Hi, I am new here to the site. I have always been fascinated by the creaking of tracks and the sound of the approaching whistle. I live in an area now only serviced by a few companies, the main one being NS. So I still get to see trains. Although I have to admit I would have loved to have been around when rail was the undisputed king of travel. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated by this greenhorn.
i live in erlanger , ky we have a restored southern rr. depot here and a lumber yard that the n/s switch out daily and usually 10-20 trains run through town.
There are many great railfanning sites in OHIO, particulary in Fostoria, Marion and Columbus. In these cities (and others I’m sure) you can photograph or watch both NS and CSX from one location. Check out these websites www.fostorialive.com and www.frograil.com/railroad/oh.htm.
Redarrow101 where in Columbus do you railfan? I live just outside of Columbus and never really have found a decent place to railfan.
Being from Northeast central Ohio I know many places to foam, and all of the places I’m listing are legal. Also it would be a good idea if you were to get a Delorma Atlas and Gazetteer of OHIO because you will find many more places then what I have listed below.
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Sterling, OH. CSX
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Warwick (clinton), OH. CSX, OHCR, and RJCorman
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Greenwich, OH. CSX and WLE
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Attica Jct. (Siam), OH. CSX and NS
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Struthers, OH. CSX and NS
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Alliance, OH. NS
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Perry, OH. CSX and NS
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Lima, OH. CSX, NS, RJCorman, WLE, CFE, and I&O
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Hamilton, OH. CSX and NS
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Deshler, OH. CSX
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Bellevue, OH. NS and WLE
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Berea, OH. CSX and NS
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New Boston, OH. CSX and NS
We followed ster2 on the w&le to greenwhich ohio from carey.
stay safe
joe and Matt
i’m from NW ohio… i foam around joe in defiance, and deshler/fostoria/leipsic/ottowa/standley/holgate/hamler/greenwhich…
its nice to live a couple miles from a shortline that runs a SF GP7U in full SF colors, and an ex IC GP10…
plus, i’ve got 60+ CSX trains 5 miles to the south, and 80+ NS trains 21 miles to the north, so life is good around here
I to live here in Ohio. If you are looking for train watching locations here are a few in the state that I’ve visited:
-Marion, Ohio- Here you will find 3 lines, 2 CSX and 1 NS. It all adds up to great train watching.
-Fostoria, Ohio- Here you will be in train watchers heaven. Non stop action from NS and CSX.
-Deshler, Ohio- 2 CSX lines makes it an excellent place to watch trains!
Cincinnati, Ohio- HUGE yard makes it a busy spot!
This is just a small list of places I’ve been to over the years, but I know there are many more!
Yes there are a few of us here. I’m up in the Northwest part of the state
Hi - I’d certainly second the recommendations on Berea and Fostoria. Berea had fairly steady action (especially on the NS side) last Saturday morning. By mid-afternoon had gotten to Fostoria. Owing to storm-related delays and other operating problems earlier that day, trains were pretty well backed up on both CSX lines and on the NS. Looked to be about 12-14 trains per hour through Fostoria as they tried to clear the back-up. Art
I get out to Toledo periodically and would love to find an active spot in the Toledo area (within about 30 minutes of Toledo) I can quickly visit when I get a little free time (precious little, I’m afraid).
Allen
The NS Chicago line runs through town and is within sight of Toledo Express airport. It is also visible off US 23. A good spot is Holland Ohio off Airport Highway. Also Walbridge Ohio has the NS CSX diamond at Vickers.
August 30 ,2008 Everett’s Train Picnic Would anyone like or want to come to the Third annual marion area train picnic. It is going to be held at Sawery Ludwig Park in Marion, Ohio on Saturaday August 30 2008 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This park is located at the west end of Barks Rd.1160 White Oaks RoadWe will be located at the small picnic area next to the bathrooms. We will have a small lunch and refreshments. We will also have train stuff for those of you that decide to come. There are games and stuff for the kids to play. contact me at everettii2000@yahoo.com if you want to come
I live in Sidney. It’s a great spot to watch trains. A nice depot on the East-West line with a great model layout inside. Plus the Big Four railroad bridge. A massive concrete structure with plenty of great photo shots.[:D]
CSX Willard Ohio is a great Place… I recomend the the real Mexican Food out there as the migrant workers have stayed and set up shops downtown plenty of vantage points to see trains and pulblci viewing near the engine house as foriengn power from all over comes and goes
The primary hotspots in Ohio are Berea, Fostoria, Marion, Greenwich, Willard, Attica Jct, Columbus and Cincinnati, all of which I have been to. The secondary hotspots would be Bellevue, Alliance, Conneaut, Sterling, Warwick, or Vermillion (plus many more). I have been to all of them aswell.
