The Diamonds At Marion

CSX Transportation; Mario, Ohio; May 19, 2014

This is the third and last installment of our current series on busy railroad junctions in Ohio. In previous posts we spent a night at Crossroads Park in Deshler and visited the abandoned tower at Leipsic. Today we stop in at the town of Marion.

The center of the action is Marion's Union Station, located where two north-south lines cross an east-west line. From the east, the Erie and Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis ("Big Four," a New York Central subsidiary) shared tracks across the diamonds. The Erie and Big Four split after the diamonds continuing west. Today only a stub of the Erie remains to the west, while CSX uses the Big Four. The easternmost of the north-south lines is the former Pennsylvania Railroad and is now used by Norfolk Southern. The westernmost north-south line is the former Hocking Valley, now used by CSX. Union Station sits south of the Big Four with platforms for all three lines.

I arrived with my brother Bruce at Marion at about 2:00 on May 19 and we were soon greeted by an eastbound train on the Big Four led by CSX AC4400CW No. 15, which we shot rattling across the ex-Hocking Valley diamond (above). A few minutes later, a local freight came down the Hocking Valley behind CSX No. 2308, a former GP30 converted into a road slug.

CSX Transportation; Marion, Ohio; May 19, 2014

After about a half-hour lull, Norfolk Southern got into the action on the ex-Pennsy. C40-9W No. 9924 came south with a grain train, passing restored AC Tower. the tower sits adjacent to the station.

Norfolk Southern; Marion, Ohio; May 19, 2014

Another half hour later and the sun had swung around favoring westbounds on the Big Four. CSX obliged by sending a train across the diamonds, passing AC Tower and Union Station. In all, it had only been an hour and half since the first train showed up, and we wound up with trains on all three lines. More from Marion can be found here.

CSX Transportation; Marion, Ohio; May 19, 2014

A Brief Stop At Leipsic, Ohio

Norfolk Southern; Leipsic, Ohio; May 16, 2014

 In our last post we started on a trip to the conference of the Center For Railroad Photography & Art in suburban Chicago. On the way out my brother Bruce and I stopped at two busy Ohio junctions, and stopped at a third on the way home. In the last post we spent a night at Crossroads Park in Deshler. After sunrise on May 16, we left there and headed to another busy junction town, Leipsic.

Leipsic actually has two diamond junctions where two lines cross at grade. The former Nickel Plate Road (officially the New York, Chicago & St. Louis, now a part of Norfolk Southern) is the east-west line through town. It crosses the former Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton (later part of the Baltimore & Ohio and now a part of CSX Transportation), and the shell of the interlocking tower that protected the junction is still there. Just a bit further west the ex-Nickel Plate crosses the former Detroit, Toledo & Ironton (this part of the old DT&I is now operated by the Indiana & Ohio Railroad).

Norfolk Southern; Leipsic, Ohio; May 16, 2014

We got to Leipsic and were quickly greeted by our first train, an eastbound Roadrailer on NS (two photos above). Roadrailers are hybrid semi trailers that can operate on both highways and railroads. We then heard horns south of town and caught a northbound oil train on the former CH&D with Canadian National power leading. Oil trains need a spacer car between the locomotives and the first tank car, and this is usually a boxcar; in this case it was a loaded center-beam lumber car.

Canadian National (on CSX); Leipsic, Ohio; May 16, 2014

Back at the NKP/CH&D diamond, our next train was an eastbound on the former Nickel Plate, an autorack train led by Union Pacific power. We caught it with the tower as a photo prop.

Union Pacific (on NS); Leipsic, Ohio; May 16, 2014

 Looking down the tracks from the NKP/CH&D diamond we could see a CSX local heading south over the DT&I diamond. We raced south of town and got it passing between a set of classic Baltimore & Ohio color position lights.

CSX Transportation; Leipsic, Ohio; May 16, 2014

 From there it was back to the tower for one last eastbound on the former Nickel Plate. A Norfolk Southern stack train finished off our visit to Leipsic. In all, it had been a very brief and very active two hours in the Ohio town. You can find more photos from this day here.

