For those of you in the Cleveland area and wanting great spots to see train action, try out Wendy Park. This is a city park which is located right at the Cuyahoga River where the Norfolk Southern lift bridge (ex NYC / ex Conrail) crosses the river. Lots of trains, and ships from the Great Lakes pass the location which has great views of the city and the lake as well. "Drawbridge" Tower is right accross the tracks from the parking area and the pier along the river which affords great viewing of the lift bridge action.

Wendy Park has only been open for the last couple of years. I discovered it last summer. Oddly enough, I rarely run into train fans here though, generally just fisherman. So, if you are close to or visiting Cleveland, I highly suggest enjoying the NS lift bridge at Wendy Park!

http://wendypark.org/

Wendy Park huh? The things I have missed out on now that I moved from Cleveland to the southwest in search of a better climate.

One of my favorite spots was Fagan's located on the east bank of the flats. A great spot for food and drinks while watching the Conrail No.1 lift bridge (as it was called back then). On a given Saturday night during the summer, the boaters would often be lined up on either side of the lowered bridge impatiently waiting for it to rise. I always thought a really cool job would be the operator of that lift bridge.

If you really want to mingle with other train buffs, then I suggest the parking lot of the Station Restaurant off of Front St. in Berea. Plenty of non stop action on the NS and CSX!

Got some pics for those of us a bit too far east to get there?

It was my impression, possibly wrong, that Wendy Park would be ok for watching but terrible for photography since it appears to be located north of the mainline and you would be shooting at poor sun angles regardless of time of day; into the sun in the a.m., shadows on the side of the train in the afternoon with westbounds, and into the sun for eastbounds afternoon. Am I thinking of the wrong place west of the drawbridge?

Interesting. I'll have to go check it out. I usually go to Berea, and generally avoid downtown if possible... But I may stop by next time I'm in the area.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Bowler:
It was my impression, possibly wrong, that Wendy Park would be ok for watching but terrible for photography since it appears to be located north of the mainline and you would be shooting at poor sun angles regardless of time of day; into the sun in the a.m., shadows on the side of the train in the afternoon with westbounds, and into the sun for eastbounds afternoon. Am I thinking of the wrong place west of the drawbridge?

As far as photos, you are correct with the exception of later in the day as the sun is in the west and slightly north of the bridge.

Lenny the Lion, this is one in the same, former Conrail "Bridge 1," just viewed from the northwest side of the bridge.


Chris, I will attempt to get some pictures in the future here. I generally do not drag a camera around with me very often and have not had any luck at getting pics posted on this forum either. I 'll see what I can do though :-)

Thoroughbred
Thanks for the link on wendy park. I never even heard of the place. I hope to check it out this summer.