My favorite of these spots might be Berea. It is the most aesthetically pleasing, and offers a more “warm” welcome to railfans. Although a quiet zone is going into effect later on this year, and the Station Restaurant should be closing at the end of this month (8/31/08). Along Depot St, various parking spots can be found, and a nice grassy area to railfan can be seen. About 110-120 trains per day roll through this interlocking, with traffic more heavy on NS during the day, and CSX at night. BE Tower still exists between the mainlines, but has been defunct since 1997. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for W&LE, who runs a coke train once a day through the interlocking, and uses a connector between the two mainlines.
Fostoria is the busiest of all of them. According to several magazines and railfans, Fostoria is the busiest place east of Chicago for rail traffic. It receives upwards of 150 trains per day. The two places to go in town are to the NKP-C&O diamond on Columbus Ave and to the old station at Main St where the B&O-NKP cross. In Fostoria, you can never catch all traffic from one spot. It is impossible. This won’t be a problem once the railfan park is finally installed.
Greenwich is the crossing of the CSX Indianapolis Line and the CSX New Castle Sub. This interlocking yields 80-90 trains per day. A double-track connector has been added between the Indy Line and the NCS on the northwest quadrant of the interlocking, to allow for movements from the Indy Line into Willard Yard (12 miles west of here). A single-track connector now exists at the southeast quadrant of the interlocking. All of these connectors were built as a result of the Conrail split in 1999. The location to ra
Richard from Firestone Park pretty much nailed it literally from end-to-end. The only place that is a secondary area that he omitted is perhaps his home town of Akron. There is quite a bit to see and find in Akron, though far less prolific than the primary places. Akron has the former B&O, now CSX New Castle sub passing through with decent traffic in early morning and late afternoon and several nice vantage points for watching and for photography such as Exchange Street bridge. It also has the Akron terminal of Wheeling with the old AC&Y engine facility fairly active at Gilchrist Road. The AC&Y line west departs Akron terminal and is easily chased through west Akron and beyond. One nice spot is the Wheeling trestle at Howard Street and the nearby Akron station on the Cuyaoga Valley line. The Valley tourist line runs through Cuyahoga Valley National Park and is very scenic and Riverview Road runs adjacent most of the route. WIth low speeds, it is easy to chase and photograph the passenger trains that are always clean, and use Alco power with stainless consists. Cuyahoga Valley runs every day Wednesday through Sunday, all day long, including to Canton on an old B&O branch. If you want samples of what to see in Akron, take a browse through my photos or photos of Roger Durfee on railpictures.net, with Akron area locations named for your reference. Akron fans often congregate at Voris street on weekend mornings, where you can listen for traffic and hear from local experts what is going on during a given day in the area. Voris is close to the best photo locations and the radio gives ample notice of traffic and direction as CSX calls signals.
I’m going to be checking out the Glendale depot today, there’s lots of video’s on youtube from that spot.
It took well over an hour of waiting but saw two trains, I’ll post a link to pictures and videos later.
I shot pictures and video today across from the Glendale depot, which was closed on Sunday only open on Thursdays and Saturdays 11am till 3pm. I set up my tripod near the tracks waiting on CSX train that was three quarters of a mile down the track sitting there, about an hour later it starts moving and I set up tripod up with video camcorder and start recording, while my dad who was with me started taking pictures. The train had only 31 cars behind it, no more than five minutes here comes and Norfolk Southern piggy back and double stack and single stack. I counted around 136 cars and it seemed like the was went on forever. Here is some pictures.
