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

North Platte or Bust: Part 1; Getting There

This is the first installment of several for an HAPT road trip adventure lasting a couple of weeks.  As the title implies, North Platte, NE was the endpoint, but it wasn't a beeline trip.  A zig-zag pattern of short trips to the next "railfan hot spot" really formed up around the need for Charles "The Fiddler" Kadyk to be at a family wedding in Kansas City on August 11.  Many adventures, in the truest sense of the word, ensued.  Two of us, armed with, cameras, radios, GPS, maps, literature, and some prior research, set out on Sunday August 5 from Mohnton, PA and returned on the 17th.  I also had some lesser adventures before and after that "in transit" to and from Maine.  The tales will follow in installments. 

It's a rare thing when you are not retired and can still spend this much time on just chasing down trains.  Charles and I are lucky that teachers have the luxury of time during the summer.  Charles is also lucky to have a wife who puts up with it.   Here's some of the fun you could have - when you can get away with it.


August 2-3, 2012:

Former NH main to Poughkeepsie Bridge

On the way to PA I made a stop in Highland, NY.  This allowed me to visit the famous New Haven RR Poughkeepsie Bridge, now "Walkway Over The Hudson".  After years of sitting dormant after the fire of suspicious origin in the days of the Penn Central, the state of New York got its act together and acquired the bridge for the walkway.  I've always found the history of the bridge to be pretty fascinating.  It was an important link to New England in its day.

West Shore Line

Walkway Over the Hudson

Walkway Over the Hudson

The morning dawned with an annoying mist that screwed up photography of the bridge structure, so I saved that part for another trip.  I still had time to walk out a ways and get a feel for the place.  It was very busy with walkers, joggers and bikers.  Pretty cool.  I did manage to get some shots of the CSX West Shore Line / River Line.  Naturally activity on the line picked up after I was far enough away to miss it.  The Amtrak line and Metro North depot in Poughkeepsie was busy though.  A shame it was so strongly backlit and misty.  Next trip.

West Shore Line - south

I did enjoy the bridge but I couldn't linger forever.  I wanted to photograph the bridge from the "Mid-Hudson"bridge.  There's a park at the Highland end that ties the two bridges together as a trail system and it seemed like a good place for photos.  Maybe if I wasn't headed elsewhere...


Once I arrived in Mohnton we pretty much headed out to lunch at a local diner and then over to a gig in Burlington, NJ at Doc's Irish Pub.  Charles plays the fiddle for Belfast Connection.  Thankfully, Diane was along so I didn't have to figure everything out on my own.  It was a fun evening.  The reason I even mention it is that the NJ Transit's River LINE ran past the window.  Naturally, when the gig ended and we waited for something to pass, all was dead.

August  4:

On Saturday Charles gave me some serious training time on serious model railroad operations.  But, this was after we grabbed coffee and donuts at the Dosie Dough Bakery in Wyomissing (Reading).  We missed two trains in pursuit of donuts.

We started with Jeff Warner's electronic wonderland modelling the old Pennsy, Reading and Western Maryland.  I enjoyed handling a wireless throttle and following track signals with the guidance of one of the veterans.

Safe Harbor, PA

Safe Harbor, PA

We left suddenly in a thunder storm that caused Jeff to shut down a bit early.  Between layouts, and after a group lunch at a local diner, Charles and I set out for Safe Harbor to get a daylight view of the bridges.  Here I also tried to work in some of the leftover rails from the construction of the power plant.  The top track is long gone but the lower track is now the NS line that goes to Wilmington on the NEC via a wye in Perryville, MD.

The rest of the day and evening were spent at Ken McCorry's fantastic re-creation of the the Pennsy Buffalo Line.  Charles and I handled trains BF-14/15 which run the full length from Harrisburg and Buffalo and return.  Charles ran the northbound, where I followed along to learn the ropes and then I took the southbound.  Nothing like working with helper units on Keating Summit to give the task some seriousness.  Anyway, even with little work en-route, it took us over an hour and a half to make the run - one way!  That's a huge layout.  The photos don't do it justice.


August 4:

We once again visited the Dosie Dough Bakery before heading out.  Diane went along in another car this time to say goodbye.  We got underway around 9:30 or so.

Fireless steamer, Dennison Depot, Ohio.

Dennison Depot, Ohio.

Dennison Depot, Ohio.

Dennison Depot, Ohio.

We expected a pretty straight forward trip.  However PennDOT had other ideas.  We managed to choose a route that needed tunnel work around Pittsburgh.  This took us on a detour through the rather large Frick Park and environs.  Not bad.  The detour itself was almost to the minute what was advertised on the blinking signs.  However, we did not get to Dennison, OH in time for the museum to be open or to catch the Ohio Central train that had apparently just headed west.  We took some photos of the area.  Dennison Depot memorializes a troop canteen that formed at the depot where citizens came out to feed passing troops.  It's a neat story.  Too bad we missed the museum.

From the museum we drove around the area on our way west and located a coal train parked on what is now an R.J. Corman line running north.  It looked more like newish aluminum hoppers but maybe they were leased in an off season deal.  They seemed to be a Wisconsin Electric reporting mark but I didn't record it.

Big Four depot, Galion, OH

Big Four depot, Galion, OH

Somewhat further on we passed through the town of Galion, OH.  I had been there before and wanted to see the depot again.  I'd forgotten how fancy it was.  It's a former "Big Four" or CCC&StL /NYC station now being restored.

CSX double stack backing into Marion Intermodal Terminal.

We began to hear some chatter on the scanner that sounded close as we approached Marion.  Some intermodal was talking about 7000ft length for some reason.  Before we could figure it out, we began to pass a large industrial park which featured warehouses and a large container yard.  This yard had a switcher and depot with signs calling it the Marion Intermodal Facility.   The next thing we saw was our path blocked by a double stack being backed into the yard.  What made it special was the KCS unit on the point.  Charles grabbed his camera and set out.  I'd catch up later.

We'd most definitely reached Marion.  We checked in at the motel, grabbed some KFC next door and headed to Marion Union Station to watch the action.  It was too dark for my camera by the time we got there but there was a small group of local fans from the Model Railroad Club in the building who tolerated us and had some stories to tell.  Meanwhile we watched a few trains pass over the many diamonds.  Each wheel on the endless trains smacked those crossings loudly.  We had to cover our ears.  We'd get some ear plugs in the morning for that.

Marion Union Station

A local who stayed around late told us a bit more about how the CSX trains get signals north out of Columbus well in advance.  That told us something about the old Hocking Valley Line (C&O) and when to expect trains.  Southbound we could see the headlight miles away.   The NS former N&W nee PRR line was more mysterious.  A northbound was waiting when we arrived so naturally we assumed something was crossing on the east-west former Big Four/EL line.  This turned out to be true.  A westbound passed.  The logic was sound enough.  Soon the northbound NS leave and soon the anticipated northbound CSX approached.  We saw around 7-8 trains on the three lines before we left for the night.  Southbounds on the Hocking Valley line were the count leader at 3, all hoppers trains of ore or stone.  Apparently they were regular sights.

Anyway, our trip was officially under way...

BC