Hi, I’ve gotten back from Fostoria and here is some accounting of what we saw. I’m not going to recreate all the info the first-time fanner would need; a lot of that is on FostoriaIronTriangle.com. Fostoria got its nickname “IRON TRIANGLE” from the three sets of double-diamonds different railways cross, and that is the connection with fanning.
When my traveling companion and I signed into the local Best Western we were each given a HUGE welcome packet of all things Fostorian, especially the trains! Among the goodies was a schematic map of how the triangles intersect. Think of a triangle (duh): the left bottom is where Nickle Plate Road and B&O intersect (Fostoria folks as well as fanners use the heritage names). Think of lines of a triangle as constituting a map, and you have B&O running left to right (west to east), intersecting with NS, which goes up southeast to northwestsouthwest to northeast on an acute angle, rightward-bent, to the north. We’re not supposed to fan on the premises of the old B&O/Amtrak depot because it is CSX property, but we fanned set up camp across the street in a gravel parking lot and no one bothered us. Expect several B&O runs for each NKP run.
Follow the NKP line up, at an acute angle bending to the right, and you’ll find the apex of the triangle, where it double-diamonds the old C&O line N-S thru Ohio. Think of the generally straight C&O line forming the right-handed “leg” of the diamond and the southeast-to-northwest **southwest to northeast-*running NKP intersecting. Although there are no formal facilities at any of the diamonds, some kind people put a bench and a porta-pottie right there (highway-wise, it’s the intersection of Columbus and Crocker Streets at the NKP tracks, just across the NKP tracks of the long-abandoned PORK PRODUCTS building. That’s double-di
did you get to see any ns/csx transfers? did you cruise by the mixing center on rt 12? the railfan park is going to be located closest to the c&o nkp diamond.were you able to stop by deshler on the way home? glad you had a great time.
Nice, thorough report, Al! Actually, in your triangle the NS would go southwest-to-northeast.
Did the map show how the former New York Central line used to cut through the triangle, too? That would have been a southeast-to-northwest line, close to the C&O side of things.
An old control board from F Cabin is in one of the rooms of the depot down at Marion, Ohio (nice place to visit if you should hit the area again).
I take it the B&O/NKP diamonds had been changed out by the time you got there.
(I usually sit near the C&O/NKP diamonds when I visit Fostoria, which puts the B&O tracks a short distance away if something interesting should pass through there.)
There was a Trains issue several years ago with detailed map and information about Fostoria. I cant put my hands on the issue now, but it was a late 1990’s or early 2000’s. In fact it might be on the Trains.com site under hot spots.
Personally, I have never been there, but sure did enjoy listening in on the web scanner while it lasted. The NKP line goes thru my town (Valparaiso, In) about 200 miles east and the B&O line passes a few miles north of me. It was very interesting to hear trains which pass thru Fostoria and Valpo and compare the elapsed time between the points.
There is a real flow of traffic thru Fostoria and to listen in was really fascinating. Pretty cool dispatchers and operators at the tower. It seemed like the tower operator really controlled things thru the area.
I got so interested in listening that I picked up copies of CSX employee timetables which covered the area. It made great listening in on winter days when there wasnt too much to do.
That would be awesome to regularly compare travel times. I was able to do this with the Fort Mad. cam and the La Plata cam on the transcon a few times, but it was difficult, and I can’t get the La Plata camera to work right anymore. Those Z’s really fly!
It’s fun comparing when the trains go through each day. CSX and NS are surprisingly very regular, even the manifests. I really wish they had live radio somewhere on the ex-CR NS Chicago Line. That line has always been the most interesting to me, and seems primed for growth. Never much down time either.