The Conneaut Historical Railroad Museum

The Conneaut Historical Railroad Museum - Conneaut, OH

The third and final stop for me on this excellent trip was in the Northeast Ohio community of Conneaut which is just across the border from Pennsylvania and is home to the Conneaut Historical Railroad Museum which is housed inside the 1900-built former Lake Shore & Michigan Southern passenger station. This station is home to a former Nickel Plate Road Steam Locomotive which is a sister engine to the active Nickel Plate #765, as this is #755 which is a 2-8-4 and is on display with a hopper car and caboose from the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad. This museum, like the one in North East, also has a never-ending hit parade of freight trains on the CSX Erie-West Sub (Conrail Chicago Line/New York Central Water Level Route). Included here are photos I took during my visit to this excellent museum whose station building is also on the National Register of Historic Places. Special thanks goes to Trainorders.com for providing some of the historical information used in the photos below of the station and the historic train display. Like the photos from North East, all were taken today but not completely in the order shown. Rather they were organized so as to cover one aspect of the trip at a time before moving onto the next...

On the way to the Conneaut museum, I was driving up Chestnut Street in Conneaut when I saw this NS freight heading west on the
ex-Nickel Plate main. SD70M-2 #2665 was leading this autorack train with a Canadian National GE C40-8M trailing. The milepost
116 represents 116 miles from Buffalo.

Well we don't see these everyday but here's a roster photo of Canadian National GE C40-8M #2439, the second unit in the train above.

And here I have arrived at the Conneaut Historical Railroad Museum in the 1900-built former Lake Shore & Michigan Southern
(New York Central) passenger station. This station building replaced a wooden structure that was located just to the west of it.
According to a sign in the station, the last passenger train stopped here in 1962.

The station as viewed from Depot Street. I suppose you could say this photo was taken in 1940 but that Chrysler PT Cruiser
would still look like a futuristic vehicle even then!!!

On the platform side are some baggage carts and such. The platform itself is fenced off from the mainline for safety reasons.

Inside the station, there are huge displays of all kinds of railroad artifacts. You could spend a lot of time in here!!!

A view of the station from across the tracks on the grounds of the Conneaut Historical Museum which just so happens to be built inside
the old former New York Central freight station. See the photo below...

The old New York Central freight station is now home of the Conneaut Area Historical Society's museum. There used to be a siding
that ran along the side of the building. The platform behind the "Open" flag was next to the aforementioned track.

Though tough to see, directly in front of me was the siding that ran up against the freight station's length. One of the rail heads
can vaguely be seen in about the center of this photo.

And here you see an across-the-tracks view of 3 signature pieces of this museum, the former Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 #755,
and an ex-Bessemer & Lake Erie hopper car and caboose! Let's get a closer look shall we?

The signature piece at this museum is none other than ex-Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 Berkshire Steamer #755. This locomotive was built
by the Lima Locomotive Works of Lima, OH in 1944. The sign posted next to it states that its last revenue run was in December 1957
and it was donated to the museum in October 1964. It has been on permanent static display at the museum ever since.

A view from the fireman's side of the engine, sort-of! There is a staircase leading up to the cab and this photo was taken just
standing next to the fireman's side window. The cab itself is sealed off but you can still see inside through the glass.

Although the cab is closed off, you can still see everything through the glass. This is a view of the engineer's side of the cab.

A cab view of the fireman's side of the 755. Not much I could do about my ugly reflection in the glass!

This is a look inside the tender on the 755! This engine ran on coal which was pumped into the firebox with a stoker.

I was standing on the aforementioned staircase to get this photo but I would think the view the fireman has looking out the back
of the cab would be very similar to this.

Former Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Hopper Car #76857. This car was built by American Car & Foundry in June 1937.

Former Bessemer & Lake Erie wooden caboose #1825 rounds out the train display at the museum. It was built in 1925 and originally
numbered 1913. In the late 1940's and early 1950's, a number of these were converted to a steel construction but a few were retained
in a wooden configuration for work train/local service. This caboose was one that didn't get converted to steel and was donated to the
museum in 1964.

A New York Central speeder and a Nickel Plate hand car on display. That contraption in the background with the red ball
on it is none other than an actual railroad highball!!!

Of course, we're next to a busy mainline, so here are a few trains that went by while I was here! The first being this eastbound
CSX manifest with CITX EMD SD40-2 #3059 leading. Amazing that these old engines are still racking up serious miles with
some being well over 40 years old!

CSX Train Q-167 passes by Conneaut with GE ES44AC #834 leading this westbound van. You can still see some of the
brick work from the original station platform which was situated on a railroad that once had 4 tracks in this area.

Well, this day started with Amtrak so I figured it should also end with Amtrak, so here would be the final train I would photograph
today, at Buffalo-Depew Station on the way home. This is Empire Service Train #281 with GE P32AC-DM #717 for power.

This is another excellent museum that if you're ever in the Erie, PA area, you need to check out for yourself. I first visited this museum back in August 1993 on what would end up being my last ride behind the famous Norfolk & Western Class J 4-8-4 #611 before NS cancelled the steam program the following year. That train went from Buffalo to Conneaut and we were actually let off the train next to the crossing at Chestnut Street where you saw the NS freight at the beginning of this page! Even though that trip was 21 years ago, I still remember it like it was yesterday. At this time, the 611 is now in the process of being restored again, so I hope I get to ride a train being pulled by her again someday! The ride back to Buffalo included a stop at Buffalo-Depew Amtrak to close out the day photographing Empire Service Train #281 and so ends an excellent day seeing 3 beautiful historic train stations! If you'd like more information about the Conneaut Historical Railroad Museum and other National Railway Historical Society chapters, click on the link below. Until next time, Happy Railfanning...