Rails & Trails: New York Trip 2013 Part 2

Today we rode the Cuyahoga Scenic Railroad--in their dome car!! The ride is a 101-mile ride from Rockville (Independence) Ohio to Akron and back. The train was 12 cars long with an engine at each end. This is former Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad trackage. The first train ran on this line in 1880 and the line was built to access the coal fields south of here for use in the steel industry. This tourist railroad now has 2,300 volunteers keeping it running!!!!

There are several stations along the line where passengers and bicycle riders (more on this later) can access the train. Here is the Rockville depot at the north end where we boarded.

A coach seat on the train costs $18 and a dome seat $26 and includes complimentary coffee, tea, water, fruit, and snacks. Dick wonders why anyone would ride coach.

They have sign boards with history of the line--a neat feature at most tourist railroads.

Today's train has a GP15-1 at one end of the train, unfortunately not in CVS colors. Behind it are the power car and the baggage car for bicycles.

Here is our dome car, the EMERSON. It was formerly dome car DRGW 1105 from the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad and used on the California Zephyr.

Cuyahoga is an Indian "Ka-ih-ogh-ha" and means "crooked" so the Cuyahoga River is the crooked river. Here are shots of the river from our seats.

Other scenes along the way.

The most photographed location on the line is the Highway 82 Bridge over the Cuyahoga Valley. This is the bridge that 5 guys tried to blow up last year but were caught by the FBI.

The railroad has built neat little depots for use as shelters and ticket booths. Here is the one beside this bridge at Brecksville. Note all the bicycles. Cyclists can put their bike in the baggage car and ride the train one-way for only $3 and LOTS of cyclists do that, getting on and off wherever they please. This great bike trail will eventually run all the way to the Ohio River.