CN’s Neenah Sub (Oshkosh, WI) sees:
Intermodal Trains
Q116 X
Q119
Q193
Q198 X
Q199
“Core” Trains (Manifest)
M340 X
M341 X
M342 X
M343 X
M346 X
M347 X
M349
M349
“Intra Regional” Manifest Train
A446
A449
Locals
L526
Anything with an “X” behind it frequently has an “extra” section - and can also be seen on the same day.
“As Needed/Seasonal” Traffic
Less frequent - but when the time is right, they’re here
Potash Trains
B780
B781
B782
B786
B788
B790
Grain
G870
G871
G872
G873
Sulphur
S774
S775
Ore (Taconite)
U780
U781
Work Trains
O489
O490
Coal Trains
C701
C702
C711
C712
C713
C789
C790
C754
C755
I’m not counting trains in Neenah or Fond du Lac that I don’t see:
L508 F
L510 F
L515 F
FDL Yard Jobs (4)
L521 N
L523 N
L524 N
L531 N
L533 N
L535 N
Neenah Yard Jobs (2)
A415 N
A416 N
U754 N
U755 N
M336 F
M390 F X (also an extra section)
M391
A447 F
Plus I’m sure I’m missing one or two…just off the top of my head.
Normal day for me is about 50+ when I am home. Helps I live next to the old ATSF Transcon in Reading IL so I get all kinds of Traffic right by the house.
Live near the Metra UP Northline/Kenosha sub and see lots of metra commuter train traffic during the week. On Weekends its even less only see them about every two hours.
I’m in Siloam Springs Ark on the KCS. We get about twenty or so most days. A little less earlier in the week, sometimes more toward Friday and Saturday.
Eureka , MO 12 miles west is a better train watching spot. You have both the UP and BNSF tracks running parallel to each other. They are a mile apart in Kirkwood.
I live on the north side of Chicago, where most railroad action is Metra or Amtrak (and since I love freight action, kinda boring). But my girlfriend lives a few blocks from the Western Avenue freight corridor (CSX, ex B&OCT) at 23rd Street, just south of the BNSF racetrack overpass (and flyover connection) with the wye into UP’s Global 1 intermodal facility just a bit further north (all walkable). No idea about train counts, but the way I like to gauge things is by simultaneous movements. It’s not unusual to see three trains stopped there (either for northward or southward traffic restrictions or to be re-crewed) and often two of the three are in motion. Once in a while I see three trains moving simultaneously. The traffic mix is also superb, with intermodal, manifest, grain, coal, and ethanol movements. CSX, NS and UP dominate, but BNSF can be seen, and this includes the Western Avenue yard job which often runs out onto the B&OCT over the southeast quadrant connection to work the leads. There’s also an NS local (often low-nose GP40 powered) that works the ADM grain elevator along the old Pennsy Panhandle (traces of which can be found along the B&OCT) at Ogden Avenue where the Union Station north platform tracks run by.
Where does it pickup around 3:30?