Lake Region -- Cleveland Division Lakefront
Main Line-Valley
The former PRR Cleveland & Pittsburgh mainline entered Cleveland from the southeast and ended at the Cuyahoga River drawbridge, where is joined the former NYC Buffalo-Chicago main line and crossed the river to access the Pennsy's Whiskey Island dock facility. Leaving Cleveland, this line eventually crosses the ex-PRR Pittsburgh-Chicago main at Alliance, Ohio, and continues south to Rochester, PA, where it rejoins the PRR Pittsburgh-Chicago main. In Penn Central timetables, the line was called Main Line-Valley between Cleveland and Alliance. Here is a look at the line, starting in downtown Cleveland and heading east:
West 3rd Street
A pair of big Alco Centuries, C628 6312 and C636 6340, bring a train of auto
parts boxcars down the hill on the former PRR main. The train is waiting to
enter the ex-NYC main line so it can cross the Cuyahoga River drawbridge
and continue west. To the left of the train is Cleveland Municipal Stadium, home
of the Browns and the Indians.
Photo by Dennis Bydash. (66 K)
Harvard Junction
PC U28C 6534 and friends are backing down into Kinsman Yard after stalling near Harvard
Junction with an 8000 ton ore drag on April 27, 1974. The train is seen at Aetna Road,
near the location where Erie Lackawanna's Cleveland-Youngstown mainline
crossed the former PRR main at grade. PC 6534, built in 1966 as PRR 6534,
was the last of the 15 PRR U28Cs. Photo by Dennis Bydash. (133 K)
Three six-axle Centuries, C636 6344, C630 6322, and C628 6303, are working hard upgrade
with an 89-car ore drag at Harvard Junction on May 18, 1975. The train is crossing the
Newburgh & South Shore Railroad and is about to cross the Wheeling & Lake Erie. Valley
Mold is to the right of the train. PC 6344 was the last Alco ever built for the Pennsylvania
Railroad. Photo by Dennis Bydash. (50 K)
An eastbound 130-car ore drag rolls through Harvard Junction behind two U33C's and two U25C's on June 24, 1974.
Photo by Dennis Bydash. (117 K)
Kinsman Yard
The former PRR coal tower was still standing at Kinsman Yard, south of the Kinsman Avenue overpass and west of the main line,
in February 1975. Photo by Al Mixter. (52 K, 7/3/03)
White Junction, Garfield Heights
A trio of former PRR U25Cs await a clear signal with a westbound CEI unit
coal train at White Junction, in Garfield Heights, Ohio. White is the junction of
the main line and the Harvard Connection, a track which joined the ex-PRR main
to the Cleveland Short Line Branch, and allowed trains coming from Pittsburgh
to bypass downtown Cleveland via the Short Line. In the background is the Broadway
Avenue (Ohio Route 14) overpass.
Photo by Dennis Bydash, October 19, 1974. (121 K)
A 50-car freight train from Conway Yard headed for Detroit, led by GP40 3091 and two GP35s, crosses over from the westbound main, across the eastbound main, and onto the Harvard Connecting Track. The Harvard Connecting Track will take the train onto the Short Line at CP-9.
Photo by Dennis Bydash, January 20, 1974. (194 K)
Two Alco C636s bracket a pair of C630s on the point of an ore drag at White Junction.
Photo by Dennis Bydash, December 7, 1975. (69 K)
Another ore train at White Junction, this one led by C636s 6334 and 6336, and C628 6311, on
August 16 ,1973.
Photo by Dennis Bydash. (68 K)
Rockside Yard, Maple Heights
C630 6136 and three C628s lead an 80-car ore drag through Rockside Yard in Maple Heights, Ohio, on
October 26, 1975. Photo by Dennis Bydash. (46 K)
A southbound ore drag, with a quartet of six-axle U-boats for power, crosses Rockside Road at the south end
of the yard on June 22, 1974. This grade crossing was later replaced by an overpass, much to the delight of
motorists and railroaders alike.
Photo by Dennis Bydash. (88 K)
On October 27, 1973, at the Rockside Road grade crossing, a 126-car Toledo-Conway freight accelarates out of Rockside Yard, led by GP40-U23B-GP40 power.
Photo by Dennis Bydash. (158 K)
Bedford
A quartet of six-axle Alco Centuries leads an eastbound hopper train through Bedford.
Photo by John Swift, Jr., from the collection of Jerry Jordak. (87 K)
Motor Yard, Walton Hills/Macedonia
Motor Yard served the Ford Motor Company's Walton Hills Stamping Plant and other industries in the area. The yard is still a busy place today under Norfolk Southern.
A view of Motor Yard from near Wheelock, looking south. Part of the yard office is visible on the right
behind the boxcar. Photo by Wendell Napier. (99 K)
An eastbound train with a pair of F7s passes Walton interlocking and enters Motor Yard.
Photo by Wendell Napier. (96 K)
A trio of F7s switch cars at Motor Yard.
Photo by Wendell Napier. (130 K)
A crew member stands on the roof of GP7 5909 to assist with sanding the locomotive. The NYC heritage of the 5909 is obvious.
Photo by Wendell Napier. (156 K)
An eastbound train near Walton interlocking enters Motor Yard.
Photo by Wendell Napier. (86 K)
PC GP9 7082 switches boxcars at Motor Yard.
Photo by Wendell Napier. (86 K)
An eastbound train led by a pair of U25Bs rolls past Wheelock in Motor Yard.
Photo by Wendell Napier. (94 K)
Hudson
Penn Central's Hudson, Ohio, station in September 1974. Hudson was the division point between the Cleveland Division of the Lake Region
(later the Western Region) and the Valley Division of the Central Region. This station still stands today.
Photo by Al Mixter. (44 K, 7/3/03)