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From: "V DOT C DOT Stagnitto" stagnitv AT verizon DOT net
Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 22:41:23 -0500
Subject: Re: (erielack) Not Quite The Last Trip, But............
"Train28Ticket.jpg" - image/jpeg, 81171 bytes, 428x1248 (24bit)

You've caused me to reminisce! For me it's also a case of 'not quite the
last trip, but.....'

There were several forecasted last days of operation of the
Cleveland-Youngstown train. February 1, 1974 was one of those predicted
dates. I was a freshman at the U of M in Ann Arbor at the time, and had
never even been to either Cleveland or Youngstown. I saved enough money to
purchase a student standby ticket and flew from Detroit to Cleveland after
classes that Friday afternoon. While waiting for the departure time, I
roamed around the EL offices and met a Mr. J. O'Conner, who was in charge of
EL motive power at the time. (His was the only office door I found open!)
He was pleasant to chat with and gave me a copy of the current EL motive
power roster.

I rode the train to Youngstown that night; I recall it to have been cold and
gloomy. The E-8 was having mechanical difficulties, so a U-25B was on the
point assisting it . Not only was it my first and only time riding an EL
train outside of the NJ commuter zone, excursions excluded, it was my only
opportunity to ride in one of the ex-DL&W streamlined coaches. A copy of my
ticket stub is attached. I arrived in Youngstown in total darkness, asked
for directions to the bus station, and rode a Greyhound all night back to
Ann Arbor. (I was on time for work at 7 am Saturday morning.)

The last EL I recall before Conrail was a visit to the Croxton engine
terminal on New Years Day, 1976. The two Bicentennial SDs were sitting
there. My next visit to EL territory wasn't until April 3rd, 1976 - day 3
of Conrail, in the western Ohio area. Sadly observed some freights with
solid EL consists running on the Pennsy Main.

Vinnie



----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2004 10:53 PM
Subject: (erielack) Not Quite The Last Trip, But............


> List,
> I rode the Y-Town to Cleveland commuter train several times as a
kid.
> My grandmother lived in Cleveland and we only had one car so my mother and
I
> rode the train from Warren.
> I always enjoyed those rides. Alco RS locos always seemed to be the
> power on the headend. If I remember right, the interiors of the passenger
cars
> were gray and the cloth upholstering on the seats may have been green.
> We would get off the train at Cleveland Union Terminal. I remember
a
> restaurant named The Oak Room, or something like that in the terminal. My
aunt
> worked at Higbee's Dept. Store, which was adjacent to CUT. Sometimes we
would
> go to the Silver Grill at the top of Higbee's for lunch. This whole
complex
> was quite impressive to a young kid from a small town.
> We would then go to street level to hop a bus for W.43rd St. where
my
> grandmother lived. This was right above the Cleveland Zoo. You could see
some
> of the Zoo animals from the end of her street. More importantly, though,
was
> that this street also overlooked the W&LE and the B&O tracks. If I heard a
> train coming, I would always beat it down to the end of the street to
watch it go
> by. There was a pretty stiff grade there, the trains were slow, and you
could
> hear the trains coming for quite a distance. It was also kind of neat to
see
> those cooling fans whirling about from my high vantage point.
> There was at least one time where my Cub Scout Troop rode the train
to
> Cleveland to see the Indians play baseball at the old Municipal Stadium.
BTW,
> I had the pleasure to have dinner with Indians great, Bob Feller, a few
years
> ago. My son is also a pitcher and Bob gave hime some good advice about
> pitching. This was at Mr. Anthony's in Youngstown (Boardman).
> Then there were the Cleveland Press specials to New York City. My
> parents talked about taking this train to New York, but we never made it.
I think
> it used to stop in Warren to pick up passengers.
> I sure wish we still had these trains. I've gone to different
events
> in Cleveland in recent years and have ended up in traffic jams on I-480.
Seems
> to me that rail service would be a nice alternative to sitting in traffic
that
> is in a state of gridlock. I guess that those were the "good old days". I
> miss them.
>
> Rick Fleischer
> Cortland, OH.
> ELHS 1426
>
>


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