North Platte or Bust: Part 2, Marion, Bellevue & Fostoria

Marion Union Station

AUGUST  6, 2012:

This day began with us buying ear plugs at CVS and settling down to watch the action at Marion Union Station.  CSX and NS gave us something to watch on all lines and boy were those diamonds loud.  With daylight and an a few short lulls I also roamed around to see what historical artifacts I could photograph.  A few are mixed in. 

Marion Union Station

Marion Union Station

Right next to the station and across the former Hocking Valley line I ran into these items related to the Marion Steam Shovel Company.  Apparently its plant was across the tracks at one time.  I hadn't even given it a thought though I knew of it.  The sign was quite informative but I included a link.  Panama Canal and NASA among its work.

Northbound N&W signals

Southbound N&W signals.

Next I wandered to the 3 lines to shoot the signals.  They all had signals from previous owners dating back 50+ years and all appeared to be ready for replacement.  In fact, most had new signals installed already. 

The old N&W position signals were the most curious so I got to them first.  As CSX provided the northbound on the Hocking Valley, I got one going through the old C&O "traffic light" signals.  You can see that their days are numbered. New signals are already in place all around.

Northbound on the old C&O

Southbound local on ex-N&W

Perhaps the signals just look better when something is going by them.  Here is a sampling of trains going by the old signals.  These shots cover all three lines, though not every signal.  I already have too many pictures here.

Westbound off the Big Four.

Westbound off the Big Four.

Former E-L Caboose

Once I had my fill of the trains going by all the signals I finished getting some shots of the tower and caboose.  The tower used to be higher and on the other side of the tracks to the north.  There's an old Conrail rust cabin there now. 



I found the design of the station and the surrounding artifacts to be somewhat fascinating.  I have an N scale model of the caboose with a different paint scheme.  The tower is useful for elevated photography.  Charles did put a second video camera on the steps.  Even the brick walkways were unique.  One of the locals told us the elaborately fired bricks came from the basement floor. 

Relocated tower

Marion Union Station

 

Attica Jct., OH

Eventually we hit a lull around 11:30 am that just seemed to beckon us to move north to Bellevue.  We followed the NS line the whole way and encountered 5 trains, including an Exhibition Car train.  However, whenever we stopped to get pictures, nothing moved.  To be fair, there seemed to be a maintenance blitz going on, so the trains we saw were working around this.  Attica Jct. below just seemed to typify our plight on this route.  At this spot the CSX (where I'm standing) crosses the NS in the distance.  Trains stopped for MOW gangs as soon as we approached.  Or, they moved in the distance when we couldn't reach them.

Mad River and Nickle Plate Museum, 

Our luck changed a bit when we reached Bellevue.   MOW still had stuff stopped and much moved in the distance, but we were surrounded by museum pieces to look at while we waited.

 Bellevue, OH

Both the CN and CP provided something to watch too.  I believe the CN runs come from IC origins.

Bellevue, OH

Although a tower is in the way,  you get the idea.  CP may be here because of MILW/SOO.  The museum's just acquired railfan platform is located to the left of the tower.

NS MOW work, Bellevue, OH

The museum itself offered a huge variety of well maintained equipment and some very interesting displays of photos, papers, artifacts and misc. from all over.  Before we set out for Fostoria, we made sure we saw everything the museum had to offer.  We even drove over to a new "platform" that the museum has just acquired over nearer the tower.  It was just a concrete foundation from an old building but it would be a great legal vantage point for future visits.  By then a roof or a bench might be included.  We never found good access to the yard but the highway overpass was pretty cool to drive over.  Photos were possible but not ideal.  The sun was getting to us by this time.

Replica of Ohio's first

NKP china collection

Inside the first ever dome car.

SD-9

A quarry critter

CNW Alco

A very specialized shop motor

B&O Alco switcher

NKP cabooses

Who doesn't like that herald?

A fully equipped RPO car.

At the helm of an RSD.

NKP fans delight.

Fairbank Morse

GP30!

Dynomometer Car

Plymouth of Ohio

Mad River and Nickle Plate Museum, Bellevue, OH

Mad River and Nickle Plate Museum, Bellevue, OH

Before we left the MOW parade moved west and all of the waiting trains moved into the yard.  This line is the old Nickle Plate and is being upgraded significantly.

Mad River and Nickle Plate Museum, Bellevue, OH

Mad River and Nickle Plate Museum, Bellevue, OH

Fostoria Railroad Park

We pretty much drove straight from Bellevue to Fostoria.  We

Fostoria Railroad Park

passed large industrial complexes that included Whirlpool and its large distribution facilities.  We saw plenty but really very little to photograph well.  As it turned out, we got to Fostoria with no concrete idea where to go.  I did have clues but no location.

Fostoria Railroad Park

The new railroad park in Fostoria is as new as they get.  The "groundbreaking" was last September.  Apparently all that could be done was to level off a gravel parking spot, put out a picnic table and place an outhouse.   Apparently a long-term plan does exist and it includes the entire triangle between the three sets of diamonds.  Also, a building was recently removed which opens up the view.  But, we found it nearly by accident.  We knew only that a park existed so we looked for the tell-tale signs near one of the diamonds.

Fostoria Railroad Park

Fostoria Railroad Park

We actually missed the park as we drove into town.  We were getting pretty disgusted when the "short range sensors" showed a promising combination of tracks and roads in the north-east corner of the triangle.  Sure enough, we had gone down the wrong street on the way in and missed the tiny detail of an outhouse and picnic table.  This we soon found on our last pass.  As it turned out, this was probably the best corner to be in.  We could see all three lines fairly clearly.  In fact the tracks of two lines touched the gravel patch we parked on.

