A very prominent sign for all to see.PENN CENTRAL
This page will be devoted to my visit to the Collinwood yard and diesel shop in Cleveland, Ohio back on March 10, 1976.
This was less than three weeks before the beginning of
Conrail and the one thing obvious to anyone familiar with the area
is the absence of the white stuff. Mother nature was kind in the
last winter of the PC and the other roads merged into Conrail.
A very prominent sign for all to see.
A overview shot of the diesel service area. GP7's dominate the scene.
Some interesting power here include two former PRR Alco's.
This big C630 was used moving coal and ore trains in and out of Mingo Jct.
WV. After the Conrail merger, the former
Lehigh Valley C628's joined these units in that service.
GP38 moves a B-unit out of the shop area. These GP38's were fairly new at
the time.
F7A 1697. 
F7A 4326. 
GP7 5747.
More F-units including 1779 & 4333.
Quite a lash up here, F7's, a U33C, a U25C, a C425 and a GP40.
Here's the C425 on the other end. This is a former PRR unit.
An EMD switcher moves a short cut of cars by QD tower. The operator
noticed me and I was invited up
inside. While there, the crew of a three unit F7 powered coal train came
in to find out where they were going to yard their train.
"Hey kid, want to ride in the cab?" Is the pope catholic!!
Now, off I go on a ride through a yard in a city not noted for its safety
on a train with an unknown destination and with the possibility the railroad
police might not think to highly of my invitation. Charge!!
Here is my train as seen from the tower.
Here we go, destination unknown.
The service area as viewed from the second unit's cab.
GP38 7962 is headed through the yard with an eastbound piggyback train.
Meeting another F7 powered train in the yard.
He is backing up, but there is a problem. There isn't enough room for his
train and the one I am riding.
After some debate, we lose and are told to reverse back to QD and wait until a
track long enough opens up. Couldn't have
planned this better myself.
The only hint of color this day, or any other for that matter were these
Cleveland Electric owned GP38's.
This Detroit Edison SD45 also added a little variation from the 'Brunswick
Green' of the PC.
A lite GP7 wanders around.
Having returned to our starting point, one last grab shot. Thanks
guys! Oh yes, while we were backing up, I saw
a group of railfans standing there taking pictures and they noticed me.
"How on earth did you get a ride!!" was the question later
when I met up with them. Collinwood had a unfriendly reputation according
to them, but obviously I discovered otherwise.
As I was walking away from my ride this eastbound appeared.
Another headlight to the east turned into this Erie Lackawanna freight heading
through the yard westbound.
Panning the camera on the EL unit, I snapped the meet right in front of
me. They were both moving.
Back on the ground, the fun now over, of course the sun comes out.
A look at the CE GP38's. The utility did not think to highly of Penn
Central's diesel fleet
and it's reliability, so they bought their own. Where are they today?
That's it for Collinwood. I never made it back there
again and it is now CSX property. I final thank you to the guys working
there
that day, if they are still with us. It has been 31 years now.
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