Columbus, Ohio Trains (1970s)

[@bobozo389]

All I can say is WOW! Just wow. Takes me back to when I was a 13 or 14 year old train nut that could not stay away from BO Tower and the railroad itself around Kalamazoo, MI, rather than Columbus, OH. But the same thing was going on! Thanks so much for sharing, this is priceless footage with me! Bob...

[@teresamckeown5594]

When I was very young my Mom took me to Cleveland on a train and we got all dressed up. It must have made a big impression on me, because my Mom said that I was only 3 years old. So it is one of my earliest memories.

[@Fresh-tw7ev]

The Columbus Panhandlers was a professional football team. The early days of the NFL. The players were mostly all railroad workers in and around Columbus.

[@braingodfrey]

i came here for buckeye yard and was not disappointed. grew up in that yard, used to skate the ditch back there haha thanks for this!

[@erickellogg8532]

where was the buckeye yard located I used to live on Stanton ave

[@drby0788]

@@erickellogg8532 west side of Columbus towards hilliard. It's gone now

[@railfanallen]

Really glad you found this piece of railroad history.

[@drby0788]

That whole yard is a freeway now. If you google earth it, you can see some remnants of what the yard looked like at one point. You can even see the outline of the old roundhouse and stalls.

[@dennis-ul5ht]

The old roundhouse at 20th Street was almost exactly where the ODOT salt pile north of I-670 is located in 2020...

[@drby0788]

@@dennis-ul5ht you are correct. It virtually sits on top of ot

[@tommythomason6187]

Actually, Penn Central had a nice logo and as straightforward as the paint scheme was, clean units looked sharp in that jet black.

[@bobpaulino4714]

I liked the old liveries much better in general. Rode the Penn central home one cold, snowy day from my grandmother's on the Friday after Thanksgiving. My grandmother's neighbor worked for the pc. I had overheard talk that things weren't going so well financially, maintenance was deferred, and the neighbor, who was in administration, feared more layoffs. The train I was on was just an FP7 or FP9 with a couple of coaches, but I still loved riding it. I remember just standing by the locomotive for a while when we arrived home. She was obviously a tired old gal but she was still regal in my eyes as she stood there waiting to continue her journey. I wish I could have ridden the chief or super chief while in their glory days.

[@eugeeropel5572]

Glad to know that someone likes jet black and bold white PENN CENTRAL PC as much as I do. I have on my model railroad, in the PENN CENTRAL, a GG-1, a RS-27 and a few freight cars that are the aqua color. I’m not familiar with this area but this video is great, just because of the PENN CENTRAL footage.

[@dennis-ul5ht]

When I was growing up in the '50's and '60's the railroads in Columbus were ubiquitous...

[@tommythomason6187]

Looks like by this time, Conrail got the tracks in good shape- no rollicking, rocking freight cars. And, for the first time ever for me, saw a sparkling, washed, jet black Penn Central F unit - an FP7. Wonder if PC used this unit in passenger service?

[@dennis-ul5ht]

Conrail spent $150M (per Scott Trostel, well-known railroad historian) on the Piqua Branch right at the start of Conrail (ConRail?) to get the line better than it ever was...then abandoned it in 1985 in the wake of Staggers and NERSA...courtesy of L. Stanley Crane...

[@1978garfield]

Amazing stuff. So glad I found this channel.

[@rockislandmodeler6802]

Sad there's no sound.

[@evanj2400]

Crazy to think about how active Buckeye Yard used to be, along with the Dayton District, I grew up on these tracks and I want to see them like they were in their hay day

[@erickellogg8532]

I went by the buckeye yard two weeks ago

[@notarotomwithhair5637]

It’s gone

[@clineshaunt]

The PRR signals there for Buckeye Yard off of Hilliard Rome Rd just came down a couple of years ago.

[@Trainlm]

Awesome. Great memories.

[@b3j8]

Enjoyed the sequence on termite welding. Hasn't changed a whole lot seems like in 45 yrs. Except more safety gear.

[@charlesharwood5705]

I've been addicted to watching your videos!

[@dustbowlhammer7119]

Cool to see how many F7s and F8s were still in use in the 70s, I was born just after they stopped using them, So I never got to see them run in real time xD.

[@kelvintorrence5994]

Lots,of old iron in here I like it

[@markbivens131]

I remember the big Rail Yard off of East 5th Avenue and big slaughterhouse off of Leonard Ave. back in the 60s and 70s. I used live by 5th and Leonard ave's split just before the vidock. I remember the big grain Silo's at Livingston and Nelson Road.

[@deborahchesser7375]

Landmark grain elevators, there was one on Groves off Hamilton too. We used to go anywhere we needed following the tracks on our dirt bikes. Great times.

[@deborahchesser7375]

Falters Meats off Leonard

[@erickellogg8532]

that must have been around Reynoldsburg

[@CHESSIESYSTEM1985]

Did the hopper train coming off the Eastern Branch back up there for a meet or did it come from Heath?

[@davidvanschaick5565]

Good Stuff !!

[@daveyboy_]

Not only was there no graffiti but trains were a helluva lot quieter then also

[@casstelles]

I'm not a 100% positive, but I think these videos may have been made by Paul Gieger, one of the co-founders of Clear Block Productions. The videos look similar to some of his old 16mm films, and Paul had a lot of access to railroads around Columbus due to working for the railroad himself. Also, there is a lot of Conrail shots in the video. I estimate the time frame of the videos from 1975 to 1978.

[@RailroadMediaArchive]

You would be correct. I have many of Todd Miller's original tapes in my collection as well as some edits of the Clear Block videos.

[@GenXRailMedia]

The trains around the one hour mark have SD50's, which came to CR in 1983 and some CSX boxcars, so that section of footage may be from 1986-1987.

[@brakie44820]

I was born and raised in Columbus and know those areas well since I railfan those areas ..Railroads was a tad more friendlier back except the C&O. I spent many enjoyable hours talking to a PRR switch tender and a crossing watchman in their shanties. To get to the switch tenders shanty I had to use the steps at the Union Station then walk West toward Front Street bridge..Sadly those friendlier days are gone forever.

[@choirboyfromhell1]

These are fabulous....mostly Todd Miller and Paul Geiger vids?

[@markquiswest6607]

I wish their was sound!

[@thebigstink7472]

On Google earth it looks like there was a right of way that went nw out of Columbus through westerville and out towards Cleveland, do you have any info or footage on that line? Been really interesting in the lines that fell before I was born….there’s also a right of way that runs right in front of my dorm in Athens, I think it was abandoned by csx in the 80s

[@RailroadMediaArchive]

It was the Pennsylvania Railroad C&AC line (Cleveland, Akron & Columbus). Most of the line is a trail today.

[@bobpaulino4714]

Nice to see older power with some character, caboose, and NO damned graffiti.

[@MrJacMac1968]

One train didn’t have a caboose

[@jalilmuhammad8270]

Pre-Conrail and during Conrail eras.

[@blpblp-tj7ux]

awesome film...I like how everything looks lightly coated in grease or soot.

[@erickellogg8532]

I used to live in Ohio during the 70s

[@drby0788]

10:00 what yard is this??

[@RailroadMediaArchive]

Buckeye.

[@drby0788]

Ok thanks

[@drby0788]

Where is this location at 21:00?

[@RailroadMediaArchive]

@@drby0788 Fisher Rd. South end of Buckeye Yard.

[@mrserious55]

ya sound would've been nice

[@SebastianMartinez460]

Taken circa 1970.

[@southpenn7973]

no.....late seventies

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

had to be the late '70s cuz Conrail really didn't come into play till about 77