Ohio Hotspots Tour Pt. III - Fostoria

Part I..........Part II........... Part III...........Part IV

We spent Tuesday (7/28) and Wednesday (7/29) nights at the Best Western in Fostoria because it was handy to Deshler.  This gave us the bonus of spending extra time at the Iron Triangle Railroad Park.  This place is probably the fanciest rail park in the country.  The "triangle" between the three sets of diamonds is largely, though not completely, filled with a fenced off lawn, well lit facilities and paved parking.  A covered platform with benches, vending machines and rest rooms complete the place.  You can hang out here for hours and not have to run off for a "coffee exchange" at the nearest fast food joint.  Better yet, plenty of other railfans drop in so you are never lacking for conversation or guidance.  The Toledo fans at Deshler told us of Dell's on Main St. for BBQ excellence so we filed that for Wednesday lunch.  Once we checked into the hotel we spent the evening at the park.  Unfortunately, the bugs seem to emerge as the sun goes down.  We had repellant but were tired enough to leave once full darkness, and a lull in the action appeared.  Someone actually set up with a pop-up camper to stay the night.  We heard later that that's actually okay.

http://www.fostoriadells.com/

I took no photos on Tuesday night but took dozens of photos on Wednesday.  I'll attempt to caption each and vent on the notable ones.  I do know that they loaded in whatever order they wanted to, but you weren't there so it doesn't actually matter.  I found information for specific units all over the web, so "RRPicture Archives", "RailPictures", "The Diesel Shop" and other places get almost all credit for specific historical data.  I usually look for more than one source of anything since I've been led astray in the past, but don't take my comments as gospel.  My brain only gets credit for picking the units out of a crowd and most simple ID's of type for my own photo. 

NS westbound at the platform. 

CSX #600 was leading a coal train north through the diamonds on the old Hocking Valley/C&O line from Columbus to Toledo.  The train was mainly recent model black CSX hopper cars.  AC4400CW #600, is one of three "pre-production" units built prior to the AC6000CW's which start at 604. 601-"Spirit of Waycross" and 602-"Spirit of Maryland" were the others. Steerable trucks were a new thing too. These were regulars on the Boston line once, back in the days when I saw too many "washing machines" with a few of the W.F.P.T. crew.



 
Nothing like a tasteful patch on a "Grinstein" SD70MAC. This  newer"swoosh" logo is a new combo to me.  I've been curious about these units since I first captured a photo of these in pure BN paint (below). They were delivered to Burlington Northern just prior to and during BNSF merger time, long ago. They have since been catching eyes and spreading the gospel of widespread AC traction ever since.  For reference I put in this shot of a 2001 encounter I had with the paint scheme in Monument, Colorado on the "Joint Line".  Just a logo swap.  The AT&SF inspired BNSF logo of old was more common on these guys.










This BNSF SD70MAC is not the kind people think of when they think old BNSF.   It is a 1999 model and judging by the fade on the paint, it's been through the washer at Barstow.  (old unattributable story, but apparently the washer there was inadvertently set up so it prematurely faded paint on a few units.)

The SD60 design has always been one of my favorites among recent EMD styles.  I always enjoyed seeing them lead in Conrail blue paint, especially when they still had the red "bug eyes" on the nose.  NS tended to patch over the marker lights as soon as possible.  This CSX SD60M shows it's Conrail heritage with those lights still in place.   





C40-8 "Spartan Cab" that looks like its days could be numbered, unless the neglect foretells a rebuild in its future. Roanoke will update their Dash 8.5's with an "RLS" wide-cab, Roanoke Locomotive Shop variation on the NS designed "Crescent Cab" used on some EMD's rebuilt in Altoona.





 
Just another Soo 60xx series SD60. They seem to be the only Soo units I ever see in North America. I've seen them on the old D&H (CP) and Southern Tier, out west on the UP and BNSF, and outside Montreal on the CP.  Even when they run off to a leasing company, Soo paint equals 60xx series when I'm around.

WB intermodal about to cross the C&O line. Charles looks on with his video gear.

CEFX 3155, former UP 3554.  Feels like CNJ paint.

