Hi,
My girlfriend and I are planning to take a day tomorrow and visit Deshler, Ohio to get some train watching in. I know there are some folks around here familiar with the area, so I was wondering… what are the best spots to target for seeing some good action?
Are there certain spots to avoid?
Thanks,
FF
JoeKoh is your guy - he practically lives there… [swg]
Seriously, though, the only place you really need to go is the park next to the diamond. There is a picnic shelter, portajohn, scanner, and wireless Internet. If you have ATCS, you can figure out what’s gonna happen before it does.
There is pretty good access all around the diamond, so you don’t have to do anything dangerous to get some good views/pics. Your view of the two-track main is unobstructed by fences, so you’ll want to observe the usual precautions.
I spent about 5 hours there last summer (with Joe and Matt) and took in nearly 20 trains of all shapes and sizes (except passenger), including numerous moves on two of the three wye tracks.
There is food available in downtown Deshler, which is just across the tracks from the railfan park.
I’m sure Joe will add more. Depending on your direction of travel to reach Deshler, you may be able to pick up a couple of other hotspots on the way, too.
I was going to say, once you get to Deshler, the best railfanning area will quickly become obvious to you.
Thanks for the replies guys,
We’re here at Crossroads Park right now. We just put “Deshler, Ohio” in the GPS and it didn’t take too long to find the park. Pretty neat place.
The weather is… not the best, but today was the only day we could do it. And I’m still enjoying myself anyway. I wish I lived closer!
At least you’ve got a little shelter.
How do you like those old B&O CPLs?
Drat the day I go to CUT and to see family…
yes Deshler is a great place for trainwatching.You can also bring a camper or tent and camp in the summer.There are usually 1 or 2 people that would stop by and say hi and answer questions for you too.Any questions or if you would like some pictures feel free to email me.and see you next time!!
stay safe
Joe
Yes, the B&O signals were quite a nice surprise! The girlfriend definitely thought I was a dork for making such a big deal about the difference between some of the signals up there, haha.
Joe, were any of the pictures hung up on the “Railfan News” board taken by you? It was cool to see that some Southern Pacific power had been through there.
Speaking of power, I couldn’t help but notice a LOT of BNSF locomotives running on the east-west line. Does CSX take over for some BNSF trains and use the same loco’s, or do they just have quite a few BNSF loco’s leased? Just curious.
Thanks!