2005 MCR Convention   

The convention was held in Austinburg, Ohio May 12 -15.  Division 4 had at least eighteen members in attendance.   Division Five did a really nice job of providing all  Regional Convention amenities as well as information related to their related theme of the Hulett Ore Unloaders.   These engineering marvels were located extensively in both Divisions 4 and 5 (as well as elsewhere).

     

Austinburg is located on Route 45 just south of the I-90 exit.  It has an eight mile multi-purpose trail (to Ashtabula) that used to be Pennsylvania Railroad track.  This mill and tank were obvious former trackside structures (both photos taken from the path).

Austinburg mill Pennsylvania water tank ruin by walking trail

The AC&J Railroad in Jefferson Ohio provided the convention with a switching tour and passenger tour.  The engine is ex-NKP #45 (A S2 according to the railroad's website) and the caboose shown is also ex-NKP.  The truck is receiving (I think) plastic pellets from the covered hopper.  The line is old NYC - so old in fact it has a couple of buried trestles under the track.

Scenes from the switching tour:

ACJ Diesel Locomotive ACJ Diesel Locomotive - Alco cab end view ACJ Diesel Locomotive ACJ Tamper ACJ ex NKP caboose ACJ bridge seen from caboose end transferring plastic pellets from railcar to truck

 

Paul Lemermeier took the Lubrizol/Mid-West Materials tour on Friday afternoon and returned with these pictures from Mid-West Materials.  The tour book says "They receive coiled steel, unroll it, flatten it out, cut it, then ship the steel plates of all sizes.  The company receives most of their coils via railroad and has their own Trackmobile to shuffle cars around."  Paul said that the machine pictured here was able to unroll half-inch steel coil!  The first two coils are chained together to keep them from rolling.

steel coils in warehouse steel coils in warehouse steel coils in warehouse coil moving tractor in warehouse coils next to a gondola car steel working machine   steel working machinesteel working machine - loading area

 

 

A Saturday afternoon tour included rail spots of interest in the Ashtabula area.  Almost any tour can see good on a nice sunny day, but it takes a special one to be good when it's overcast.  I didn't catch the details on the roundhouse.  The black metal monster is the (open) shovel and operator's cab from a Hulett.   It's located in Point Park on the west side of the Ashtabula River.  A company in town sells specialty parts for track and has a series of displays outside of their offices- might be an idea if you want to show guests the different track gauges or sizes used on your layout.

 abandoned roundhouse - street viewHullet scoop and operator's cab

 

Downtown Ashtabula on Sunday morning - relatively deserted but the rest of the of town was very much alive (and maybe a little too modern to get pictures on this site!)

storefronts in downtown Astabula storefronts in downtown Astabula

Sorry to say, Sunday's layout open house pictures weren't quite up to standards.   There were definitely some excellent layouts on display between Ashtabula and Cleveland.