Forums

[traingang]

Thanks for stopping by.  I've got several vacation days left this summer to take my 9-yr old son to the hot spots of Ohio.  We plan on hitting three places--Deshler, Fostoria, and Marion, but if you could pick one and only one, which one would it be and why?  ALSO, is one day better than another for each of the three sites?

[everettii2006]

you want to see action  friday is good and thursday betwen 65- 75 a day come thought here i see lots of diffent stuff bnsf ns up csx and others .

[RRFoose]

I've been to Fostoria before - great place.  It's been a couple years since I've been there though, so I can't say much on traffic patterns.  From what I've heard, they actually have a railpark from which to view the trains now.  I'm planning on making my way back there sometime in August.  Good luck!

[tpatrick]

If you can only make one, make it Fostoria. You will see more trains there than anywhere else. There is more variety, too, because there are more venues for train watching. CSX and NS are busy all day long (night, too) and they come at you from all directions. Have fun!

[mmartian22]

i've been to all three fostoria is a great place for ns -csx   deshler is good to, marion i think tops them all with a veriety of railroads running though it . like bnsf ,csx  ns  mrl  up i would estimate on the avg. 65 -80 trians a days  at these sites  also you don't have worry about the cops chasing you away .

[BRAKIE]

Fostoria says it all! Sadly Marion isn't as busy as it was in the days of CR when you could see up to 65 trains in 8-10 hours.

[SFbrkmn]

Never have visited Ohio although hope to make it someday to Canton and visit the football HOF. I think its great you are taking the time to take your son train watching. Sadly, railroading is not catching on w/todays youth. NRHS memberships continue to drop and we need to do all we can to get young people interested not just in modern railroading but the history & tradition of the industry.

[BTP Productions]

I LOVE WATCHING TRAINS IN MARION!!! But, Fostoria and Deshler are also wonderful places to watch trains. What me and my mom do some days is go to all three and spend 2 to 4 hours at each location.

[al-in-chgo]

Fostoria says it all! Sadly Marion isn't as busy as it was in the days of CR when you could see up to 65 trains in 8-10 hours.

Are there any pretty good motels in Fostoria?  We went online with our favorite chain and the closest they could get us was Tiffin. 

We'd be coming from the West, from Chicago, with possibly Elkhart in between for the NYC Museum.  - a.s.

 

[tpatrick]

Another option would be Findlay. It's only 15 miles southwest down Rt 12. Lots of good rooms at varying prices. Rt 12 parallels the NS old Nickel Plate line. At Arcadia there is a split in the line, with one leg continuing to Findlay and Lima and the other turning due west. Arcadia offers some interesting views for the photographer, but not a lot of traffic so it takes some luck or a good scanner. CSX also has a line running north/south through Findlay. It sees about a dozen trains per day.