Amy loves taking photos of fall foliage. Atwood Lake is not far from our house.
Last week, Amy suggested that we take a ride, as the leaves were at their peak color here in Northeast Ohio. Amy wanted to ride her Honda CB650SC Nighthawk. She has been riding it a lot lately and has not taken the truck to work in months. She is finally getting comfortable being out on her own motorcycle, thanks in large part to the Motorcycle Ohio Motorcycle Safety Class that she took. We did not really have any plans made on where to ride, we just started riding.
We left East Sparta, OH traveling south on OH 800 to I-70 east in Hendrysburg. We then took I-70 to the Belmont-Morristown exit (exit 208) and went north for about 500 feet to eat at Schlepp’s Family Restaurant. We found this restaurant when returning from a skiing trip when I was young, and they have always had great food, so we make it a point to ride there a couple of times each year for lunch. We had a great lunch. I had their beer battered fish and Amy ate part of a huge chef’s salad. This was one of the largest salads I have ever seen. She had more left over than she ate. I think the salad would have fed three people.
After leaving Schlepp’s, we went north to US 40 and headed east on 40. We were this close to West Virginia, and Amy has never ridden out of Ohio before on her motorcycle, se we decided to go 17 more miles to Wheeling. We crossed the Ohio River into Wheeling, West Virginia and rode through town. After riding around Wheeling, we turned around and headed home.
Our route home took us to St. Clairsville, OH then north on OH 9 through New Athens and Cadiz. We followed OH 9 to OH 151 to Bowerston, OH and OH 212 to Atwood Lake where we stopped and Amy took some photos. We would have continued the ride, but I could hardly stay awake, as I had worked the night before. Amy was disappointed that she could not ride more, but this was the longest ride that she had ever done on her own bike. We left Atwood Lake and rode home, about 15 minutes away.
We had a great ride, and the weather was PERFECT. The high temperature was 85 degrees, unheard of for a fall day in Northeast Ohio. There was not a cloud in the sky. Amy was thrilled to have had the chance to ride in another state. The day after this ride, the temperatures fell and have stayed low. I have been riding to work in sub-freezing weather for over a week now. There will be some more great riding days, but they will not be like our day last week.
Last week, I rode my motorcycle to work and it was 33 degrees in the morning when I left home. I was warm enough with the gear that I currently have, but I was thinking how nice it would be to have a heated suit. I called a relative that has used several heated suits and asked his opinion of each. I was told that I could not go wrong with the Tour Master Synergy line. My relative has the Tour Master Synergy Heated Jacket Liner and the Tour Master Synergy Heated Pant Liner . He loves these heated accessories as they are thin and do not add the bulk of all of the layers that I pile on while riding in the winter. He says that he seldom has to turn the heated clothing on the high setting. He did have the controllers burn up when he first bought them, and the company recognized a problem and sent free replacements. Since he received the replacements, he has not had a problem at all.
I took his advice and set out looking for the Tour Master heated gear. I looked up several Tour Master dealers from the Tour Master website. I found many that carry gloves and luggage, but not many that carry the clothing lines around here. The nearest store was 30 miles away, not too far to ride by any means. I rode to the first dealer in Cuyahoga Falls, OH and they were not open yet, but a nice lady told me of a diner to eat breakfast, more on that later. I returned to the dealer after they were open and they had a huge selection of clothing, but nothing heated. I was looked at like I had a third eye because I wanted something to allow me to ride deeper into the winter months.
My breakfast was excellent. I was glad that I went to the Reggie’s, the diner that the motorcycle shop employee pointed me to. I was sitting there thinking of how good my breakfast of corned beef hash and scrambled eggs was when the guy sitting at the next table stopped the waitress to tell her “This is the best breakfast I have had in 20 years!” It turns out that the other guy is an truck driver and eats breakfast on the road everyday. I normally don’t get very excited about breakfast, but this was very good. I will be going back to Reggie’s to have breakfast another day.
