train 261 screams pass at the 45MPH track speed. Its two miles of tractor trailers with railroad wheels clears Balto’s view as he ducks under a highway overpass. He crawls the next mile to Enon to where he sees a green signal, a clear. He takes the throttle and within ten seconds, goes from the second notch to the eighth notch. The train quickly picks up speed as it heads west and toward East Palestine. Balto and 11E hit the 50MPH track speed as they exit Pennsylvania and enter Ohio, two miles west. The next two miles are uneventful until they enter the small Ohio town. Balto howls the air horn for the three crossings but his efforts at the last go unnoticed.

A Ford explorer decides to go around the gates at the last critical second and into Balto’s path. Balto lays on the horn but its too late. Glass is shattered and steel is crushed as the 300 ton locomotive slams into the seemingly puny SUV. Balto plows into the SUV with such force that it is destroyed and thrown 150 feet ahead of the train. It lands back into the path of 11E as Balto again hit’s the destroyed vehicle. This time, the train cuts it in two. Surely, whomever was inside is dead. Balto quickly applies the emergency brakes as he watches helplessly as the scene unfolds.

Balto’s only hope at this second is that his train stays on the rails. Going into emergency can and has caused serious derailments. If the front of Balto’s train is mostly empty cars and the loads are on the rear, the loads can crash into the empty cars. The ending result is a accordion looking type derailment, a lot being more then 15 freight cars. Todays 11E is properly built with loads on the front. No derailment today.

Balto just as quickly tones the dispatcher, he response as normal.

"Balto with 11E, we have just hit a SUV and we are stopping. Send EMS to Market Street in East Palestine. Kodi will be walking back shortly."

Even in emergency, the train does not stop for almost a mile. Its 7 thousand tons of kinetic energy pushing to keep moving.

Mid morning turns to noon, then to early afternoon. After almost four hours, the police are done with their investigation. The three soles in the SUV have departed this world. A split decision has costs them their lives.

Kodi and Balto slowly make their way west with feelings of sorrow and regret. Their was nothing they could do to prevent the collision but they both feel it was their fault in some form. They head west, meeting a fleet of eight trains back to back, all waiting for permission east pass the crossing.

Not a word is exchanged between the two as they roll through the eastern Ohio countryside, meeting two trains in the following ten miles. Its not until the five crossings through Salem do the pair start to talk, "Stupid drivers." Balto mumbles.

Kodi growls, "Not all the safety devices in the world can save stupid people from running onto the tracks and killing themselves."

Just as Kodi finishes, a Cavalier darts in front of them and out of harms way with barely two seconds to spare.

Balto watches the cavalier and growls, "Hey look, another Darwin nominee."

The silence within the cab then continues as it was before. They go another twelve miles before making a sharp curve from the Ft Wayne line to the Cleveland line at Alliance, Ohio.

Within a few minutes, the Cleveland line dispatcher tones 11E, the voice of a female husky is what is heard. "11E, how is your time today? Do you have the correct paper work?"

Balto howls, "We blow up at 6PM."

"Okay 11E, your done at 6PM, Ill be taking you into Rockport where you will park it. How’s the paper work?"

"30 MPH slow order between MP CL75 and CL77."

"Aright, I have one addition. 20MPH between CL77 and CL79.1. No on the signs."

"That’s a big 10-4 their Cleveland line, out."

"Aright 11E, out."

Balto and Kodi with 11E make their presence through the town of Rootstown, then over the CSX mainline at Ravenna. The constant roar of EMDs working briskly at the 65MPH track speed and thumps of flat spots on freight car wheels consume the area. The railroad is now mostly straight and a headlight of an eastbound can be seen three miles away. Balto meets the oncoming train and is soon followed by another, and another. The afternoon eastbound fleet is well on its way east from Chicago to points east. 16N, 20E, 20G, and 10R all whiz by at a combined 130MPH. Balto then skims the outskirts of Cleveland. Joins onto the Chicago line where the Cleveland line ends in downtown Cleveland. Late afternoon is upon them as they make their way around Cleveland, darting in and out of skyscrapers shadows. Soon 11E rumbles over a drawbridge at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river. Eight miles later, they cross the main into the small but busy yard called Rockport. Balto pulls the train into the yard, applies the airbrakes and comes to a stop. Balto then goes about tying the power down while Kodi finishes the paperwork. Everything about the train and trip need to be recorded. The pair grab their duffle bags and dismount, heading for the yard office.

They mark off and find a jitney waiting for them to take them to the motel. They get to the Hampton Inn and head for a local food joint after dropping their bags off at the motel. They enter a ma and pa diner a block away. They place their orders and sit and wait.

Balto looks at Kodi, "Horrid run, the dragger, the SUV. I’ve had better. Made Toledo in six hours with a man once." (The actual Railroad term for man is dog and it means a crap train, junk, low priority.)

Kodi, only being marked up for the last three weeks looks at his father questioning, "That’s what, two hours west of here, right?"

"Yup"

"Maybe tomorrows run will be better."
Balto sips some tea, "Maybe." He pauses, putting his tea onto the table then hands Kodi a small box, "This is from Jenna and I."

Kodi opens it and smiles, "Thanks dad. Thanks."

What is in Kodi’s hand makes him happy, a gold necklace with the words "Lead Dog." He puts it around his neck and takes some pride into it by polishing it and almost staring at it. Balto smiles from Kodi’s pleasure.

They continue talking as the sun sets. Once finished scarfing down their meals, they walk back to the motel and go to their rooms. They wait for the next call, which will come all too soon. Another day on the railroad has finished.

 

The location of all these places are real. Conway, Beaver River valley, New Galilee, it all exists. Actually, the Fort Wayne line is one of my favorite places to take pictures of trains. A lot of this is written in railroad terminology. The 11E and symbols. Their destinations and terminations don’t matter here. They are added purely to make it more realistic. I know a lot of other things sound foreign but if your really interested, copy and paste and google them. Anyway, had fun writing this. Hope you enjoyed reading it.

 

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