UP is unloading Dash 8's. This is one of 3 or 4 headed east with some MP15's and "Green Goats". These pre-date "wide cabs", been around forever and were as common as dirt at one time. With only a small shield on the nose, they were usually the plainest looking UP units around.  Now they also look small next to new power.

An auto rack turns from west to north at the tower.

Very early BNSF paint on C44-9W. This paint scheme only went on standard cab style units after phase 2 orange paint came along. In fact, many of these units were delivered and run with paint but no logo decals for a while in the early days of the merger. FURX leaser 3029 was built as PRR SD40 6066.

Remote yard power kept emerging from the south yard.  Love those old Geep slugs.

Common AC4400CW and "spartan cab" C40-8.

 

CP AC4400CW 8653 + CEFX AC4400CW 1052

Roadrailers make daily appearances on the old NKP line.  This one is 262 which runs from Fort Wayne to Bethlehem. Funny how many screen savers and desktop backgrounds I've made over the years of this very train. 

Westbound on the old NKP crosses the old C&O

One of several retired MP15's heads east to a new home.

One of several short-lived "Green Goats" heads east.

Former C&O SD40 rebuilt to SD40-2.

Eastbound grain from the platforms.

Former SP/UP now NREX SD45. Now an SD40M-2.  Built as PRR.

EB rail train slowed for the curve.  Lots of physics here.

Miles of coke cars meets impatient intermodal

And thus ends our stay at Fostoria.  Wednesday evening the two movers and shakers that got the park built stopped by at different times.  Apparently they want to be sure they are on the right course for future improvements.  For "Parks and Recreation" fans, the woman city councilor who drove the bureaucracy can only be described as "Leslie Knope".   She was friendly and intense about the hurdles, grants and details.  The other guy might be a "Ron Swanson" since he was more down to earth and the leading railfan on the project.  Apparently they just barely get along since the two clashed over the details one railfan wanted versus the public survey data and non-railfan common sense, not to mention the liability hurdles built into the beauracracy.  So, "Ron's" pile of dirt to see the tower was thwarted by "Leslies" data about the view, not to mention landscaping sense.   I think the railroads and legal council dictated where the entrance went, not to mention the extensive fencing.

Anyway, Thursday's trip to Bellevue starts in Fostoria with a morning dose of Iron Triangle Park.  Plus, did I mention the Dell's was a five-time Ohio State BBQ champion!  That was a neat place for lunch.  The BBQ was great and there was no shortage of diner character.  And, the place had a serious lunch box collection around the whole joint.  '60's through '80's people would recognize the logos for movies, TV shows and products common in those eras.

On to other things...

Part I..............Part II.............. Part III..............Part IV

BC

Ohio Hotspots Tour Pt. II Marion and Deshler

CSX SB on the old C&O at Marion.

Part I..............Part II.............. Part III..............Part IV

We arrived at Marion Union Station on the 2nd evening of our tour (Monday 7/28/15).  Since it was suppah time we went to "The Shovel" after some minor LARFing by empty tracks.  No trains were moving and we missed one on the old N&W when we were eating.  The coolness of Marion is obvious to many.  The former Hocking Valley/C&O CSX line that runs from Columbus to Toledo (also through Fostoria) runs north-south on the west side of the depot.  The former PRR, bought by N&W, NS line from Columbus to Bellevue/Sandusky runs north south on the east side of the depot.  Both cross the former Big Four/NYC and Erie both now CSX which runs east-west past the north side of the depot.  AC Tower, once positioned across the tracks, is restored and now on site of the depot, giving up it's stairway to elevate photographers.   Though the depot area is fenced off from the tracks, slight elevations (made from old ties) and fence covers (split drainage pipes) are provided at the diamonds.  We recommend hearing protection at either diamond.  It's a very loud place but especially in the corners, a few feet from the diamonds.  After dinner CSX did provide a couple of trains on the C&O line and NS tossed in some when the sun light failed
for my camera.  We quit once even the video didn't have enough light.  Besides, the bugs were getting thicker as the sun set.

Charles demonstrates LARFing in his Meijer chair.

