Uploaded November 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
As the sun sinks low on a November afternoon, CSX ES44AH #973,
ES40DC #5435, and CW44AH #5112 lead a northbound mixed manifest on the former B&O main at Laurel Avenue in Hamilton, Ohio.
11/16/2020
As the sun sinks low on a November afternoon, CSX ES44AH #973,
ES40DC #5435, and CW44AH #5112 lead a northbound mixed manifest on the former B&O main at Laurel Avenue in Hamilton, Ohio.
11/16/2020
![Chessie Steam Special [Super 8 Home Movies]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lNZlZwO3bQE/mqdefault.jpg "Chessie Steam Special [Super 8 Home Movies]
Railfanning the Chessie Steam Special, Reading T-1 #2101, Hamilton, Ohio to Cottage Grove, IN 6/5/1978.
On June 5, 1978, the Chessie Steam Special made a one-way move from Cincinnati to Chicago. Excursion passengers were picked up en route with the plan that these passengers could return to their points of origin on Amtraks eastbound Cardinal.
My mother and I rode from Hamilton, Ohio to Richmond, Indiana while my father paced the train and took 8mm movies and 35mm photos of the trip.
From Hamilton, the train followed Chessie Systems B&O Indianapolis Division to Cottage Grove, Indiana, where it diverted onto the C&O Of Indiana for the trip to Chicago.
As it turns out, it was fortuitous for us that we planned to leave the train at Richmond. As the Special pulled into the depot at Richmond, someone (probably one of the school-age kids on board for a field trip) pulled the emergency stop cord. The resulting emergency braking broke a drawbar between two cars causing them to separate and a person standing in a vestibule at the time fell between the cars and was mildly injured. The resulting cleanup delayed the trains continued journey for many hours.
The power for the Chessie Steam Special was Reading T-1 class 4-8-4 #2101, which had gained fame in 1975-1976 as American freedom Train #1.
The Chessie Steam Special was part of a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the B&O Railroad in 1977. The success of the trips caused Chessie System to schedule a 1978 season for the train as well.
Sadly, a roundhouse fire in early 1979 damaged 2101 so severely as to make it inoperable. It was cosmetically restored and is now on display at the Baltimore And Ohio Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
The success of the Chessie Steam Special led to the creation of the Chessie Safety Express, which toured the system in 1981-1982 in support of Operation Lifesaver, with largely the same train consist as the Chessie Steam Special, but led by ex C&O Greenbriar 4-8-4 #614. This consist also briefly toured the Family Lines Railroads in early 1981 as the Family Lines Safety Express.
This footage was originally captured on Super 8 movie film and transferred to VHS in the mid-1980s. This digitized version is from the VHS copy.
Enjoy!")
