How The Cincinnati & Lake Erie (CLE) Came Into Being:

I found the original logo on some models for sale on eBay as part of an estate sale that had been handed down twice before the eBay listings.  Something struck me about the logo, and I purchased many of the cars (maybe 80 percent of the models for sale).  After an exhaustive search on the Internet and other sources, no one came forward or offered any ideas as to the original source of the models.  I surmise these were part of a modelers estate from the 1990s who passed and the details long lost.  I decided to redraw the logos and go with the name Cincinnati & Lake Erie.  I added the spelled-out lettering, designed freight car decals and modern version locomotive artwork. 

Fellow modeler Ed Lewis also got a couple of the eBay pieces, and began painting both locomotives and rolling stock using my artwork.  He expanded the railroad and we decided to flesh out the concept as a collaboration.  I also created a few additional rolling stock pieces.  The CLE was envisioned as a jointly owned operation between my Georgia Road and the Cumberland, Utica and Toledo RR created by Ed.  The CLE acted as a natural bridge line between the Georgia Road in the Midwest and the CUT in the Northeast.  Because it was a subsidiary, it kept its identity.  Both owning roads contributed power on a short- and long-term basis. 

By the way, there was a real railroad named the Cincinnati & Lake Erie, formed in 1930 from several existing interurban lines. Its main line ran north-south between Cincinnati and Toledo (on Lake Erie), with branches extending east to Columbus, Ohio and west to Richmond, Indiana; but the railroad was largely defunct by 1939 – a victim of the Great Depression, improved roads and the automobile. The freelance CLE has no direct connection with the real C&LE railroad other than the historical reference of the name.

For more information on the freelance CLE, visit its Facebook page at the address listed below and read the photo captions, some of which provide very extensive information about different aspects of the railroad.

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https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070694566471