Tragically, Charles' long-time handy lawn chair broke so we also stopped at the Meijer "hypermarche" behind our Marion Best Western for a replacement.   Here one of our side adventures begins, for this chair did not last and it too had to be replaced.  We found a very heavy duty, and therefore solid replacement later at the Kmart in Fostoria, but we didn't see any Meijer's for a refund.  So, our exit from Ohio later on Friday would include a "keystone cop-esque - lost in Mansfield episode" trying to find their local Meijer.  TomTom eventually bailed us out.  On the plus side, our trip was not harmed by the chair since we had no real schedule or route to follow.   We were on vacation after all!

 

We returned again in the morning but not before one detour. We passed the home of President Warren G. Harding in town so we stopped to walk around the place.  Interesting how rail adventures manage to cross paths with historical places.  The home is a very nice upper-middle class place but not overly flashy and blends well into the neighborhood.  Out back they had a Sears & Roebuck kit house for correspondents.  But, we all know Harding died after his freezing cold inauguration, so the place didn't have a chance to change or get left behind.  The association that runs the place keeps the place "as it was" but they've added some public facilities and showcase a restored mobile voting booth.  

 Most spectacularly, after stopping at the Harding house, our timing was just perfect so that we caught this Loram rail grinder train crossing the diamonds before we even got a chance to return to the depot.  We sped down a side street and got ahead at a permanently closed grade crossing.  The set came to a stop briefly while the crew got into place then fired up the griders and water cannons and rolled south on the former C&O.  What a sight!  The grinder units were rumbling and smokey enough to create quite a lively atmosphere around them.  This was a very large set too!  We were lucky that NS was quiet while this was there. 

Once the Loram moved on, we headed back to the depot.  A very small Loram unit was following close behind the big one but we decided not to return to the chase. 

The depot museum opens at 10am on Tuesdays and Thursdays and we just happened to be there, being that it was Tuesday.  The inside is full of old tower panels and other hardware from all over Ohio.  There's a lot of local rail history and the building itself is fairly restored.  The docent was quite helpful and talkative.  I even found some neat painting prints of the depot for $1 each.  There's a stained glass skylight that was apparently a carefully restored original based on newspaper clippings displayed.  It added well to the open ceiling of the waiting room.  And, the full ticket counter was apparently resurrected after someone disassembled it for removal. Fate stopped it from disappearing when the Association took possession of the building.


With Loram taking over the C&O line, and the likely resumption of MOW activities on the Big Four, it was the busy N&W line that kept our interest for the morning.  We missed a train or two while touring the depot but the Sandusky line was very active.  Either side of town the line is single track but that only makes Marion a good passing zone.  Usually a southbound would pull near to the diamond, short of a grade crossing, and wait its turn.  Often there was a northbound nearby as well so a meet was the real purpose of the stop.  We were treated to a parade of variety.  Any kind of train on the NS system seemed to pass here.

NS SB with our first (of many) ex-UP SD90MAC.

After we'd had our fill of Marion history and a pretty good dose of trains (except for the Big Four line) we decided to head for Deshler.  A pair of CSX units playing in the yard finally brought a local out and over the diamonds as we packed to leave but we did not pursue not knowing the area very well.  We took a small detour to find the Schneider terminal which is the origin of CSX's Q106/107.  We heard Q107 the night before on the scanner well after dark as it maneuvered to get onto its train. These trains are a dedicated effort by Schneider, CSX and KCS between Marion and Kansas City.  Apparently there is also a Q109 that hauls from here to New Baltimore, a massive intermodal facility we discovered on the way to Deshler.

Former Conrail SD60I

Deshler was a bit of a drive but still under 2 hours of zig zags through the countryside.  I might add that the road system out here is pretty smooth, unlike Maine's.  Yes there are rough, pothole sections here and there but they only noticed because they were so few.  And, almost no roads had that undulating sensation caused by frost heaves.  Plus, most roads follow a N-S-E-W grid pattern, especially in town.  Makes navigation much simpler.

