In May Im traveling w/the Mrs to Dayton as she has business meetings there. Looking at taking better part of a day to drive up to Deshler or Fostoria for watching rail activity. How long of drive is it from Datyon to either location? Time will be short so I'm thinking of maybe staying in Dayton instead.Is this a busy mainine spot? Any good trackside spots there? Is Dayton worth a day of doing an activity such as this.? Of course there is the air museum and baseball team will be home all that wk. Vac decisions to make
You are looking at the better part of 2 hours, maybe a little more, one way between Dayton & Deshler or Fostoria.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACD You are looking at the better part of 2 hours, maybe a little more, one way between Dayton & Deshler or Fostoria.
Deshler and Fostoria are about 45 minutes apart, on either side of I75. Both are worthy destinations. In fact, a fair portion of the trip between the two shadows the CSX mainline.
I can virtually guarantee that you will see action at both, including trains on a couple of the transfers at Deshler. You're also quite likely to run into fellow railfans at both.
If you're looking for a day trip while she attends meetings, it would be hard to go wrong there.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Haven't been to Dayton in a little over 20 years, but I don't remember it being a hotbed of rail activity. There was a (not huge) Conrail yard east of I-75 which Needmore Road crossed over. I highly recommend the AF museum on the SW side of Wright-Patterson AFB. You could, if energetic, do a good job on it in half a day, but you could easily spend a whole day there as well.
EDIT: I may have to revise that "half day" estimate, as I notice on Google Earth that two additional hangars have been built since I was there in the nineties. Now I definitely want to get back there! Still impressive is the memory of walking under the B-36 dominating the WW II and Korea hangar.
I enrolled at the University of Dayton 50 years ago. It was a much more interesting RR town in those days. Besides the present CSX lines (ex-NYC and B&O) there used to be the PRR St. Louis line, and even the Erie came to town. I traveled there from New York by both NYC and PRR. The electric busses were running, and I think they still are.
I can also recomment the Air Force Museum. After that, a closer alternative for a rail hub is Cincinnati, an hour down I-75. The rail lines whinding thru the hills and valleys down to and across the Ohio River is interesting on its own. A few years back, Trains published an article/rail guide to the city.
This past Tue, 5/9, I did my Fostoria trip. Took about two miserable hrs driving in constant heavy traffic on I-18 that never did let up. Never seen so semis on one highway. Arrived up there at 1:00 and stayed for three hrs. In that time there were about 10-12 trains which passed by. Several people were on hand to visit which made the experience more enjoyable than the trains themselves. I came, I saw, I went. Doubt I'll go bk but the time was worth the effort.
Do you mean I-75? OH-18 is the E-W two lane road.
We would gladly welcome you to Deshler.You could take I-75 to rt 18 and come west.You will go by the North Baltimore Intermodal yard.You could also take I-75 to Bluelick road north of Lima.Then go north on Rt 65.It will take you along the Toledo sub of CSX.It has cpl's and it crosses NS at Leipsic.Deshler is just north of Leipsic.You could go south On 75 and take Austin Drive exit to Farmington road.The toledo sub and the NS Dayton distict are side by side just south of Miamisburg.You could also go to st rt 129 west to Hamilton ohio.Csx Toledo sub and Indiana sub come into town.Ns has trackage rights to come through too. They also have B&O cpl's for now.Glendale is a nice spot too.Have a safe trip.Hope this helps.
stay safe
Joe
Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").
Oops! Yes that was I-75 not I-18 that I drove and was not fun putting up w/the traffic.
Check the ODOT site to see where the orange barrels are on I-75 too.They are always blooming this time of year.
You might see a lot of vehicles sporting all sorts of antennae around Dayton this weekend (actually mostly Xenia). It's the annual Dayton "Hamvention..."
Other options: Hamilton Oh. You can sit in a McDonalds parking lot and view the junction of CSX and NS as they head into Cinci.
If you don't want to go all the way to Deshler or Fostoria, you might try Marion which is an hour North of Columbus. Two CSX lines cross with an NS line within 100 feet. Marion Union Station provides a safe view and the museum can keep you occupied between trains.
Marion is a location we would like to visit in the future. Not anything rr related but to see Warding Harding home. Marion is gearing up for the 100 yr mark of his election of 1920
Marion is also hosting Summerrail again this year.They are still working on Cincinnati Union terminal.It is on Saturday August 12th.
SF
Do you have a trip report?
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