CLEVELAND HEAVY RAIL
Joint Running

Unique to any city in the U.S., light rail and heavy rail share the same tracks for portions of their journeys.  The joint running goes about two and one half miles, from the vicinity of Tower City-Public Square downtown to just beyond the E. 55th Station.  Both systems use the common overhead wiring for their power source.  Cleveland's heavy rail line is among the distinct minority of American routes that do not use third-rail power collection. 

Platforms here at East 55th are at different heights for the different kinds of transit.  The station hints at the age of the system.  There's a major transit yard here, and at least in June of 2001, the time of this photo, there were some PCCs readily visible in storage.  It got one's juices really flowing.

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