WB empty coal

SD70MAC

Nearing OH-18 for the short trip west to town, we pretty much stopped for then followed a westbound empty UP coal train on the way into Deshler.  It had stopped so we went on to see why. We "dead reckoned" our way to the railfan park in the south-west quadrant of all former B&O diamond.  There were a couple of fans from Toledo who were very informative and full of conversation.  We weren't there long when an eastbound or two came by but my camera malfunctioned on them (duct tape later solved the problem). There was also a southbound from Toledo that needed the diamond which I did record.  It was mainly notable for the former Conrail SD60I, complete with "bug eyes".  Then our empty coal train headed west.  The SD70MAC caught my eye on an eastbound  as we got ready to get some lunch.  We must add that Mama Rose's a block or so away was a treat, not just for the A/C and good food but the owner was a hoot to talk to.  We'd recommend this dining establishment to anyone visiting Deshler.  The Toledo folks recommended it to us.

We had a pretty good supply of trains east and west.  Motive power buffs would have fun seeing all the oddballs on the CSX roster here.  "Foreign Power" was common too.  The former B&O east-west line passes through Fostoria as well, so we continued the feast a bit down US-18 at Fostoria later.










Long before we left, we saw a southbound on the former B&O Toledo line take a siding that led to the westbound main.  It stopped and talked with the dispatcher.  Apparently 2 or three districts converge in Deshler and something was off kilter because of miscommunication.  Apparently the extra 7558 loaded Herzog ballast train could not be unloaded on Tuesday or Wednesday nights (this was Tuesday evening) because of traffic peaks.  But here is was, ready because someone called the crew to move it from the Toledo area.  Now it was in need of someplace to go.  We know that someone found a place for it to dump the ballast and turn the train.  We saw the same unit leading the empties at Fostoria about 27 hours later where it returned north on the former C&O.   Too bad it was too dark for my camera then, but Charles might have captured in with video.  I don't want to know how many crews were involved due to the SNAFU.

This last encounter was just as we were preparing to get to the Fostoria Best Western before dark.  Following OH-18 we encountered the massive intermodal facility at New Baltimore.  This place is relatively new and we had no idea it was there until we approached Deshler earlier.  As we headed east to Fostoria we mainly saw a large fenced berm around the place but you couldn't miss the massive cranes from miles away.  Here are the photos from the actual "drive by" taken by Charles on my "throwdown" camera.  Apparently some overpass provides a good vantage point but the light was all wrong and we had Fostoria on the mind.

Enough for one day.  We did see some action at Fostoria once we checked into the Best Western.  But I'll save that for the next post in Part III.

Part I..............Part II.............. Part III..............Part IV

BC

Ohio Hotspots Tour Pt. 1 Youngstown to Marion

"The Fiddler" and I spent most of a week hanging out at various Ohio rail sites to enjoy some "LARFing".  For the uninitiated that's "Lazy-Ass-Rail-Fan" -ing, complete with lawn chairs - as demonstrated by Charles ("The Fiddler") in the shade of Marion Union Station.

We had four big stops in mind but spent time in a few smaller stops on the way.  Marion, Deshler, Fostoria and Bellevue were our main targets but we wandered the likes of Youngstown, Akron, Galion, Crestline, Plymouth, Willard, and Bucyrus along the way.  The rail parks where one could sit for hours and see plenty of trains were the main focus.  There's no way to hit every interesting spot and really enjoy them in a few days, so this narrowed the target list nicely.

Part I...........Part II......... Part III..........Part IV


Charles and his wife were on the way home from Michigan so I met them on I-80 at Mercer, PA.  After Diane headed for home we went right for Youngstown, OH first.

I had planned out how to find the PRR and B&O depots as well as some Ohio Central facilities.  We found everything I had in mind but downpours dampened our desire to drive around any further.  The B&O depot, now a restaurant/caterer was crowded for a private event so we moved on without photos of the ornate building.  But we found some OHCR units and the PRR depot.  The PRR depot was of their modern design with tracks on a lower level behind the building.  It had been converted to a bus terminal out front and apparently its last use was as a fireworks store.  On the way back to I-80 we turned in where we saw Ohio Central power. The two rebuilt geeps and SD18 were as close as we dared get them.  Plus we had the clouds overhead.  Charles did a "drive by shooting" with my camera.  A short distance north of this spot was an abandoned engine facility with turntable, sanding towers and such.

