(erielack) Best EL Fantrip

[RJFlei_@_aol.com]

Can we throw in a CONRAIL trip run on EL trackage?

This would be in 1976 running from Kent to Greenville, Pa. via the Second 
District with RDG # 2102. The photo runby was at Johnson's, which is between 
Cortland and Latimer. These trips were on beautiful spring days. Couldn't ask for 
better weather, as I recall. 

The 2102 was turned over to the B&LE at Shenango and turned on the Bessemer's 
turntable at Greenville. 

The return trip was via the First District (Youngstown) to Kent.

I rode the train the first weekend and chased it the second weekend. As I 
recall, we began to leave Kent (Eastbound) and stopped. This was with 19 cars, 
heading up grade, on a curve. I thought that ther was no way that engine was 
gonna start that train under those conditions without a helper. Was I surprised ! 
 2102 started this train with NO problem. I was impressed. 

On the way back we ran out of coal and had to wait for quite a while to get 
moving again. This was somewhere west of Warren. TV-97 was behind us. They cut 
off their power and shoved us into Kent. CONRAIL couldn't have been very happy 
with this scenario. 

The following weekend I chased the train and tried to find parts of the 
railroad that I thought might cause the engine to work hard for the purpose of 
shooting some slides. On this Division ther are a number of 1 % grades. 

I caught it at Philllips- Rice Rd. in Cortland (E/B), moving slowly. A pretty 
good show. Then at Johnson's during the photo run by. That was , OK, too. On 
the return trip (W/B)I tried to get some pics on Hubbard hill. The pics were 
OK, but the engine wasn't working hard at all. 

I was able to gain access to the B&LE roundhouse area where the turntable was 
(and still is, as far as I know), to shoot the 2102 being turned. 

Unfortunately, there were mechanical problems with the engine. The Hennesy 
driving box lubricators weren't working properly. Every few miles the engine had 
to be stopped and STP was applied to the bearings. 

This sort of reminded me of a Penn Central sander. Do you know what that is? 
There was an incident on PC in Youngstown where the sanders on a certain PC 
engine were not working, and one of the crewmen had to walk along in front of 
the engine with a bucket of sand, to sand the rails ! Those were the dark days 
of railroading for sure. 

Anyway that was my first and only fantrip on the EL. 

Many years previous, the Erie ran a fantrip to Lisbon. You'd have to talk Cal 
Banse or Frank Vollhardt. to get any information on that trip. I think the 
power for that was was K-5 Pacific # 2929. Wish I could have been there for that 
one.

A little off subject is this : the B&O used to run fantrips through this area 
from Newcastle? to Fairport Harbor. They were called Maple Specials. They 
were run in the early spring I think. Several were powered by EM-1 2-8-8-4's. 
Seen pics of them with gondola cars equipped with benches or something on that 
order. Railfans were hanging all over these things. That would be enough to give 
a modern railroad a heart attack, considering today's ambulance chasers.

Rick Fleischer
ELHS 1426


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