| I love and hate short lines all at the same time. There are some interesting operations, and in days past, a lot of interesting power, especially back in the late 70's when the likes of Conrail were selling off underused and unprofitable branch lines, and they were also casting off a lot of odd and obscure power. At the same time, a lot of them run on an erratic basis, often tied to one or two customers, or when the connecting Class 1 brings some cars to the connection. This makes them hard to catch, especially if you're an outlander, though, as photographer Ken Karlewicz noted about the NYSW years ago, "living near the tracks doesn't guarantee you'll see trains." So it was with great joy I found this Pioneer Lines train rolling slowly on an old Wabash branch toward Napoleon as we were driving east on US 24, headed toward Toledo and the Ohio Turnpike. Once in a while, you get lucky!! |