TOLEDO DAYS
In retrospect, it was a fascinating time to be living in Toledo from the mid 1960's to 1975. Although times were not good for railroads in general, the Midwest was still a hub of tremendous railroad activity. I just wish I had taken many more photos than I did. But those were also early days of a work career as well as time devoted to a rapidly growing family. So, maybe I was lucky to get what I did. In Toledo, the major story was the impact of the NYC - Pennsy merger into the ill fated Penn Central as well as the loss of icons such as the 20th Century Limited. But Toledo was still a busy rail hub, and it was wonderful to have this activity all around town.
The
New York Central was the main railroad through Toledo and had its junction with
its line north to Detroit right in the city. Stanley Yards were their
main yards and had a pedestrian bridge over the middle of the yard. This
proved to be my favorite train watching spot in town and I could follow what
was still a constant parade of freight and passenger trains passing underneath
me.
The
merger of the Pennsy and New York Central into the ill fated Penn Central was
still big news among railfans. Everybody sort of hoped it would work (despite
mourning the loss of the predecessor railroads) and we did find it interesting
to see the locomotives appearing in the new PC paint schemes. That is
long gone now as are these early Alco diesel freight units.
Toledo
was not just a NYC city and the Baltimore and Ohio had a major route to Detroit
through town as well as to their coal and ore docks on Lake Erie. Walbridge
Yards and engine terminal on the east side of the Maumee river were their major
facility. Merger was the big news here, too, as the B&O had recently
been adsorbed by the C&O Railroad. After the bland paint schemes
applied to recent B&O diesels, it was refreshing to see the new "Chessie"
paint schemes starting to show up.
This
didn't happen every day, much as I would like to think it should have.
But on occasions, Mary Jane and the kids would join me on a trip to the rail
yards. Here she is with the twins, Nick and Bryan, and with baby Pat.
Nick is the only one showing any enthusiasm, and ironically he is, today, the
only one with any interest in model trains!
Although
declining rapidly into the late 1960's, one could still see vestiges of the
passenger network that served Toledo. This is a C&O train that ran
from Cincinnati to Detroit heading south from Toledo Union Station.
Despite
the earlier picture, this really didn't happen that frequently. But here
is a trip to the station to watch the trains come and go. Great fun for
all.
A
delightful little trolley museum set up shop in Olmsted, Ohio just west of Cleveland.
We could ride some beautifully preserved trolleys around a couple of mile loop
and then stop for some ice cream in a converted passenger car out front.
What
we did ride regularly was the Blue Bird. A local group got a lease on
a beautiful C&O ten wheeler and restored it into operating condition.
They leased some cabooses and later some heavyweight coaches (the blue one on
the rear was the basis for the name) and ran on a seven mile branch line to
an abandoned quarry. The line ran through the suburban part of town and
passed some amazingly rural scenery.
The ride was informal, we got to recognize many of the crew and best of all, when we moved into our house in Ottawa Hills, we could hear the whistle of the train each weekend.
Sadly, the B&O Railroad Museum, after seeing the quality of the restoration, cancelled the lease and asked for their loco back. It can still be seen at the museum. The railroad operated with a variety of motive power since and in a variety of locations in the Toledo area. Never has it matched the early days of this beautiful train on a beautiful route.
I
left Toledo for Phoenix in May of 1975 and in April of that year, the eastern
version of the Freedom train came to Toledo. It not only came to town,
but took the B&O line into town that passed along the eastern edge of Glenn
and Marty Everett's property. We, needless to say, had a front seat to
watch it pull through. The eastern version was pulled by this big Reading
4-8-4 Northern. I got some shots of it in the Wallbridge roundhouse some
time earlier being readied for excursion service.
Check the photos for Arizona to see what then came to Phoenix just six months later!