After my trip to Cuyahoga Falls, I rode home to change clothes. I continued looking for a set of Tour Master Synergy heated liners. One big problem that I had was that it was a Monday, and many shops are not open. I had to ride to Cadiz to meet with my in-laws as they were camping with our daughter. Amy gave me the location of another dealer that carried Tour Master clothing, and again, they did not have any of the Synergy heated liners. Again, I was looked at like a creature from outer space because I actually wanted to ride in colder weather than what we have been having. I was referred to a Harley Davidson shop by the employees at the second shop. I checked the Harley Davidson shop and was basically laughed out of town. The guy at the Harley shop said “You don’t ride a bike with this much chrome in the winter.”
I have given up on the search for Tour Master Synergy heated liners at local shops, as I have called several and got the same reply. All of them can order them, and then I have to prepay, go pick them up when the arrive, and none of the dealers are in my back yard. I am ordering them online. Motorcycle Superstore has Tour Master Synergy heated liners at great prices and they have a very generous return policy. A friend of mine has purchased several items from them and had to return some because of ordering the wrong size (you know how some motorcycle stuff can be). He reports it to be hassle free.
As soon as I get a chance to ride in my Tour Master Synergy heated liners, I will give a product report. I do not need them yet, but in a few weeks they will be very nice. I was willing to look at other brands, but I found none in stock anywhere. I was looking for the Tour Master Synergy line because of the recommendation of my relative.
This really is a photo of Kaitlyn and I. We were covered in a cloud of steam just as this photo was taken as the locomotive pulled forward to dump its ashes.
Here is another photo of Kaitlyn and I in the steam, you can actually see us in this one. Kaitlyn doesn't go many places without "Max" her bear.
Warning: Today’s post has nothing to do with motorcycles other than us being passed by a BMW R1150RT and a K1200GT. We also saw a Kawasaki Ninja, Honda Nighthawk S, and a Harley Davidson Heritage Softail. Today’s post is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease.
Yesterday, I had a day off from work, so Amy, Kaitlyn and I all went down to Byesville, OH in Guernsey County to take a ride on the Byesville Scenic Railway. This weekend was the “Coal Miner’s Festival” and the trains were being pulled by the Ohio Central Railroad’s 1293, a G-5 4-6-2 steam locomotive built in 1948. According to the Ohio Central Steam website:
OHCR 4-6-2 No. 1293 Specifications
Builder:
Canadian Locomotive Company, Ltd.
Built:
June 1948 Bldr. No. 2450
Wheel Arrrangement:
4-6-2 (Pacific)
Driver Diameter:
70 inches
Boiler Pressure:
250 psi
Tractive Effort:
34,000 lbs.
Engine Weight:
234,000 pounds
Weight on Drivers:
151,000 pounds
CPR Class:
G-5d
Fuel:
Coal
Status:
OPERATIONAL
Built for: Canadian Pacific Railway Company as 1293
Sale: 12/1963 to Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern Amusements Corp., Inc. at North Walpole, NH
Transfer of corporate assets: 1964 to F. Nelson Blount
Transfer of corporate assets: April 1965 to Green Mountain Railroad Corporation
Sale: 07/1973 to Steamtown Foundation at Bellows Falls, VT; moved to Scranton, PA in September 1984
Although they were among the last steam locomotives purchased by the Canadian Pacific, the class G-5 bore more than a passing resemblance to other CP 4-6-2’s built as early as 1905. Combining the reliability of an old and proven design with the efficiency of latter day steam technology, the G-5’s were instantly successful, and found favor over virtually all of the CP system.
Six of the G-5’s are still around today.
No. 1201 is preserved at the National Museum of Canada, in Ottawa.
No. 1246 is on display at the Danbury Railway Museum, in Danbury, CT.
No.’s 1238 & 1286 are privately owned by Jack Showalter and are stored in Staunton, VA.
No.’s 1278 & 1293 are at the Ohio Central’s Morgan Run Shops
1278 stored pending future restoration (see 1278) and 1293 stored serviceable.
1293 was run at Steamtown in Bellows Falls, VT in the late 1970’s having been restored for Vermont’s Bicentennial. She ran from Riverside to Rutland and Riverside to Chester, VT for Steamtown operations and last saw service in 1980. At the end of 1979, she pulled a five car train painted in matching black and silver for a month of movie work on the CNR near Montreal filming “Train to Terror” for Astro Films.