Next stop Akron.  I had located the former Union Station which had been taken over by the University of Akron as their Buckingham Building and it looked like a good site to watch the moderately busy CSX Newcastle Sub.  We did see a few trains here from the street bridge immediately north of the depot.


This station, though given a face lift by the university, shows some modern PRR influence that B&O may have gone along with.  The concourse is intact but the platforms and stairs are long gone.

WB autoracks.

EB stone train.

The Erie had its own depot a couple of blocks away to the south of Union Station, behind the concourse over the stone train and the platforms appear to have connected. Erie/EL through tracks ran roughly where the grass strip is to the left of the autorack train.  They entered the scene straight from the north a bit to the right of where the converted silo is located in the autorack photo.  We caught these trains and were going to change location to the curve where the auto racks are in the photo.  What we found was a university lot, some Erie remnants and less good access to CSX than we expected to see.  We decided it was time to try out regional favorite Skyline Chili in nearby Stowe and call it a day.  We both had a lot of miles behind us at this point.














On Monday it was time to head toward our first target; Marion.  Just north of there is a cluster of rail and industrial towns we had to check out on the way.  Charles and I had stopped by Galion on the way to North Platte in 2012.  But, this time we had more time to wander and Crestline was so close by.  In fact, it was almost in sight.  We could see the head end of a northbound on CSX at Crestline, and the tail end of the same train was visible at Galion.  We located the former "Crest" interlocking downtown where the PRR main used to cross the former "Big Four".  The tower was located right by the nose of the NS eastbound.  We made our way over to the old PRR yards and found CSX everywhere since they initially bought the line west of here.  The photos shows you what I mean, plus there were CSX no trespassing signs down the length of the yard.  The PRR main west of here is now GWI shortline Chicago, Fort Worth and Eastern.  NS still owns to the east but retained trackage rights over GWI and CSX.  CSX built a connector to this yard back at the Conrail breakup. The photo of the NS train shows the connector, and the fact that NS is using those trackage rights. 

Crestline was a huge PRR town at one time with two large roundhouses and a big yard facility.  The "Broadway Limited" used to stop here.  Charles shot these remnants in a "semi-drive by" as there was little space to pull off.

After Crestline we wandered over to Galion.  The depot is so cool to look at and the former Big Four tracks were well lit.  We decided to sit awhile under the platform after Charles chatted with the hair stylist using that part of the building.  However, the tracks were being worked on by numerous MOW crews and we never did get to see anything (other than the distant train near Crestline) on any Big Four line at anytime.  At least we caught the north end of the building in favorable light this time.


As we headed into the next nearby town of Bucyrus, we found a grade crossing with flashing lights and caught a northbound NS mixed freight.  Next to the crossing was an MOW crew that seemed busy, possibly adding some capacity to the Bellevue/Sandusky line.  Looking the other way I spotted the edges of "Colsan" interlocking which would lead us to our next target.  And, behind us was the former Toledo & and Ohio Central yard.


Just down the road a block or two from this crossing is a gem in the form of a restored T&OC depot that has all the earmarks of a railfan park.  They have sheltered picnic tables and nice grassy access to live lines.  The PRR main now GWI's CFW&E passes through and connects with the former PRR/NW/NS Sandusky line which cross at "Colsan" interlocking.  The roadbed of the former T&OC is clearly visible through the lot and remnants of yard tracks stop short of the interlocking.  Rail contractor Transco uses the other end of the T&OC yard for their rail car repair shops.  I stumbled onto all of this using Google Maps on "satellite" mode before the trip began.

We caught a few more NS trains and a GWI track car before we moved on to the day's main goal of Marion Union Station.  Here we have trains moving through "Colsan".  The southbound TOFC is about to cross the former PRR main while the trailing unit is crossing the roadbed of the T&OC.  Someone has put nice vinyl fencing over the bridge there. Another northbound on the Sandusky line is passing the east/south connector to the former PRR main. Eventually it was time for a "coffee exchange" and something to eat.  We hit the local Wendy's downtown and moved on to Marion.  Part II next.

BC

Part I..............Part II.............. Part III..............Part IV