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On Saturday and Sunday, June 22nd and 23rd, Cedar Point offered guests a very rare opportunity to see the CP&LE "behind the scenes" and get a real feel of what running this railroad is all about. The shop building along with the rail yard, normally never open to the public, were open for tours these two days. After a brief welcome ceremony in front of the Funway Station, the yard and shop were open and Cedar Point's newest locomotive, CP&LE #1 - The "G.A. Boeckling" was unveiled as well as it was placed on display outside the shop building. Inside the shop building, CP&LE #4 - "George R." was on display as well. Cedar Point handed out "Guest Conductor" pins to some of the younger railfans who attended the event along with commemorative pins marking the 50th Anniversary. CP&LE railroaders were also available to answer questions as well. I attended the festivities on Saturday and included here are photos taken in the shop and yard area that provide views of the railroad that otherwise are not possible. In all 22 years I've been coming to Cedar Point, I've never been in company with as many railfans as I was that day! So without further delay, check out a very rare view of the Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad, the way the railroaders see it!!! |
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CP&LE #1 - "G.A. Boeckling" was unveiled with its name on the cab on Saturday. This Davenport Locomotive Works 2-4-0 was built
in 1927 for the N&S Coal Company of Pittsburgh, PA as an 0-4-0T and was originally used in coal mining.
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A side-view of the G.A. Boeckling with a water tower behind it along with three roller coasters in the background, those being
Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster and Mantis!
I think it's so cool to see an 86 year old steam locomotive with coasters! |
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| The CP&LE's shop building as seen from the yard. |
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| CP&LE #4 - "George R." was on display sans-tender inside the shop. The tender was removed so you could see inside the cab! |
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LEFT: A head-on view of CP&LE #4. RIGHT: Ever wonder what a firebox looks like? Don't worry, there's no burning coal in there,
that's just
a light shining inside of it for "dramatic effect"! This is why the tender was removed, so you could see this! |
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| A wide-angle view of the shop floor. |
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| Looking towards the doors out of the shop from next to George R. |
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| Looking out at the two tracks that lead from the shop to the mainline. |
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A regular CP&LE train passes by CP&LE yard engine #7 which is a Plymouth Locomotive Works diesel switcher that's decorated as
a steam locomotive. The coaster lift hill in the background is that of high-speed rail, the 93mph Millennium Force! |
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| CP&LE #7 - The yard switcher engine on the railroad. |
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| Low-speed rail, meet your distant relative, high-speed rail!!! Here, the G.A. Boeckling poses while Millennium Force races by! |
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| The G.A. Boeckling posing next to Myron H. who is leading a regular passenger train on the CP&LE! |
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| The same view as the above photo, this time with the G.A. Boeckling posing next to Judy K. leading her train on the CP&LE! |
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| LEFT: A profile of the front end of the G.A. Boeckling while a passenger train passes by.
RIGHT: I needed proof I was here! |
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| Judy K. arrives at Funway Station with a train full of thrill seekers. |
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| Same photo angle as above, this time with Myron K. bringing in another train full of serious coaster buffs! |
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Well, what can I say? I've seen some great things at Cedar Point, but this experience was truly special because I've been a lifelong railfan and was here to celebrate the storied 50 year history of this railroad. Cedar Point put on a great celebration of this event and my congratulations to them on a job well done! Special thanks also goes to CP for the excellent historical information about the locomotives that was shown in the roster photos! After attending the celebration and subsequent shop tour, I made the drive back home to Buffalo as this trip had to be fit in a very short amount of time (something I've no doubt gotten very good at over the years)! I had arrived here the previous day and most of the photos taken outside of those during the shop tour were taken on that day. To check out more about everything going on at Cedar Point, click the link below. Until next time, when I'll be making a road trip to visit a historic rail site in Northwestern Pennsylvania, Happy Railfanning... |
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