Posted December 28, 200816 yr Here's the second part which takes us through Pennsylvania and back to Cleveland. Part One takes us from Cleveland through Warren. To see Part One, go to: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,18059.0.html _____________ After driving through Youngstown on I-680, I head east on U.S. Route 224 into Pennsylvania. At Edinburgh, the road winds it way into the Mahoning Valley.... Crossing the Mahoning River. If you need an example of the sorry state of America's infrastructure, the rust and grass growing on this bridge (yes, it's for a U.S. highway) should suffice.... Here comes the sprawl, at the junction of US224 and US422 on the west side of New Castle, PA.... That's New Castle at the bottom of the hill.... A couple of lovely churches in New Castle.... Views of the center of New Castle, 100 miles/160km east of Cleveland.... Follow me south on State Route 18.... Across this handsome truss bridge (these used to be everywhere in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania).... Typical Pennsylvania. Homes climb up the sides of hills.... Coming into the Mahonington section of New Castle, south of the city. This was a satellite town built around the New Castle railroad station for the Baltimore & Ohio and Pittsburgh & Lake Erie railroad lines. As recently as the 1950s, more than 30 passenger trains a day stopped in this little burg.... The tracks are visible on the bridge in the distance. A New Castle transit bus heads north on SR18 to the center of New Castle.... I drove this far east to see if Amtrak's track connection, built in 1994 for $2.6 million, was still intact, still in use and/or still in good condition. It was all three (freight transfers are using it). Amtrak stopped using it in 2005. That's good news if Amtrak wants to return train service through Youngstown again. This track connection links the CSX mainline through Youngstown to the Norfolk Southern mainline into Pittsburgh. This view is looking north, in the direction of the CSX main (not visible in the trees to the right).... This view is looking southeast where the Amtrak connection joins the NS Youngstown Line toward Beaver Falls and Rochester, where it joins the Fort Wayne Line into downtown Pittsburgh. The Amtrak connection is at the left.... This rusting bridge is no longer used as of several years ago. This was old SR18, but was relocated on a straighter right of way in the 1970s. Just south of here, the Mahoning and Shenengo rivers join to form the Beaver River which flows south to the Ohio River which flows to the Mississippi River which empties into the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans some 1,200 miles away. Got a raft?... One of my favorite towns. Wampum is tiny, but has some nice old brick structures in the scenic Beaver River valley with four railroad lines passing through it (CSX, CSX/P&LE, NS Youngstown Line, NS Koppel Secondary).... NS replaced a cast iron bridge from the 1890s at Wampum with a new structure in 2006 for its Youngstown Line. The stone abutments, however, were built so sturdily that they were incorporated into the new bridge 115 years later. The tracks below the bridge are for CSX, once the four-track mainline of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie.... Time to go home. I hopped on the Pennsylvania Turnpike which becomes the Ohio Turnpike.... There is actually some nice scenery along the Ohio Turnpike. The Meander Lake is among the scenery on the I-76 portion.... Passing the huge Lordstown General Motors plant, built in 1955. Several thousand people were building small, fuel-efficient cars here until the global credit crisis and recession hit. Now the employees' parking lot is devoid of cars.... Covering the side of the factory are large posters of the cars they were building, or going to build, at Lordstown. The posters are quite visible from the Ohio Turnpike.... A typical Ohio farm along SR82 which parallels the turnpike north of Newton Falls.... A pretty, late-afternoon sky brightens my drive westward toward Cleveland.... Normally I would exit the turnpike at Streetsboro for Interstate 480 into Cleveland. Instead, I'm interested in more scenery.... This arched span is for Old Route 8 in Boston Heights.... Approaching the Cuyahoga River valley bridge. Unfortunately, my car is too low to see over the sides of the bridge so no photos of the valley itself.... I head north on Interstate 77 and pass its interchange with Interstate 480. I'm told this is the second-largest interchange in Ohio in total land area. The interchange of Interstates 77 and 70 near Cambridge is supposedly larger.... Looking back at the office complexes on Rockside Road at Independence, courtesy of my rearview mirror.... Entering downtown Cleveland on I-77.... I take I-90 around the east side of downtown Cleveland and get on State Route 2 (the Shoreway west), getting another view of downtown.... Ahh, downtown also brings a sign for my home of Lakewood on Cleveland's west side.... Exiting the Shoreway onto Lake Avenue. Yes, I could have exited straight onto Clifton but I like a little variety in my travel routes sometimes.... Home sweet home. OK, it's an ugly building built in the same year I was (1967). But it's nice on the inside. And how often do I have to look at it from the outside?.... That's all folks. Hope you enjoyed my drive-by shootings! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 28, 200816 yr Lordstown was devoid of employees because the plant is idle for the holiday... normally it starts back up in mid-January... I think it is opening a little later this year though.
December 28, 200816 yr FYI.... http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/12/gm_cuts_more_jobs_in_lordstown.html General Motors Corp. expands Lordstown layoffs to 2,000 workers Posted by Robert Schoenberger/Plain Dealer Reporter December 05, 2008 The shutdown of a shift at General Motors Corp.'s plant in Lordstown will eliminate the jobs of 2,000 autoworkers and possibly thousands of other people who work for suppliers. GM said last month that it would reduce production at the plant, putting 1,100 people out of work in January. But sales have worsened since that announcement, so GM will eliminate 900 more jobs by dropping a shift it started four months ago, spokesman Chris Lee said Friday. The plant also will stay closed during January. ........... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 28, 200816 yr I love these little road trip threads. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 29, 200816 yr Cool thread. That is either Meander Reservior or Lake Milton that I-80 crosses, maybe both, but not Mosquito. Mosquito Reservoir is NE of Warren, and I believe SR 5 or 88 crosses it.
December 29, 200816 yr It's Meander Reservoir that I-80 crosses both as the Turnpike and as the freeway east. I-76 crosses Lake Milton. Good pics KJP. Just a note on the GM Lordstown complex, those poster/billboards are on the new Paintshop which was completed in the early 2000's. That used to be all parking lot, However you really can't tell where that is from KJPs pictures.
December 29, 200816 yr Cool thread. That is either Meander Reservior or Lake Milton that I-80 crosses, maybe both, but not Mosquito. Mosquito Reservoir is NE of Warren, and I believe SR 5 or 88 crosses it. Thank you for the correction. The photo was of Meander Lake and I was on the Ohio Turnpike portion of I-76, approaching the interchange with I-80. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 30, 200816 yr So that was New Castle. It and Sharon are at the very edge of my DeLorme Ohio Atlas and Ive always wondered about them. The landscape reminds me of that early Kenaw Reeves movie "The Prince of Pennsylvania"...that same rolling hill country. The piney woods are interesting. You dont see that in my part of Ohio. Its like a different state up there (well, part of these pix was in a different state, but you know what I mean). Melancholy, but I like it.
December 30, 200816 yr I drove by GM yesterday and thought about stopping for a photo as the sea of pavement was an interesting site. Quite sad. Excellent thread!
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