Norfolk Southern; Leipsic, Ohio; May 16, 2014

All Night at Deshler's Crossroads Park

CSX Transportation; Deshler, Ohio; May 15, 2014

Railroad parks are popping up all over the United States. As towns discover that railfans like to watch trains (and spend money locally) they are building parks that provide a comfortable and safe place to watch the action. They range in sophistication from the elaborate platform at Rochelle, Ill., to just some benches.

On the way to the Center For Railroad Photography & Art conference in Lake Forest, Ill., in May, my brother Bruce and I decided to hit the railroad park in Deshler, Ohio, for the first night. We knew that Deshler allowed overnight parking, so it would be a chance to get in some night photography while catching naps in the car between trains. Deshler's railroad park is one of the better ones, as it sits in the southwest quadrant of a diamond where the east-west former Baltimore & Ohio crosses the north-south former Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton (which became part of the B&O). The northeast quadrant is occupied by a tower, while the northwest corner features a station. The park's location in the southwest quadrant allows for well-lit daytime photo angles of the tower in the afternoon.

We discovered Crossroads Park has many amenities. There is a shelter with electricity and wifi for those looking to run laptop computers. The firepit had a nice stack of starter wood already arranged for lighting (we didn't use this however) and a scanner feed is running all the time so you can hear the dispatcher talking to trains. There was even a set of binoculars sitting on the bench for those who wanted to check out distant trains as they approached. We set up our strobes and it wasn't long before we caught our first train passing through the park, an eastbound train on the B&O (above).

Next up was a northbound train on the former CH&D. Thanks to the darkness, we didn't know the train had BNSF Railway power until the strobes went off. The signal next to the locomotive is one of the distinctive "color position lights" (CPL's) that were common on the B&O; these are being rapidly replaced by modern generic signals as railroads adopt Positive Train Control.

BNSF Railway (on CSX); Deshler, Ohio; May 15, 2014

We'll run through some (but not all) of the trains that made an appearance that night -- Deshler is a very busy place! Up next we have an eastbound on the B&O passing the tower at 11:18 p.m. The strobes weren't quite in the right place for this shot, causing a shadow to appear on the tower.

CSX Transportation; Deshler, Ohio; May 15, 2014

The best angle is of a westbound passing the tower. We got one such shot at 11:50 p.m.

CSX Transportation; Deshler, Ohio; May 15, 2014

A grade crossing over the C&O at the park allows for easy and legal access to the southeast quadrant of the diamond. At a minute past midnight we see an eastbound on the B&O, this time with the lighting arranged a bit better.

CSX Transportation; Deshler, Ohio; May 16, 2014

Here's an alternate view of a train passing the tower heading west, this time at 2:24 a.m.

CSX Transportation; Deshler, Ohio; May 16, 2014

At two minutes before three o'clock we get an eastbound passing the firepit and benches at Crossroads Park.

CSX Transportation; Deshler, Ohio; May 16, 2014

After this train it was time for a little bit of sleep. Trains went by during "nap time" but went unphotographed. Then, less that three hours after the above shot, we stumbled out of the car to set up for sunrise shots such as this eastbound passing the tower at 5:49 a.m.

CSX Transportation; Deshler, Ohio; May 16, 2014

A half hour later it was still barely dark enough to use flashes for light, and we got a CREX leaser locomotive heading east past the tower. Alas, we got no westbound trains during sunrise.

CSX Transportation; Deshler, Ohio; May 16, 2014

Just before 7:00 a train came south on the former CH&D and swung west on the B&O. We caught it framed up between the tower and station.

CSX Transportation; Deshler, Ohio; May 16, 2014

As soon as that train cleared, a northbound Norfolk Southern train appeared on the CH&D. The pond is located a very short walk (just across the street actually) from Crossroads Park. After shooting this train we moved on to another busy junction that also has a tower at Leipsic, Ohio. We'll take a look at that in the next installment. Meanwhile, you can see more photos from Deshler here.

Norfolk Southern (on CSX); Deshler, Ohio; May 16, 2014

Think Summer -- The Cedar Point & Lake Erie

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; July 8, 2013

We've been on the road for the past week or so and haven't had a chance to get through all of the new photos. We've been experiencing a winter that just won't go away this year, so to take off some of the chill while we get a bunch of new photos ready, let's think summer for a minute and explore the Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad, a three-foot narow gauge railroad located in the famed Cedar Point theme park near Sandusky, Ohio. Last year was the railroad's 50th anniversary, and it is unusual in that it still uses coal-fired steam locomotives -- most theme park locomotives have been converted to natural gas. The railroad rosters five locomotives, all with interesting histories. We'll run down the roster and then look at some of the better photo angles in the park.

