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.
1) Sterling, OH. CSX
2) Warwick (clinton), OH. CSX, OHCR, and RJCorman
3) Greenwich, OH. CSX and WLE
4) Attica Jct. (Siam), OH. CSX and NS
5) Struthers, OH. CSX and NS
6) Alliance, OH. NS
7) Perry, OH. CSX and NS
8) Lima, OH. CSX, NS, RJCorman, WLE, CFE, and I&O
9) Hamilton, OH. CSX and NS
10) Deshler, OH. CSX
11) Bellevue, OH. NS and WLE
12) Berea, OH. CSX and NS
13) New Boston, OH. CSX and NS
We followed ster2 on the w&le to greenwhich ohio from carey.
stay safe
joe and Matt
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").
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!
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.
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 railfan in Greenwich is at the Kniffin St grade crossings. W&LE also makes several daily appearances on the CSX track, via trackage rights.
Willard used to be an important place on the B&O. It is now a crew change point, set-out point, refuel and classification yard. It is not as big as it once was. The former locomotive shops and roundhouse have been overtaken by a small shed where locomotive running repairs are done. Common yard power here are GP39-2's and Yard Slug's. Best places to watch in Willard are from the Rt. 99 overpass at the east end of the yard, and the Section Line 30 Rd overpass at the west end of the yard. If you are uncomfortable being on the overpasses, check out Daniels Rd at the west end of the yard for ground-level action. Again, W&LE makes several daily appearances via trackage rights.
Attica Jct is the crossing of the former B&O and the NS Sandusky District. While CSX owns the interlocking, most NS trains are left to wait. About 90-100 trains pass through here daily. This interlocking is only 4 miles west of Willard Yard, so alot of CSX congestion is caused between this interlocking and the yard. The railfan location is off of Route 4 at the CSX crossing. There should be a train every 15-20 minutes on average.
I have been to Cincinnati, but being from NE Ohio, I am not too sure about all of the locations. I have been to the top floor of Union Station, which offers a very elevated view of the CSX Queensgate Yard and the NS Gest St Yard. Almost every locomotive in town is visible from this vantage point. Alot of yard activity and switching moves to boot. Don't ask me for directions though, I have no idea. I'd assume you want Gest St, since that is the name of the NS yard, but I cannot guarentee that is the road the Union Station is on.
Columbus is yet another town I don't know too much about. Scioto Tower is gone, and the railroads never liked anyone being there anyways. Parsons Yard and Buckeye Yard are off limits. I'd say to just do your best to find a grade crossing in town, and wait out the traffic. That is what I always do in Columbus. One time I have been in Buckeye Yard, but it was with an NS employee who is my friend.
Alliance is my territory. I lived in Ravenna (19 miles away) for 11 years, and have been to Alliance countless times. It is a diamond on the NS between the Fort Wayne Line and the Cleveland Line. About 60-70 trains move through here daily. A double-track connector exists in the NE quadrant of the interlocking. Almost all traffic moves through this connector, except for a couple coal trains, who continue straight through the diamonds, and ultimately to Mingo Jct, OH. On the Fort Wayne Line west of Alliance, traffic is pretty pathetic, with the only scheduled trains being 12V, 13V, 14V, 15V, 24R and 23R, along with a local C45 that operates a couple times weekly, and a few "as required" coal trains. Railfanning can be found at the Amtrak station.
Sterling is yet another interlocking. Located on the former B&O main out in rural Ohio. This is where the CL&W Sub (that runs to Cleveland and Lorain) branches off of the New Castle Sub. Only four scheduled trains (Q354, Q355, Q640 and Q641) head up the CL&W Sub daily. About 20-25 trains operate on the NCS daily. Alot of B&O CPL signals are waiting out their demise currently, with new Darth Vader Hood Signals standing, bagged and turned. Railfanning can be found at the "Sterling Loop" (a gravel parking lot) off of Kaufmann Ave.
