Filmed on: 11/23/22 and 12/27/22
The Youngstown & Southeastern Railroad (YSE), operated by parent company Midwest & Bluegrass Rail, runs over nearly 40 miles of track between Youngstown, Ohio and Darlington, Pennsylvania. Currently the Y&S’s main and largest customer is PennOhio Waste, which utilizes converted woodchip hoppers cars full of construction and demolition debris to be hauled to its unloading terminal. In 2020 the unloading terminal for PennOhio Waste was moved to the Signal Rail Terminal in Signal Ohio, thus making the eastern portion of the line very seldom used.
On November 23rd, 2022; our cameras are located on Poland Avenue in Youngstown Ohio, the entrance to Norfolk Southern’s Haselton Yard. At 0710, the crew for today’s train board IBCX 7225, an EMD GP9RM originally built in 1958 for the Canadian National (CN). The train would have to spot some cars in a siding track, and get everything in order to make their days work easier. Trailing Second out would be MBRX 1706, an EMD GP16 built in 1951 for the Atlantic Coastline Railroad (ACL). In the third position is IBCX 5152, an EMD GP38-2 built for the Southern Railway (SOU). This is the Youngstown & Southeastern’s newest acquisition, as just weeks prior it had been transferred from sister company Chesapeake & Indiana (CKIN). After building their train they depart Southbound four Signal Ohio.
MBRX GP18 #18 leads a cut of boxcars across South Avenue in North Lima, Ohio. We were very fortunate to make it in time to see this, as it is considered uncommon for two trains to run at the same time on this part of the railroad. Our Southbound train stops just north of Woodworth Road, to wait for 18 to drop its cars in the siding for storage. East Calla Road is where we set up to watch the action. Soon 18 creeps up to the northernmost end of the siding, soon to reverse back and drop its cars. After that was all said and done, 18 reverses back to the south end to let 7225 and the rest of its train through.
We jump to December 27th, 2022 and we start off our morning in North Lima, Ohio. The crew for our train starts up EMD GP9 222 and GP38-2 5152. IBCX 222 was built as Illinois Central Gulf 9368 in January of 1958. As I stated before, 5152 was recently brought in to replace GP18, number 18. Unfortunately, 5152 may not have been the best choice for the railroad, as it frequently gives the crew issues while operating. This would be the case today as the engine wasn’t starting up properly. To solve this issue, the crew got onboard number 18, and started it up. Due to this locomotive being up for sale, the horn and bell were removed from the unit. This resulted in the engineer in the cab of 18, controlling the train, and the conductor in the cab of 5152, operating the horn and bell. The crew would bring the train north of town a short distance to serve the local Associated Paper Products business, then back south to run around their train. Leading the train back south would be 222, blasting its beautiful Leslie RS5T over the Miley Avenue Crossing, with [blank] boxcars in tow. They dropped 18 back in the siding, as 5152 was finally working properly. The crew would run the remaining power around their train and take one of the boxcars northbound, destined for interchange with CSX in Youngstown. We chase the train northbound and catch it just south of McClurg Road in Boardman, Ohio. The Dog Park in Boardman provides a nice vantage point to view Northbound trains. We seemed to attract the attention of some dogs running around and gladly said hello as our train appeared in the distance. Moving north some more into the city of Youngstown, we see them passing the welcome signs for the opposing town, now splitting Southern Blvd in half as it proceeds north. To put some time between us and the train, we jumped up to the Walton Avenue overpass on the southeast side of Youngstown Ohio. Our train had to do some switching and spotting around the area, including pulling past the trilight signals at CP Graham and backing into Haselton Yard to drop its load. To get a different perspective of the train, we venture into the old Pittsburgh & Lake Erie’s Gateway Yard. A shell of its former self, all of the yard tracks have been removed, but some structures still remain. The most popular of these is the Hump Yard Tower, a 7 floor building that still is mainly intact the way it was back in the day. Electrical cabinets, radiators, and other select things still remain. Something surprising to me was the amount of old papers that still remain from the days this yard was still in operation. After a short while here came our train, rolling past on what is left of this once bustling yard.
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