We'll start with CP&LE 2-4-0 No. 22 (above). Named Myron H. (in honor of Mike Hetrick, a former superintendent of the railroad) it was built in 1922 as an 0-4-0T by Vulcan Iron Works for Wayne Coal Company of Clay Bank, Ohio. Subsequent owners took the locomotive to Alabama and Georgia, and in 1963 it was sold to Cedar Point. It is one of two primary locomotives in service at the park.

Up next is the park's other primary engine, No. 44. Now named Judy K. (in honor of Judy Kinzel, wife of Cedar Fair Entertainment Company CEO Richard Kinzel), No. 44 came from Vulcan in 1923, also as an 0-4-0T, and worked for John Marsh, Inc., of Lansing, Mich. It moved on to new owners in Illinois and Wisconsin and came to Cedar Point in 1968.

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; August 18, 2013

In the shop we find No. 1, G.A. Boeckling (named for a former Cedar point owner), built for N&S Coal Company in Pittsburg, Kan., by Davenport Locomotive Works in 1927. Like most Cedar Point locomotives, it was built as an 0-4-0T. In 1977 the locomotive was converted to a 2-4-4RT and started a career on a variety of park railroads, beginning with Six Flags in Gurnee, Ill. In 1996 it was traded to Disneyland in California and named Ward Kimball in honor of the famous Disney animator. It headed across the country one year later, testing at Disney World in Florida before being put on display at Epcot. In 1999 it was traded to Cedar Point, but then went back to California in 2007 to work for Knott's Berry Farm. Finally, it landed back at Cedar Point in 2010 and was converted to its current 2-4-0 configuration.

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; July 5, 2013

 Also in the shop is the railroad's heaviest locomotive, No. 4. Named George R. in honor of George Roose, former president of Cedar Point and builder of the railroad, this former 0-4-0T was built by H.K. Porter Company in 1942 for Carbon Limestone Company in Pennsylvania. It went into theme park service in 1963, working at Cherokee Wonderland in Cherokee, N.C., before coming to Cedar Point in 1968 and being rebuilt as a 2-4-0. Due to its weight, it is the least used of the four in service locomotives at the park.

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; July 5, 2013

The last locomotive at the park is out of service but on display. No. 3 is named Albert and last operated in 1991. It's a 2-6-0 and was built in 1910 by Davenport for J.B. Levert for sugar cane service in Louisiana. It was sold to a scrap dealer in Louisiana in 1959, but moved on to Cherokee Wonderland in 1960. In 1963 it came to Cedar Point.

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; July 8, 2013

Now that we have all the players identified, let's take a tour of the railroad. Operations are based out of the engine house adjacent to the Main Street Station and almost under the Millennium Force roller coaster (Cedar Point is the roller coaster capital of the world).

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; August 18, 2013

Out of the station and running clockwise on an oval, the train rolls along with Sandusky Bay on one side and the Millennium Force and Maverick coaster on the other.

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; July 8, 2013

At Frontiertown a stop is made to load and discharge passengers. The crew also takes the time to service the locomotives at this point.

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; August 18, 2013

Up next is the longest bridge on the line. Photographers can find a nice spot to shoot from behind the Camp Woodstock photo center.

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; July 8, 2013

A shorter trestle can be found near the entrance of Shoot the Rapids. The view is from the walkway to the ride.

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; July 8, 2013

In the same area is the viewing platform for Shoot the Rapids, which also makes for a nice view of the railroad. As an added bonus, there are water cannons where you can shoot people on the water ride for 25 cents -- a nice way to kill time between trains.

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; August 18, 2013

Finally we're approaching the Main Street Station again. The train passes through a colorful corridor of kiosks and coasters as it finishes off its loop.

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; July 8, 2013

In all we spent three days at Cedar Point last summer. For photos from each of those three days you can follow the links to July 5, July 8, and August 18.

Cedar Point & Lake Erie; July 8, 2013