FAIRPORT, PAINESVILLE & EASTERN
PHOTOS
Introduction
Over the past several years I had been
able to collect a few dozen slides of the FP&E (thanks primarily to eBay);
then recently I was able to more than triple the size of my collection by obtaining
the FP&E slides of the late Michael A. Tedesco from one of his relatives. I really like Michael's photos because he
took a lot of "action shots" (in my view there is something special
about seeing a locomotive or train in action as opposed to just sitting
idle). I found an excellent local
photography shop to scan my slides (after suffering through 4 other vendors who
did poor jobs), so it is really thanks to them that I can share any of my
collection on the internet.
Due to
capacity restrictions I am limited in how many pictures I can display on this
webpage (and in how big they can be), so below are some
"preview"-sized pictures of what I think are some of the more
interesting photos from my collection, along with some comments about
them. When you click on the picture you
will be taken to the full-sized image on my flickr account ("flickr"
is Yahoo's photo-sharing website).
I have many
more photos on my flickr account, and I grouped the pictures into sets such as
"action photos," "roster photos" (pictures of the
locomotives sitting idle), and "aerial photos." To view these other FP&E pictures, click here—but don't forget to check out the pictures and comments below
before you click on the link!
Depending on
how your computer's monitor is configured, the pictures may not appear as
'true' on your screen as they should, so if there is a picture you particularly
like, then I suggest you print it out (using a color printer with just plain
paper should work fine; I use a HP Deskjet with the print quality set at
"Best"). I think you'll like
the result.
A Sampling of Photos
This first
picture is from the oldest slide in my collection. It was taken on August 22, 1962 by Dave Ingles. Note the paint scheme displayed here: yellow
body with green lettering, green frame and trimmings, and silver cab roof and
trucks. (By the way, this yellow-and-green
locomotive color scheme is what inspired the color scheme of my website.)
Click on the
image to see the full-sized picture.
This next
photo was taken by Michael Tedesco on December 29th, 1971. Based on the photos in my collection it
looks like late 1971 was when the FP&E changed its locomotive paint scheme
from what it was in the previous photograph to what you see here: a darker
yellow body with black lettering, black frame and radiator grill, and black cab
roof and trucks.
Click on the
image to see the full-sized picture.
Here is a nice
long-distance photo by Michael Tedesco taken on July 19th, 1972 from the south
end of West Yard that shows the western portion of the Diamond Shamrock plant
in the background. Notice the hoppers
turned upside-down to the right of the locomotives, which were involved in a
derailment (to learn more about that incident go to the "Randall
Jackson" section of my FP&E
Operations page; the story of the upside-down hoppers is about two-thirds
of the way down that section).
Click on the
image to see the full-sized picture.
Here is an
interesting photo taken by Warren Opalk on May 3rd, 1978. The exhaust stack has been capped,
indicating that the locomotive has been 'mothballed'; as it turned out, this
unit was being 'cannibalized'—that is, parts were being taken from it to use in
the repair and maintenance of its sister units. Two years later this unit (or what was left of it) was sold to
General Electric Transportation in Cleveland, where it was subsequently
converted into a 'mine motor': a special type of electric locomotive that can
enter underground mines (see an example here). Notice how the
angle of the shot Warren used allows you to see through the radiator grill—very
neat!
Click on the
image to see the full-sized picture.
Here is a
photo taken on June 8th, 1984 by Nick Chase.
Just 20 days later (June 28th) the FP&E ceased to exist. However, locomotive #107 went on to work for
the Ashtabula, Carson & Jefferson Railroad.
Click on the
image to see the full-sized picture.
And this is
what happens to most locomotives in the end: they get scrapped. These are photos of former FP&E #105
(the same locomotive at the top of this page) as it was being cut up in late
2008 at JRB Grain in Cynthiana, IN.
(For more about how #105 ended up in Cynthiana, see my FP&E Diesel Roster page.) Thanks to
the Bender family for sending me these photos!
Click on the
image to see the full-sized picture.
Other Photos
Internet
Below are links to
FP&E-related photos I have found on the internet. I divided the links into two groups: FP&E and
Post-FP&E. The Post-FP&E links
are for photos of ex-FP&E diesels 103, 105, and 108; I am excluding links
to photos of ex-FP&E 101 & 102 (which became Ohi-Rail 101 & 102)
and ex-FP&E 107 (which became Ashtabula, Carson & Jefferson 107)
because there are plenty of pictures of these units available on the internet
which can be found easily using Google.
FP&E
Click here for a
photo of a train crew posing with steam locomotive #4.
Click here
for a photo of #105 some time during the 1960s.
Click here
for an action photo of #104 & #107 in April 1968.
Click here for an
action photo of #103 & #102 in December 1968.
Click here
and scroll toward the bottom of the page for a couple of photos from June 1975.
Click here
to see a couple of action photos from the 1980s.
Click here, here, here, here, here,
and here
for more photos from the 1980s.
Click here
for an action photo of #108 & #105 in March 1981.
Click here
for an action photo of #102 & #108 in June 1984.
Click here for an
action photo of #102 & #101 in 1984.
Click here
for an action photo of #101 & #107 in 1984.
Post-FP&E
Click here
for a photo of ex-FP&E #103 after it was delivered to its new owner Ft.
Howard Paper at Green Bay, WI in October 1978 (and before FHP repainted and
renumbered the unit); click here
and scroll about half-way down the page to see a photo of Ft. Howard Paper
#63-180 (ex-FP&E #103) at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI;
click here
and here
for more photos of the unit at the Museum; and finally click here for
photos of ex-103 in the Museum's shop.
Click here to see the
first in a series of photos of Cargill/ex-Indiana Hi-Rail #105 (ex-FP&E
#105) in Evansville, IN. To view the
next photo in the series (there are a total of 9) click the "Older"
button at the upper right of the photo; repeat this to see all the photos in
the series.
Click here and here and
scroll down on each page for photos of ex-Cargill #105 (ex-IHRC, ex-FP&E
#105) sitting idle at Cynthiana, IN; click here, here,
and here
for more shots of ex-105 at Cynthiana.
Click here to see the first
in a series of photos of Cargill/ex-Indiana Hi-Rail #108 (ex-FP&E #108) in
Cincinnati, OH. To view the next photo
in the series (there are a total of 4) click the "Older" button at
the upper right of the photo; repeat this to see all the photos in the series.
Books
For some other very nice color photos
of FP&E diesels (and a couple of caboose photos), I recommend two books: Trackside
Around Cleveland: 1965-1979 and Trackside Around Eastern Ohio: 1965-1995. Both of these books have several good, full-color
photos of FP&E diesels in action—and both books are recent publications, so
they should still be available from any good book dealer. (For more details about these books see my FP&E Resources page.)
Created by Scott Nixon
July 2009
Updated: September 2009, October 2010