Toledo Eyes High-Speed Rail Study

Some members of the city council in Toledo, Ohio, are pushing a high-speed system that would connect their city with Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Known as the “T” for its shape, the network would have an 86-mile route between Toledo and the Detroit airport with a branch between Detroit and Ann Arbor.

The council members are seeking a study of the T, which could have trains traveling as far as 110 mph.

The city is also eyeing studies of a network that would have a top speed of 80 mph.

Those favoring the network have cited its potential to stimulate long-term economic development and reduce carbon emissions.

Toledo National Train Day Set for May 6

Toledo still plans to hold a National Train Day this year, although it will not apparently have the headliner external exhibits that it has had in the past.

The event will be held on May 6 at the former Central Union Terminal – now known as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza – between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. There is no admission charge.

Thus far the only announced railroad exhibit will be Ann Arbor Railroad GP38 No. 3879.

Built in 1969, the locomotive has been painted in a commemorative livery to honor the history of the Ann Arbor, which is now a Watco Companies property.

This year’s event will be the 10^th National Train Day celebration in Toledo.

Past events have featured heritage and special livery locomotives of Norfolk Southern as well as an Amtrak exhibit train.

It is not clear yet if either NS or Amtrak will be participating in the event.

The event’s sponsors say on their Facebook page that as in past years the festival will feature vendors, model railroad displays, children’s train rides, a safety workshop oriented to children, food and train watching of the nearby NS Chicago Line from the Amtrak station platforms.

Waiting for Time in Toledo

Amtrak F40PH No. 347 will lead the Lake Cities out of Toledo, Ohio, after the departure of the Lake Shore Limited, which can be seen on the far track doing its station work.It is a sad day in Toledo, Ohio. On April 1, 1995, Amtrak’s Lake Cities began its final trips to Chicago from Central Union Terminal.

Tomorrow, the Lake Cities will begin operating between Chicago and Pontiac, Michigan, thus bringing to a close an era that began on Aug. 3, 1980, when the Chicago-Detroit Saint Clair was renamed and became a Chicago-Toledo train.

The purpose of that move was to offer connecting service at Toledo with the Lake Shore Limited for Michigan passengers.

That move was a fulfillment of a plan that Amtrak had in 1971 but never implemented. The original Lake Shore was to have a Toledo-Detroit connecting train, but it never operated due to poor track conditions. By 1980, the former Penn Central route the train would have used had been rebuilt by Conrail.

A budget shortfall that led to a massive Amtrak route restructuring in 1995 would doom the Lake Cities in Toledo. Since this April day in 1996, passengers connecting in Toledo to and from Michigan points have traveled by bus.

 

Miniature Lake Shore Limited on Display in Toledo

Amtrak No. 156 heads a display train at Toledo Central Union Terminal.

Toledo, Ohio, held its annual National Train Day festival on Saturday (May 7) and Amtrak sent a miniature version of the Lake Shore Limited to display.

That included a Viewliner sleeper, an Amfleet II coach, an Amfleet cafe car, a Viewliner baggage car, and P42DC Phase I heritage locomotive No. 156.

The passenger cars were open for public viewing and hundreds of visitors walked through the train.

Amtrak said earlier this year that it would no longer be a sponsor of National Train Day but would continue to provide equipment and its 40th anniversary exhibit train to select events.

The Toledo National Train event has traditionally been held a week before the national date for the event in order to enhance the festival’s chances of obtaining Amtrak equipment for display.