Queensgate Yard

Title:
Queensgate Yard

Description:
This Super 8 Sound movie was shot in late 1981 or early 1982. The opening shot is the Toledo Subdivision of Chessie System Railroads, now CSX Transportation. Originally this railroad was the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad until it was purchased by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) in the 19th century. In 1964 the B&O was purchased by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) with financial backing from the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 1969 the new firm named itself Chessie System, based on a nickname for the C&O. The Toledo Sub is the main feeder into Queensgate Yard from the north. The Yard, which was officially opened in October 1981, was built in conjunction with signal system improvements to the Sub. This included a Centralized Traffic Control system (CTC) which enables trains to run on both main tracks in either direction. This required the addition of universal crossovers, several of which I supervised the construction of. The construction of the signal system components were supervised by Earl Shaffer. One of his signal laborers, Craig King, is today the Chief Engineer of Signals for CSX. Getting back to the movie in the first frames note the continuous welded rail lying in the ditch line, ready for installation by the rail gang. We actually had to trench the rail into grade crossings, as visible in the movie. Also note kegs of track spikes and tie plates carefully arranged for convenient installation. There was a lot of logistics involved in getting ready for a rail gang, so it ran the track supervisor ragged (Bruce Roe in Hamilton and Clayton Roberson in Cincinnati), but it was all worth it to get rid of jointed rail, as can be seen in the movie. Im not sure of the location; its somewhere between Cincinnati and Hamilton, probably at the Glendale Depot; I think I can see the depot in the movie. Earl kept a lot of signal stuff in the depot and it was the dividing line between Bruce and Claytons territories. At 0:50 into the clip, enjoy the two units pulling the grade northbound; check out the new signal system in the B&O style color position signals with auxiliary lights. At 1:04 I filmed another manifest freight; again Im not sure of the milepost but it wasnt too far from Glendale. Likely I was there with my track gang installing insulated joints in that spur track. Finally, at 1:34 we get into Queensgate Yard. This clip shows the new hump engines pushing a cut up the hump, passing under the Western Hills Viaduct in the Mill Creek Valley. These locomotives were specially built for the job. Note the new hump tower building. At 2:14 I shot a view of the tower control center. In theory (and often in practice), the computer two floors below did all the switch throwing and retarder application. The folks in the tower basically monitored the operation, which kept them busy anyway. At 2:41 I took shots outside the tower on the deck. Note the fan tracks with seven groups; each group has a retarder as does each track, plus a master retarder, and a skate retarder at the end of each track. There are 50 tracks in the bowl. That makeshhhmmm108 retarders. At 2:45 the camera pans to the west. Note the new locomotive repair facility, and the locomotive yard (which Joe and his track gang built, masterfully supervised by Bluejacket01 [how many times did you quit Joe?]). At 2:58 the long office trailer in the foreground was my office for at least a year. At 3:06 note the car shop vehicle; these were refurbished military surplus used on aircraft carriers. I think they lasted about two years, proving that railroading is harder on equipment than war. At 3:13 check out the Southern Railway road switchers, which remind me that at this time I was introduced to the local Southern division engineer, Don Bagley. Eventually he retired from Norfolk Southern, and is now the Vice President of Engineering for CSX. At 3:49 I went up to one of my favorite Cincinnati parks (Cincinnati has a number of parks with wonderful commanding views, since the City is built on seven hills, the same as Rome); Mount Echo Park, with a good view of the Ohio River, close to the confluence of Mill Creek and the Ohio. During the camera pan, note a view of downtown Cincinnati and the old Cincinnati Coliseum (just recently knocked down). At 4:08 thats Storrs Yard down below; I believe it was vacated once Queensgate went into operation. If I recall, Queensgate yard allowed for the consolidation of 14 yards in the area, each with its own switching crew (24/7, natch), and transfer runs between each yard; ouch! The yard cost around $70 million, which was a lot of money back then, but the payback was something ridiculous like 19 months. At 4:13, check out the large sign post; I think that was the old Amtrak station, which was an Amshack. I also just noticed the roof of the fabulous art deco Cincinnati Union Terminal in the background. I hope you enjoy the video.

Author:
Bluejacket01

Tags:
Cincinnati, Queensgate, Yard, Chessie, System, CSX, Transportation, Glendale, Depot, Hamilton, Dayton, B&O, Railroad, C&O, train,