Warwick is a small yard for interchange between the CSX, RJ Corman and Ohio Central. OHCR makes a daily appearance into the yard to set-out cars. RJ Corman comes up to Warwick tri-weekly (Mon, Wed, Fri). CSX runs to two locals into the yard that switch these cars (D750 and D763). While you cannot access the yard, you are allowed to be in the vicinity of WX Tower, as long as you keep yourself cool, and out of the way. WX Tower is now defunct. It is used for storeage. OHCR usually stops to get paperwork or dial the CSX dispatcher at WX Tower. Same applies for RJ Corman. Railfan spots can be found off of any of the side streets that head for the tracks from 2nd St.
Bellevue is a major NS yard. It was a big hub on the NKP, and now NS uses it for the same. With a museum in town to keep you occupied, you should not have a problem seeing up to 100 trains per day through this town. NS trains go every which way. It is an enormous interlocking, that, like Fostoria, cannot be covered from just one spot. I recommend Center St (known as "Miniplant Crossing") for railfanning, NS traffic is pretty heavy here, and W&LE also enters the yard from this location with several daily trains. The crossing at the NKP & Mad River Museum is not a bad place to catch some trains, and if you want to see power galore, check out the view looking west from the Route 4 overpass on the east side of town. You have never seen so much NS in one spot!
Conneaut is on Lake Erie. Unfortunately it is right on the border of Pennsylvania, which makes it inconvenient for those in central Ohio to get to. CSX runs a high-speed double track mainline through town, the former New York Central, with nearly 60-70 trains per day. NS runs the former NKP main through town with only 10-12 trains per day. A small NS yard is in town on Chestnut St, but is not railfan friendly, and the power is never usually spectacular anyways. The best place to watch CSX is at the NYC or NKP Historical Societies located on Mill St. Both offer good views of traffic. To catch NS, I'd recommend going down to Old Main St to shoot them heading over Conneaut Creek Trestle. Bessemer & Lake Erie owns a line into the P&C Docks in Conneaut, which receives one train in and out per day. You have to have luck to catch it, or a good scanner.
I don't know much about Vermillion. I know the NS former NYC main passes above the NS former NKP main here, and a connector runs between the two, to allow trains to ultimately bypass Lakewood, OH that has 32 crossings in one mile. Not sure of good railfan locations, but I do know that you should see a good 80-90 trains per day here. Unfortunately, cab signal units are about all that there is on the former NYC main, but the NKP main may offer up some 'goodies' like the occasional run-through unit, such as CN, CP, UP, BNSF or KCS.
That is all for now, hope you get to check out some of these locations. Ohio is one of the better states for railfanning. Many nice and scenic locations. And lots of less scenic, but more action-packed locations. Enjoy!
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.
Here's the video on youtube,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYMpf2dZ-tk
Watch out guys! Governor Kasich of Ohio doesn't like rail. You may end up in his crosshairs. The Ohio Bureau of Investigation is all seeing.
Were did you hear this at Muralist ?
Kasich of Ohio killed your 3-C passenger rail project on the grounds that the average speed would be 49 miles per hour. In a speech, he clearly stated that there would be no future for rail in his administration. Think he also said that rail was a step back in time. The last part of my statement was intended to be humorous. I am not a Liberal Democrat, but most "conservatives" tend to be anti-rail. Their gaze is firmly fixed in the rear view mirror.
Funny guy over here , so Kasich want's to kill passenger rail while on the east coast they high speed trains. I think it's a money issue on the passenger, really the only one I know of is the Amtrak that leaves out of Cincinnati.
I found a perfect site to talk about and post pictures of video of Ohio rails,
http://huelsystrainblog.com/
Anyone here know where I can get a rail map of the area of old Loveland, Ohio pre-1960? Looking for something shows Madeira, Loveland, maybe Blanchester, Lebanon??? Thought I saw one in Trains Magazine but can't find it.
I found this one site Historic Atlas, it as a 1860 rail road map of Cincinnati, and over to Loveland.
http://www.historicmapworks.com/Atlas/US/11143/Loveland+and+Cincinnati+1860+Railroad+Map/
thanks Dan...a bit older than I was looking for but a good one.
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