Fostoria Railroad Park

Fostoria Railroad Park

Our first trains were NS.  A westbound was going by when we arrived and a switcher in the form of a high hood SD40-2 was playing on the other track.   Not long afterwards a westbound with a UP leader went by.  This was followed by a high hood pulling a local westward.   Somewhere in this process a local woman railfan dropped by and informed us that her husband saw that an NS heritage unit (Virginian?) might be coming through from Bellevue.  His best guess was 7pm for it to show up.  Well, that got our interest.  We were thinking of leaving.  Now we knew where we'd be when the light died.  Another railfan joined us too.  He was a regular visitor to Fostoria and camped in his van.  The usual trading of info and war stories ensued.  The same woman had informed him too. 

Fostoria Railroad Park

Fostoria Railroad Park

CSX was not idle.  Their east-west line was pretty busy.  I took plenty of cluttered pictures of trains going by the tower.  Two trains slowed to make a turn north, right in front of us.  At least one train came north and turned west.  Before the light completely died, a southbound CSX came through.  This one allowed me to get my first good shot of the latest logo, which I hadn't noticed before this stop. 

When the light died, no heritage unit had been by yet.  I recall that it was through in the wee hours according to reports.  By then we were snoozing away in Lima, miles away, preparing for the next leg of our trip.

BC

Indy Incidentals

This particular trip involved a mini-van full of students and chaperones to go to Indianapolis  for the National Forensic League's National Speech and Debate tournament.  As usual, we visited a place or two with railfan potential but alas I could take no time to do such frivolous things.  There were a few things that came my way with little or no effort however.

The league saw fit to have it's massive party at the Indianapolis Zoo.  I saw on the website that they had a train, so I had a side-mission.  These things are usually a bit of a disappointment but this one was a bit more so.  Though I could ride for free on the league's dime, I chose not to.  The tracks seemed to circle it's own secluded part of the zoo and didn't show off much.  While on this quest, I found "abandoned" tracks in the pathways and sidewalks of the heart of the zoo.  They appeared to be roughly 3' gauge and much heavier than the toy now running.  They took people around like a service rather than an amusing ride.  A couple of sidings were present and the tracks went places I'd like to have seen from a train.  But alas, it appears that either cost or insurance or both brought it down.  I have to do more research on that one.  White River Jct. is actually named for the river that runs through Indianapolis and has nothing to do with the one we passed through in Vermont.

As competition wound down and we found ourselves sightseeing, the group went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  Here I ran into a gem with PRR roots.  In the basement levels of the museum is the actual Reuben Wells, a locomotive that pushed cars out of the Ohio River valley town of Madison and up to the rest of the rail network.  Apparently the 8.5% grade is one of the steepest in the country.  Over time the line fell into PRR control and the unique loco stayed in good shape.  It was promised and delivered in 1968.  The museum had it's work cut out for it when it tried to get title from the Penn Central however.  That financial fiasco led to endless paperwork that tied up ownership until 9 years after PC died as a railroad.
The museum has a neat O scale model of the line complete with scale grade, but I missed the operating session I guess.   The locomotive was hooked up with lights and sound for the kids but I just gave it a look anyway.  It had one drive rod but two sets of driver wheels, front and rear.  Apparently this custom arrangement aided traction. 

Included with the Reuben Wells was a former PRR "tool car" which apparently got caught in the paperwork fiasco too.  They have photos of the delivery to the present location 1985.



The Lego exhibit was one of the last one's I checked out at the museum and wouldn't you know it...








I had previously assumed that the trade name for Pan Am was owned by Guilford Transportation Industries.  Here is a tower across from the Indiana Convention Center that is known as the "Pan Am Tower".  Apparently it is named for the Pan American Games held in 1987, but there is a rail connection.  This building is a "re-interpretation" of the nearby Union Station tower.  Nice looking building anyway.


Indianapolis Union Station was near, if not connected to the Indiana Convention Center where we spent a lot of time.  As we walked back from Lucas Oil Stadium we walked under the end of the train shed, which is now part of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  I did not walk over because time was short but I could see the imposing building.

A CSX double stack entered the still used steel portion of the train shed while we were emerging from the ICC.  Another passed while we milled around the stadium and returned to the ICC.  When I saw this, I became interested in the train shed and building so we returned to our venue using the sidewalk under the bridge.  It was actually cleaned up and bright under there. 

Although there was plenty to clutter the photo, the brown masonry of the main building stands out.  At least you see enough to compare to the Pan Am building to examine the "re-interpretation".




After we left Indy, we headed back to Maine via Cleveland.  While I can think of railfan things to do, my team had other ideas.  We spent the less rainy day at Cedar Point Amusement Park.  This gave me another chance to visit the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Ry.  Since I'd already photographed it before, this one vantage point was the only new item worthy of note.  I had to dangle the camera a bit to get this but you can see the intricate placement of several rides as the train passes over a grade crossing.  Cedar Point is known world wide for its roller coasters.  I'm known locally for not riding them.


The last shot is from the Cleveland waterfront, in the literal shadow of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I include it because ships like this shuttled the iron ore from ports in Minnesota and Wisconsin to Ohio ports like Ashtabula, Conneaut or Cleveland. Railroads took the ore to the likes of Youngstown, Wierton and Pittsburgh for the once mighty steel industry.  Plus, I just like the way they look.


BC