11 replies to this topic

[steve4031]

Kevin, wish you had been there. Sunday was also a success. We road the Cuyahoga vallye train to Akron and back. I know I misspelled that. The train was on time both ways. The cars were ones that had once been used by MARC. According to the conductor/narrarator, these cars had over 2 million miles on them before they got to their present assignment. They seeemed to be in pretty good shape. Mike and I wandered around Quaker Square in Akron, and we ate lunch at the Trackside Cafe. This restaurant was notable because they had the shells of several streamlined passenger cars inside the restaurant. They were from the Broadway Limited. So this kept up with the theme of the trip. I enjoyed this becaue the Broadway Limited (Amtrak and Pennsylvania versions) is one of my favorite trains. When we returned to Cleveland, Lynn joined us for dinner and then drove Mike and I over to Berea so we couldd watch trains. What a class act!!. This was a find ending to a great trip. Looking forward to New York.

[Mike Hammond]

Hello Everyone, Pittsburgh/CVSR Railfest is now history and will be forever recorded in our minds and hearts. We had a group of 3 participants at one time. We met in Pittsburgh a little late due to the fact that there was some diversions due to construction which we did not forecast. We met at the Hilton and took a cab over to the Dusquene Incline and rode round trip with a stop to voew the city from the top. We then walked via a footpath to Station Square where we attempted to have lunch and found that most of the fast food eateries are gone. We then went to the top of the Monngahela Incline and found an ice cream about 150 yards from the station that also serves hot items like burgers and dog at very reasonable prices. After lunch we traversed down to the bottom of the incline and rode the 42S to South Hills Village. Because of our lunch stop, we ended up being about 15 minutes behind the rest of the day. We then went from South Hills and transferred at Washington JCT to the 47L line to Library and then returned to Gateway Center on the same train. We did get a bonus this trip. The inbound platform at Station Square is closed for construction. Because of that and also because of construction on the #52 line, all inbound trains were diverted at South Hills JCT to cover the entire 52 trackage so in essence we got to ride all 3 lines. Sunday was the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad to Akron and back. After a very filling breakfast at the Courtyard in Independence we did our trek on the train to Quaker Square and back, having lunch at the Trackside Grill inside one of the original Broadway LTD Pullman cars. We met Lynn for dinner later and then went to Berea Yards (Lynn's idea) and watched trains for the better part of an hour. All in all, this was a great fest and wish you could have been with us. A more detailed report will follow. Mike Hammond