago Line and is today owned by Norfolk Southern as part of its New York - Chicago corridor. Also included in this set are photos from Berea, OH, about 20 miles west of Bridge One and a major train watching hotspot where NS and CSX lines briefly meet. The full set of both Drawbridge and Berea photos can be found here ( mirror ).
The New York Central's BE tower, later renamed BEREA under Conrail, still stands in Berea, Ohio although the interlocking it once controlled has been split between Norfolk Southern and CSX. The late model Central tower was built at the western junction of the Water Level Route main line and the Cleveland Short Line with a 144 level GRS Model 5 pistol grip type interlocking machine. Closed at the very tail end of the Conrail era in 1997, the interlocking itself remained unchanged for another decade despite the fact that the two lines it controlled had been sold to competing railroads. Not surprisingly, the entire complex was rebuilt split between the two railroads, but BEREA tower itself has remained standing as an NS crew facility.
When I arrived at BEREA early on a Saturday morning a a spike of local railfans were already on site with lawn chairs due to the impending arrival of a Canadian Pacific heritage unit as run-through power on a CSX intermodal train. While waiting quite a few NS trains passed by on the Chicago Line, the first of these being an eastbound stack train led by NS AC44C6M's #4214 and #4168.
Berea Union Depot has been since transformed into a railroad theme restaurant, likely knowing the tastes of the majority users of the Station's parking facility. The need for a Union station here predates the Central's takeover of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern and Big Four railroads.
A westbound TOFC train featured NS ES44AC #8067 and #4380, one of the latest AC44C6M conversions.
The next train, and eastbound NS manifest job, featured a bevy of power including two AC44C6M's, #4163 and #4241, C40-10W #7606, SD70ACe #1177 and two SD40-2's #3229 and #3301. Note the signal masts in the foreground located on the former Short Line to Chicago Line connecting track where the ownership changes between NS and CSX.
The Canadian Pacific SD70ACU #7018 heritage unit eventually arrived with a second CP unit, ES44AC #8867, on the rear of the eastbound doublestack train.
DRAWBRIDGE tower is another former New York Central structure built in the 1960's to manage Bridge One and the surrounding trackage. Under Conrail DRAWBRIDGE came to control the critical junction between the Chicago and Cleveland Lines that linked both of Conrails main routes between the East Coast and Chicago. After the Conrail split, Chicago Line through traffic was shifted to the Cleveland Short Line under CSX, but the operator at DRAWBRIDGE was still on hand to orchestrate movements of boats and freight trains as Bridge One's deck sits only a few feet above the water level. DRAWBRIDGE was closed as an interlocking tower around 2018 and for a time the work of raising and lowering the bridge was done remotely as well, however this caused massive delays to marine traffic and NS ultimately put bridge operation back on site.
The area of Cleveland along the north end of the river is known as The
Flats. Once an industrial center, today it is a dining and
entertainment complex and is served by the Cleveland light rail's
Waterfront Line that connects the Terminal Tower transit hub with the
lakefront NFL stadium and Amtrak station. Here we see RTA LRV #842
departing the Settler's Cove light rail station for the lakefront and
#834 heading towards Terminal Tower.
The Baltimore and Ohio's BRIDGE 463 is one of several disused drawbridges in The Flats and currently stands adjacent to a concert venue with the operator's cabin potentially converted into VIP seating.
Across the peninsula from BRIDGE 463 is BRIDGE 464, also on the B&O line to the lakefront.
BRIDGE 464 is located next to a popular restaurant is and popularly used for couples photos.
Here we are at the western end of DRAWBRIDGE interlocking with NS C44-9W #9401, AC44C6M #4058 and SD70ACU #7270 heading towards Bridge One and the tower with a loaded crude oil train.
The Conrail Cleveland Line used to be the PRR's Main Line Alliance to Cleveland and the PRR had trackage rights through the NY Central's DB interlocking to access yard track on the western bank of the Cuyahoga River. Until the tower was closed and the interlocking re-signaled, two PRR style position light dwarf signals reflected this heritage where the NS cantilever stands today.
The Bridge One operator works from the top floor of DRAWBRIDGE tower and due to the extremely low clearance, the bridge is raised by default unless a train is approaching. The procedure involves sounding an alertness horn and then moving the vertical lift span.
To reach DRAWBRIDGE tower one must cross the Willow Ave lift bridge that spans a side branch of the Cuyahoga River. Although the channel is used by bulk materials ships, the bridge will frequently rise for pleasure craft.
To emphasize the continued industrial nature of the Cuyahoga River, the MV American Courage showed up with a load of ore destined for the large Republic Steel mill south of town. This ship itself is rail related as it is powered by 2 EMD 20-645E diesel engines.
Proceeding to the Cleveland Street swing bridge at a walking pace, I was able to catch up with the American Courage as it passed by the open bridge and under the Detroit-Superior Bridge. The ability for the ship's pilot to navigate the narrow waterway in a loaded 24,000 ton vessel was impressive!
Back at the east end of DRAWBRIDGE interlocking a Clear signal was displayed on the 5W signal for a westbound train off the Cleveland Line. The small sign next to the signal marks the change between the Cleveland and Chicago Lines as this end of the interlocking had been previously re-worked to give NS trains on the East Coast - Chicago corridor a straight shot through the plant. Currently Amtrak's Lake Shore and Capitol Limiteds are the only scheduled movements to use the old Chicago Line alignment to access the Waterfront station east of DRAWBRIDGE.
Fortunately for my ride, I did not have to wait long as a double stack intermodal train soon arrived led by NS SD70ACe #1185 and C44-9W #9392.
I'll finish up with this B roll shot of the former New York Central Terminal Tower in downtown Cleveland. While arguably the most famous piece of rail related infrastructure in Cleveland and once the tallest building west of New York City, today it is little more than a struggling shopping mall with a transit hub in the basement. I had visited it twice before in the pre-digital era and therefore so little reason to re-visit this time around, however it is on my list for future Cleveland excursions.
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