After a long hiatus, steam engines are running again at the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad’s Steam in the Valley event this weekend. We recently met up with the train and its keepers as it arrived in Northeast Ohio.
Matthew Ignatowski held up his two young sons for a better view of the former New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad engine.
Ignatowski lives nearby in Independence, and brought his sons to the railroad’s Fitzwater Maintenance Yard on the Brecksville-Independence border to see the smoking behemoth arrive.
"This is Owen and Mason. They love it and we're going to see it as much as we can," Ignatowski said.
A tradition for many years
The “Nickel Plate Road” steam locomotive No. 765 belched a cloud of black smoke from its smokestack, and the pistons and wheels glistened in the sun as the ground rumbled on its approach.
“It's been traditional for many, many years," said Lene Bixler, director of marketing and communications for the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. "This is the first time in three years that we've been able to bring it back due to track erosion.”
She said train enthusiasts come from across the nation to watch as the 765 pulls the railroad’s passenger cars from the Rockside Station in Independence to the Indigo Lake station near Peninsula.
“It’s about preservation," Bixler said. "It's about showing off the beauty of Northeast Ohio. The economy hopefully will also reap some of the benefits with our local businesses.”
Transcending memories and generations
Originally built in 1944, the 14-wheeled beauty can accelerate to speeds over 70 miles per hour.
It’s owned and operated by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society in Indiana, and was restored after spending years rusting away at a town park in Fort Wayne.
"One of my first memories is being on this machine," said Kelly Lynch, executive director and engineer for the Fort Wayne Historical Society Railroad. "My dad was involved with the first restoration in the 1970s and I'm almost 40 years old, so I've been around it my entire life."
He said out of all the stops the engine makes throughout the Midwest, the Cuyahoga Valley is a top destination.
"It's such a beautiful spot to bring the locomotive,” Lynch said. "It's magical, people just instinctively wave because they want to be connected to this machine that is passing through. It transcends memories, generations, demographics, and it's just so special."
Elephants never forget
A new attraction this time around is two former Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus elephant rail cars that have been transformed into art deco lounge cars. Large photographs line the interior, showing the elephants loading into the circus train.
Mark Tobin, of Willoughby, is a volunteer engine crew member at the Fort Wayne Historical Society and a part-time employee at the CVSR.
"The steam engine is a team effort," Tobin said.
As crew members worked on the train cars behind him, he noted maintaining the 80-year-old steam train takes a lot of work. For example, it takes a crew almost a full day to get the firebox hot enough to drive the engine.
"It's very labor-intensive, but it's an incredible time machine," Tobin said. "It takes you back to a different era, and I think that's part of the reason we're all involved."
A piece of working history
The 765 is one of only a few mainline steam locomotives still in operation in North America today, yet its power and majesty attract countless fans, old and new, to glimpse a piece of working American history.
"This country was capable of building and creating incredible machines," Lynch said. "And the more that we understand our origins, I think the more we can appreciate what we are still capable of as a country."
Rail fans can still purchase tickets for runs in the Cuyahoga Valley this weekend before 765 departs for Indiana once more.
