If you don't know what Larry's Truck and Electric company of McDonald, Ohio is, you have certainly seen the photos of derelict locomotives stretching as far as the eye can see. Better known by its LTEX reporting mark, Larry set up shop on the grounds of an old US Steel mill and started purchasing just about every cast off locomotive under the sun to become a major player in the locomotive leasing and parts market. In the fall of 2020 I used the opportunity of an unrelated trip to Cleveland to pay my first visit to the famous Larry's Truck Electric facility followed by an additional stop at CP-RAVE in Ravenna, Ohio to document the former Conrail signals at the interlocking there as well as the NS freight traffic on the line. You can see the complete set of photos here ( mirror ).
Larry's Tuck is best known for images like these of his massive storage yard. The crazier part is that there is an equally large separate stash of engines on the western end of the facility.
Some of the standout engines visible from the bridge include this pair of ex-US Navy GE 44-ton switchers along with Raritan Center Railway B23-7 #3110 that used to operate in North Jersey.
On the other side of the bridge was former Amtrak F40PH #344 that still looks to be in pretty good condition.
The whole place reminds me of the aircraft boneyard at Davis Montan Air Force Base where all sorts of historic oddities are just littered about like these END SW series switchers with trees growing out of them.
Of course not everything Larry owns is up on blocks and a number of MP15DC's including #1563 and #1551 were hanging out in fresh paint with brand new engine modifications.
SW1500 #1532 in B&LE colors was parked out a bit further away.
Moving on to CP-RAVE, once a side operation off the PRR Main Line to Chicago via Fort Wayne, the Cleveland Line had seen a massive increase in traffic starting in the 1980's as traffic patterns changed under Conrail to send "PRR" freights via the former NY Central's Lake Shore and Michigan Southern route by way of Cleveland. Despite this new traffic, by the time of the Conrail split in 1999 the line still retained its PRR era single direction ABS Rule 251 signal configuration with limited crossovers. A late term closure of RAVE tower in 1995 resulted in a fairly modern interlocking with Conrail style target signals replacing it.
When Conrail moved forward on the second phase of its Pittsburgh to Cleveland cab signal project in the 1998 time frame, there was no reason to re-replace such a new interlocking and when the project was completed under Conrail successor Norfolk Southern, 'C' lamps were simply bolted to the existing color light masts to support the Rule 280a Clear to Next Interlocking indication that were part of Conrail's process of eliminating wayside intermediate signals in favor of cab signals.
I didn't have to wait long for a train to show up in the form of an eastbound manifest freight with NS C40-10W #7658 and C44-9W #9184 leading and AC44C6M #4271 with C44-9W #9184 helping mid-train.
No sooner had the first train passed than the #1 switch reversed and a Limited Clear indication was displayed on the 2E signal. If the right of way looks wide here its because RAVE was where the double track Y&R Connection split off from the two main tracks to join with the eastbound B&O main line as PRR trains had trackage rights to Niles Junction to serve the industry rich Mahoning Valley.
The second train, a TOFC intermodal, soon arrived with NS SD70ACe #1044 and AC44C6M #4006.
With 20 miles between CP-RAVE and the next crossover at CP-ALLIANCE, the faster intermodal would likely have no problem overtaking the slower manifest freight before reaching the Fort Wayne Line.
Although another Clear signal indication immediately appeared on the 2E mast, it was starting to rain and I had to get back on the road.
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