Nolan Gregory
Loudonville, Ohio
Brand new AC rebuilds are put to the test right out of the gate on the the steep grades of Norfolk Southern’s Fort Wayne Line. Framed under the classic Pennsy signals at CP Mohican, NS locomotives 4285, 4283, and DC counterpart 9899 have loaded coal train No. 578 well in hand as they begin the final uphill climb on their rollercoaster ride across eastern Ohio, which will top out at milepost 172 just east of Mansfield.
CP Mohican gets its name from the Black Fork of the Mohican River, which flows under the mainline just east of the plant. This location, like many others on the Fort Wayne Line was once home to a manned interlocking tower, which lasted into the Conrail era. The tower operator controlled the crossover switches here when the line was double tracked, as well as a westward extending siding, and the helper pocket on the east side of the plant. This helper pocket was where helper locomotives would await the call to shove heavy trains up Wooster Hill to the east, but was long ago known as the Walhonding Branch, and ran all the way to Coshocton to connect with the Pennsy’s Panhandle Route. Interestingly enough, a dwarf signal still protects movement from the helper pocket/branch onto the main, eerily awaiting any movement from Coshocton, which will of course never come.
Loudonville, Ohio
Brand new AC rebuilds are put to the test right out of the gate on the the steep grades of Norfolk Southern’s Fort Wayne Line. Framed under the classic Pennsy signals at CP Mohican, NS locomotives 4285, 4283, and DC counterpart 9899 have loaded coal train No. 578 well in hand as they begin the final uphill climb on their rollercoaster ride across eastern Ohio, which will top out at milepost 172 just east of Mansfield.
CP Mohican gets its name from the Black Fork of the Mohican River, which flows under the mainline just east of the plant. This location, like many others on the Fort Wayne Line was once home to a manned interlocking tower, which lasted into the Conrail era. The tower operator controlled the crossover switches here when the line was double tracked, as well as a westward extending siding, and the helper pocket on the east side of the plant. This helper pocket was where helper locomotives would await the call to shove heavy trains up Wooster Hill to the east, but was long ago known as the Walhonding Branch, and ran all the way to Coshocton to connect with the Pennsy’s Panhandle Route. Interestingly enough, a dwarf signal still protects movement from the helper pocket/branch onto the main, eerily awaiting any movement from Coshocton, which will of course never come.