West end of yard

NG501012

West end of yard

Facilities

The view here (again from the Security Analysts’ special) is of the west end of Rockport yard. On this occasion, the special was traveling on Lakefront main 1. The tracks in the foreground are, from front to back, Lakefront 2 and 4, two Rockport leads, and Belt 4. The building with the tall chimney is the yard office. Belt 3 edges away from the yard east of the yard office and splits into a wye, one leg connecting with the Lakefront eastbound via a hand-throw switch at WS Junction, and the other passing underneath the Lakefront, then curving west and paralleling Lakefront 1 to Berea. Belt 4 and the two leads from Rockport connect with Lakefront 4 at Belt Junction, at an interlocking remotely controlled by the operator at Berea, about two miles west. Rockport yard functions principally in two ways: it handles cars to and from the industries on the west side of Cleveland, and it effects interchange of cars between the Youngstown-Elyria trains of the Cleveland (now Lake) Division on the one 7 hand and the Cleveland-Toledo trains of the Toledo Division and Cleveland-Bellefontaine-Columbus trains of the Ohio Division on the other. The latter operation involves solid trains in some cases; Big Four BF-9, for instance, leaves Collinwood caboose light and gets the connection cars left at Rockport by the BP-9 off the LE&P from Youngstown. Likewise, Big Four BR-2 sets 011 its entire train at Rockport for dispersion locally and for the LE&P. As a result in of the rapid growth of industrial activity in this vicinity recently, Rockport with its restricted leads and short tracks (only two hold more than 80 cars) is a congested place indeed.

Jeremy Taylor

Jeremy Taylor

2-1/4x3-1/4 neg

Oct-53

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Yard

247

Rockport, Cleveland, OH

See NG501012a