W&LE Akron Line/Brittain Yard Operations

[conrail98]

Ok, so I have an itch I just need to scratch, probably much to the chagrin of @Ed Kapuscinski . I've always had a soft sport for the Wheeling & Lake Erie, especially after they repainted into the orange and black scheme. While I know the Brewster Subdivision gets a lot of the publicity, looking over the various subdivisions that are model-able in relation to operations, I was drawn to the Akron subdivision, specifically the area between Medina to Mogadore/AC&Y Jct. I'd like to learn a little more about the trains and operations in/out of Akron Yard and locals that served this area. I can't find a whole lot of information online but figured I'd reach out here knowing we have some Midwest, and Ohio-based, modelers. Any info any one could provide or point me to would be great.

Thanks,

Phil

[mu26aeh]

On a side note, Atlas just released GP40-s in WLE, 301, 304, and 305.  Might want to be on the look out for them so you have them 

[conrail98]

Yes, I saw them available at my favorite online store. I may/may not pull the trigger on them. Trying to get a little more info on the operations first. I can piece some things together from a few online forums but it seems to be somewhat fluid on this line,

Phil

[SAH]

I just drove past Brittain this morning Phil, on the way to the Akron/Canton airport.  A WLE GP-40 was switching stone hoppers at the France Stone complex at the east end of the yard.  On Monday I grabbed some photos of the bridge over the Little Cuyahoga at the driveway to the engine facility for my AC&Y SHOPS project. 

While my main focus is the AC&Y circa 1960 or so, I have some modern day WLE stuff I can scan for you.  Mogadore to Medina is still pretty active as far as modern RRing goes.  You might consider going a bit further west to Spencer, where the old W&LE and AC&Y had a busy interchange business.  It's still an active spot but used for different purposes than back in the day.  West of Spencer is pretty much a conduit for stone from Carey and not much more.

Are there any specific things you're interested in knowing?

Steve

[conrail98]

Basically just looking for train ops in and out of the yard. From what I can gleam off other internet boards, it looks like maybe 3 trains come in and out of the yard:

• Bellvue (Heartland?) to Akron and back
• Akron to Cleveland and back
• Brewster to Akron and back
• A stone train that seems to head towards/from Carey in non-winter months

Not sure about locals but I know they "interchange" with ABC and CSX in Akron based on ETT I found online. I guess the question on locals, at least on a model railroad, would be somewhat moot as you'd probably want to do it based on how much ops/space/etc. one has for industrial switching. Not sure I want to go all the way out to Spencer, knowing it's the X in the W&LE, mostly since that would probably be staging anyways out to Heartland/Bellvue. Unlike the Brewster line, I would assume there's no over the line transfer runs from CSX and NS on the Akron line, that it would almost exclusively be W&LE and be manifests feeding the industries in Akron and maybe north to Cleveland on the W&LE/ABC,

Phil

[SAH]

I have two things that might be of immediate interest to you:  1) A description of the WLE yard jobs at Brittain that is a few years old but may provide a foundation upon which you can make some ops decisions.  2)  A summary of the "interchange" reports of train BA-2 (Bellevue to Akron) at Spencer in the early 70's.  The AC&Y was operated as a separate entity by the N&W back then, hence the interchange of cars.  The summary shows which cars were going to which customers in Akron.  Interesting reading (if you're into that kind of thing) that would provide a wider range of customers than the current WLE customer base.

If you think you might be interested in either or both of those two documents let me know.  I can scan and send them to you tomorrow.

Steve

[conrail98]

Both would be absolutely great! Thanks Steve!

Phil

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Not ops, and not the right place, but some of these might get your blood flowing...

http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/2017/04/pittsburgh-fall-of-2016/

[SAH]

Great photos Ed.  Makes me want to get busy with the purchase of a real camera.  My 15 year old Pentax DSLR seems to have given up the ghost.  I suspect it is not economical to bother with fixing it since technology has moved on over the years.

Phil - If you don't have a copy of Trains July 2008 get one.  An all WLE issue.  A great read for the subject at hand.

Steve

[conrail98]

Phil - If you don't have a copy of Trains July 2008 get one.  An all WLE issue.  A great read for the subject at hand.

Steve

Yeah, I have it in the basket at Kalmbach's store, just haven't checked out with it yet,

Phil