This 4-6-2 was moved to Scranton, PA with the rest of the Steamtown collection in September 1984 where she sat dormant until 1996, when the Ohio Central purchased her. She received a 13-month restoration and was returned to service in the fall of 1997.
She debuted at Sugarcreek, OH, on Thursday, September 18, 1997 and after six Sugarcreek to Baltic roundtrip excursions, starred pulling mainline varnish for “SteamFest ‘97″. She has had zero over-the-road failures since.
This photo provides a little perspective as to how large these steam engines are. I am 5'10" and the wheels were as tall as me.
We arrived at 9:40 AM and we could see the black smoke and steam from the boiler being fired over a mile away. It was great being there early, as the temperature was only about 40 degrees, which made for some impressive photos. We were able to get our tickets with no wait. Kaitlyn asked for the next hour, “Can we get on the train yet?” We walked around taking photos, watching the crew, and even got to climb up in the locomotive. We got photos of almost everything we did this day, except when Kaitlyn and I climbed up in the locomotive, as some craft vendor kept Amy busy. Amy never dreamed we would be allowed to go in the locomotive, so she didn’t pay attention to us.
Here is the diesel locomotive that the Byesville Scenic Railway used to pull the train south. If you know what this locomotive is, leave a comment.
At about 10:45 we boarded the train and were pulled south out of Byesville, OH by one of the diesel locomotives in the BSRW fleet. I am not sure of the model of this diesel locomotive. If anybody knows what it is, leave a comment. We traveled about 4 miles south, then the diesel cut out of the train and we were pulled back to Byesville by the Ohio Central 1293 steam locomotive. During the whole ride, there were volunteers in each coach telling the history of the area and telling what it was like to be a coal miner. These volunteers were very entertaining and informative. Coal was the major industry of the area. There used to be 12 deep coal mines along the 3.5 miles of the Marietta Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad that we traveled. There were many swamps and ponds that the guides explained were mines that had filled with water and collapsed. During the ride back to Byesville, the engineer of the OCRR 1293 was more than generous with the whistle. A couple of times along the route, coal smoke was thick outside of our windows. I love the smell of burning coal.
The Ohio Central Railroad 1293 steam locomotive approaching the Byesvlle, OH depot.
After we took our ride, we walked a block along Second Street to the Rotary Park. The Byesville Rotary Club was cooking whole chickens over an open fire. We saw hundreds of chickens cooking on racks over a huge fire when we arrived in the morning. This was the best barbeque chicken that I have eaten in years. We sat at a picnic table, being chased by yellow jackets. We moved to a table in the shade, away from the trash cans, and the bees were not quite as bad.
After lunch, we waited for the 1:00 PM ride to depart, and we went to a grade crossing to get some photos and video. Kaitlyn found a smashed penny and a railroad spike. She sat for about 45 minutes and played with another small girl. They explored the rails and played in the dirt. Amy gave up on trying to keep Kaitlyn clean. When the train came, Kaitlyn started yelling for everybody to “Get off of the tracks!” She can be heard on the videos as the steam engine is approaching, after a long blast of the whistle. Amy and I had as much fun sitting and taking photos as we did actually riding the train.
Ohio Central 1293 4-6-2 steam locomotive. Amy likes this photo.
We are fortunate to live in the area that we do. The Ohio Central Railroad has ten steam engines and they use some of them for excursion rides. They used to have daily service in Sugarcreek, Ohio just south of us. I miss the days of seeing the steam locomotives all of the time. It has been said that the insurance costs too much to continue the frequent use of live steam. Several years ago, there was a steam tractor that exploded in Medina, Ohio killing several people and there has been a steady decline of steam events ever since.
I am sorry that this post had nothing to do with motorcycles. I enjoy trains very much, and I know others do too. This is the first time that I have had the chance to ride a train pulled by a steam locomotive. I have seen many steam engines in the past, and I am fascinated by them still. This trip was a great day spent with family and enjoying trains. Maybe next year Kaitlyn will be big enough to ride with me on the motorcycle to this event. If the 1293, or any other steam engine is there, I will be there too.
