Toledo Celebrates National Train Day 2012

After seeing this great train in Jackson, MI last year and finding out it would be in Toledo, OH this year, I knew I had to find a way to go see it again. I had the good fortune of buying a brand-new car last November and really wanted to take a road trip especially now that winter was over and the nice weather was back! So I packed my 2012 Honda Accord EX with a cooler full of cans of Diet Pepsi and my Garmin Nuvi 50LM GPS and started the 320+ mile journey to Toledo to see Amtrak's 40th Anniversary Exhibit Train. There would be a private showing of the train on Friday, May 4th for members of the news media and guests, so thanks to a friend in the area, I was able to take part in this private showing (I have a valid press ID from TrainWeb).
Well, there's simply no other way to describe it: Toledo knows how to put on a great train show! This National Train Day event is one of the biggest in the country! Because Toledo celebrates this event 1 week before the rest of the country, Amtrak was not only able to provide the exhibit train, but an additional 4 Superliner cars for people to tour as well! The Superliners were not open on Friday during the private showing but would be open on Saturday for tours along with the rest of the exhibit train. The train was set up so that the P40DC #822 was on one end and the F40PH #406 was on the other end. This travelogue will include extensive photo coverage of many angles of this event and will also include roster photos of the entire train along with extensive photos of the exhibits in the train. I'll conclude it with some night photography, something you won't want to miss!!! Amtrak and the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority (owner of the Toledo Station) did a tremendous job putting this event together. I am glad to have been able to be there for it. Personally, I won't forget the reactions of some Amtrak employees who couldn't believe someone would drive over 300 miles to see this train but even if you're a semi-regular visitor of this web site, you'll understand why I would choose to make such a big trip! Overall, I met several Amtrak employees during my visit to Toledo, all of which did an incredible job making this event so great! So with that in mind, let's take a look at some photos of the train and events involving and surrounding it taken the day before it opened to the public! Enjoy...

The exhibit train was delivered to Toledo with a locomotive on each end. Here we have P40DC #822 on the east end of the train.

On the west end is F40PH #406. This unit supplies Head-End Power (HEP) to the train but is not a powered locomotive,
only having a generator inside to provide the HEP.

If you like lots of trains, Toledo has you covered! There was a never-ending hit parade of Norfolk Southern freights in the area!
You'll see some photos taken from that bridge in the background a little later in the travelogue!

This is the main hall of Toledo Central Union Terminal. Amtrak does not use this space as they are located in what used to be
the station's baggage room downstairs. This space is only used for special events at the station such as this.

This station was built in the early 1960's, long before the days of cell phones, note the phone booths in the right of the photo!

An HO scale model railroad is one of the center pieces of the exhibits in the main hall.

LEFT: A train announcement board showing New York Central Train #201 leaving Toledo. RIGHT: A door to one
of the platform entry ways which is sadly no longer in use.

Looking west, the exhibit train sits on track #3 at Toledo Central Union Terminal.

There are other platforms still in place at this station though the tracks have since been removed. Someone really
needs to invent a time machine already, I would love to see this place in its heyday!

The former New York Central (now Norfolk Southern) Water Level Route turning east.

The #822 hiding on track #3 at the station.

This is one of many photos I took from the pedestrian bridge located just west of the station that I mentioned earlier.
Here we have the exhibit train with one of many passing Norfolk Southern freights!

A view of the exhibit train while still parked on track #3.

As taken from Emerald Avenue, the #406 chills out in Toledo!

Toledo Central Union Terminal as seen from Emerald Avenue. The station complex is part of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza.