Chasing the Rio Grande in 2017

Filmed on July 30, 2017
This was the most fun I've had in a while! Chasing a train out in the country. Here's the story:
We had some extra time during a trip to Ohio and decided that Bellevue was a good place to watch trains. The map showed a huge hump yard north of town and a couple of wyes in the middle of town.
We took main street west into Bellevue. The first thing we saw when we arrived was a Rio Grande engine sitting right in the middle of the bridge across the road! But by the time we parked on a side street and got out of the car, the train started to move and we missed getting a shot of the Rio Grande engine at the front.
That was the original reason we chased it. Trying to get a shot of that Rio Grande engine. It wasn't that hard; his long train was still going slowly over the wye. It was a success. Then I realized: he wasn't going that fast; maybe we could try to catch him again further down the line.
So that's what we did. I followed the tracks on the map, while we looked across the corn fields to see if we had caught up yet. We had a lot of fun catching him a few more times. We would turn on a road that looked like we would be able to get to the crossing before him and have a minute or two to set up. Then put the tripods and drone back in the car and get ahead of him again.
But I was still confused. What was an old Rio Grande engine doing out in the middle of Ohio? Then we met someone while at the grain mill who was chasing the same train. He knew why, and told us the story:
The owner of the Wheeling and Lake Erie, a small railroad in the area, used to be the vice-president of the Rio Grande. When it closed in 1988, he started his own railway in Ohio called the Wheeling and Lake Erie. He bought 2 of Rio Grande's engines, which were up for sale because of its closing, and now uses them on regular service on his line. He still refuses to have them repainted.
We chased the train all the way from Bellevue, through Monroeville, Norwalk, and Hartland, to the crossing at Zenobia Road; milepost 75. The total distance was about 25 miles. He was stopped by the crossing at Zenobia Road for a long time, possibly for a crew change, or possibly to let another train pull into the yard in the grain mill from the other direction. We had to leave before he started up again.
Even though I knew what I was looking at the whole time, it wasn't until I took that shot at the 31:50 mark that it I really realized that this is an authentic Rio Grande engine, exactly as it would have looked when in use in the mountains. It's probably exactly identical to what it would have looked like when it was pulling trains for the Rio Grande, except maybe modern cab controls or radio, and a small "WE" reporting mark over the engine number. That may even be it's original number.
Here's a nicely done map of the line I found afterwards:
www.wlerwy.com/wp-content/uplo...
The color scheme and font of the Wheeling and Lake Erie is even the same as Rio Grande's.

[@stephenbennett3126]

very nice .cool chase.

[@bobbypaluga4346]

If you lived in Colorado or Utah, where the Rio Grande was king and many cities were built next to the rail lines, you could hear the trains running 24/7, what a great sound in the middle of the night. Hauling coal to the steel plants, taking rolls of steel away. If you pup up your tent in the backward sleeping outside you could hear the clickedy click, as well as the faint horn sound all thru the dark hours. All was right with the world said that pleasant sound

[@qclegg]

Lived in Provo,Utah almost right next to Rio Grande and Union Pacific Mainlines,You could always tell a Rio Grande Horn from a Union Pacific Horn. Those Rio Grande trains just hauled butt through town and you could just hear the clickety click of those trains.

[@silicon212]

The 5391 is indeed former D&RGW. SD40T-2 (so-called 'Tunnel Motor'). This is the original paint as applied by the D&RGW. The only difference between now and then has to do with lighting ... in pre-SP Rio Grande days, these had Pyle Gyralites on the nose in addition to the headlights over the cab on the numberboard area. During the 'SP days', where Rio Grande Industries purchased Southern Pacific from SFSP (failed merger), but before the UP takeover of SP, the gyralites were removed and ditch lights added.

[@alexpaumen3937]

The only thing missing is a dischordant M3. That K5LAR24 sounds gorgeous though.

[@JoelTheKven]

The Rio Grande SD40T-2 has a Nathan K5LA!

[@johnburns8994]

Love the Drone shots,,,, thanks for posting

[@cdiddles.]

Breathtaking first shots! Crazy engine lash up! Awesome video! What else could you ask for?? Tacos

[@TexasRailfan21-RailfanRyan]

I have to give the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad Credit for resurrecting the Denver and Rio Grande railroad paint Scheme on their locomotives

[@RioGrande3004]

So awesome to see unmolested Grande power... Screw the Borg

[@wiltonlafontainhe9197]

the rio grande is a name of a city

[@RomeKG471]

Cool! them old diesels sound good! Sound like a Cat D11N

[@TrainsNStuff]

Amazing catch and chase!

[@greatlakesrailfan586]

Sweet Chase And Video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@orangexraygamer2868]

cool

[@paulw.woodring7304]

Your history is a little fractured. The railroad that is today's W&LE (reporting marks WE) was mostly the original W&LE (taken over by the Nickel Plate in 1949), plus the Pittsburgh and West Virginia and the Akron, Canton & Youngstown, all merged with Norfolk and Western in 1964. In 1990, after N&W merged with Southern to become Norfolk Southern, they were spinning off lower traffic lines. They had already sold the Sugar Creek line a few years earlier to Jerry Jacobson, which became the start of the Ohio Central. In 1990, a group of former Denver and Rio Grande officials who knew that NS was selling off "surplus" lines bought the former W&LE/P&WV/AC&Y from NS and formed the NEW Wheeling and Lake Erie RR. First power (some of which they still have) was older high-nose ex-SOU and N&W GP38s. The WE has always been totally second-generation EMD, and for about it's first decade or so, was also totally 4-axle power. The former Rio Grande six axle power did not start appearing on the property until after 2000 (not sure of exactly what year). Eventually, one of the partners, Larry Parsons, bought out the others and is the owner of the vast majority of the railroad. He liked the Rio Grande paint scheme, and paints his locomotives in a version of it (a shade of red/orange) using that railroad's style of "speed lettering".

[@rielynathandanieldavis8436]

I’m New

[@rielynathandanieldavis8436]

❤️

[@davidanderson7465]

another train nut. booooring