The Lehigh Valley
How about a rail line that I wish that I could go back and see in action? There are actually several, but one in particular, would be the Lehigh Valley.
Categories: Railroad Tags: Lehigh Valley, Railroad
My (Future) Model Railroad Empire
I am planning a model railroad. Realistically, I don't know when, if ever, it will get built, but if and when it does, it will be my empire. I've been collecting the materials for years; the track, the rolling stock, buildings, locomotives, a good collection of materials needed
Categories: Railroad Tags: HO scale, Model Railroad, railroads, trains
YouTube: A Great Place For A Railfan
Youtube is a great source of videos, for just about anything you want to see, including classic railroading. Here are a few good ones that I have found in my searches.
Categories: Railroad Tags: Baltimore & Ohio, Horseshoe Curve, Monon, Railroad, Santa Fe
5 Railroads That I Especially Like
Your favorite rail line? Most, if not all railfans enjoy watching trains, in general, but will have a fondness for a few particular lines, over the rest. I profess to be no different, in that aspect, and in particular, there are five lines, of which I have gained more interest or fascination with, over the others; Penn Central, Monon, Southern, Soo Line, and Rock Island.
Categories: Railroad Tags: Monon, Penn Central, Railroad, Rock Island, Soo Line, Southern Railway
3 Places Where I Railfanned…And A Few Others, Too.
Where is your favorite spot for railfanning? Or perhaps, that should read “spots”. Railfanning; it’s a great, fun, relaxing activity. Unfortunately, it’s something that I don’t get the opportunity to do like I once did, going out, camera in hand, and catching all the action along area rail lines. For those of us with an interest or fascination with the railroads, it can be a great way to spend an afternoon.
With that in mind, here are my all-time favorite locations for railfanning. In most cases, I haven’t been to these locations for a long time, so I can’t guarantee how good they are, now, but at the very least, at one time, they provided for some great rail action.
New Castle, Indiana. At one time, New Castle had the Nickel Plate, New York Central (Big 4), and Pennsylvania. Today, the Norfolk Southern comes to town. During the late 80′s and early 90′s, I found that the sidewalk along Broad Street was a great place to catch mainline action. In addition, along Broad Street, just a few hundred yards from the crossings, was a music store, that’s long since closed, but at the time, was a great place to pick up the latest tunes to use for DJ jobs I did on the side, as well as building a classic country collection for the show I did at the local station, early on Saturday mornings. At the time I regularly visited, Saturday mornings would be an especially busy time, with 2-3 trains coming through between 10am and noon. Back when I was regularly in New Castle, Conrail was still in existence, and would use NS rails from Muncie to come to New Castle and switch the steel factory that sat on a part of the old NYC line. There was also a short line that ran between the town and Connersville, Indiana, that mainly took box cars to a Ford (later Visteon) plant in Connersville. That plant has closed (though reportedly may re-open with new ownership), so I am guessing little or no traffic currently traverses this line.
Muncie, Indiana. Probably my favorite location. At one time (way before my time), Muncie would see the trains of the Nickel Plate, C & O, Pennsylvania, and New York Central, plus it had it’s own Muncie & Western. In addition to the aforementioned NS line, they also sit on the CSX double-tracked mainline between Indianapolis and Bellefontaine, OH. NS also has a branch that runs to Frankfort, IN, and a branch that runs to Portland, Indiana. Does anyone know if that line is still in use? Even when living in Indiana, I never saw a train on that line. But in Muncie, there is seemingly always freight passing through. The CSX line may be one of the most heavily used in the U. S.; certainly the midwest. I used to go into town, at a rail crossing, where the two lines crossed. It was a great spot, as were several other areas; including the Muncie Mall, which sits next to the NS line. Another spot where we used to go, as well, was just south of town, in the little community of Cowan, which provided a good view of the NS line, as well.
I mentioned the Muncie & Western, this line mainly served Ball (the canning jar people), but was all but gone, by the 1990′s. I was able to take some photos of the trackage, before it was pulled. I plan to post some of those photos on a future posting.
I haven’t been to Muncie for at least six or seven years, now, and haven’t been there to railfan, in at least a decade. But when I did visit, regularly, it was a place where I got many a good shot, mostly of Norfolk Southern, but also of what was then still Conrail, as well.
Vincennes, Indiana. I spent a couple of years in college, here, back in the 1980′s. During my time, I took a lot of photos of Chessie and Seaboard, there. This was about the time of the CSX merger, and when I was there, it was pretty much all Chessie equipment on the old B & O line from St. Louis to Cincinnati, while the Evansville-Chicago (former C & EI, later L & N), line was all Seaboard. Heavy traffic, especially on the Chessie line, which sat on the edge of the campus. There was also a small 3-track yard on the Chessie line, right with the interchange with Seaboard. And this all was sitting right next to our small college campus. I believe that the yard is gone, now, but the interchange still remains. As for traffic, I believe that at one time, the B & O line had seen a large traffic reduction, but as of right now, I do not know how heavily either line is used, though I would think the Evansville-Chicago route would surely still see significant traffic.
It’s worth noting, that at one time, the Pennsylvania and New York Central also came to town, but both lines were gone, well before I was there. I think either Conrail or Penn Central took out the Pennsy line, while NYC’s was gone before the PC merger. There is a bridge, southwest of town, though, that once carried NYC trains across the Wabash River into Illinois. It is still used (last I knew), to carry grain trucks for a local grain hauler. In fact, see last week’s post about the Wabash Cannon Ball, for a photo.
Those are the three locations that I spent the majority of my railfanning time. There have been a few other locations, as well, that I’ve spent a bit of time, as well. Having grown up near the small town of Rushville, Indiana, I was able to see a steady dose of Chessie/B & O/C & O equipment, on our visits to Rushville, which sits on CSX’s Indianapolis-Cincinnati line. Also during my youth, Rushville still hosted trains from the Norfolk & Western, via it’s branch from New Castle. I recall the track being in pretty poor shape, and the train usually averaged about 5-10 mph. Rushville would have been a great spot to view back in the 1950′s and before, though, as it once hosted not only the B & O line and the NW (Nickel Plate, at that time), but also the Pennsylvania branch from Columbus, Indiana, and New York Central’s (Big 4) line from St. Joseph’s, Michigan to Louisville. Today, only the B & O line remains, along with a short segment of the NKP branch, that ends at a grain elevator, north of town.
I got to visit Frankfort, Michigan, back in the early 1980′s, where the Ann Arbor had a ferry facility. That was a great sight, to see them loading and unloading rolling stock from the ships that traveled Lake Michigan. Within a couple of years of our visit, the operation had been shut down, so I feel very fortunate to have been able to see it, in it’s twilight.
Like all things, railroading changes with the times. Lines are expanded, lines are abandoned. Names and paint schemes change. But through it all, we continue to be fascinated with long lines of freight moving from one end of the country to the other. It’s a fascination that will forever live with us, as long as there are rails spiked to ties.
Categories: Railroad Tags: Ann Arbor, Big 4, C & EI, C & O, Chessie, Conrail, CSX, L & N, Muncie, Muncie & Western, New Castle, New York Central, Nickel Plate Road, Norfolk & Western, Norfolk Southern, Penn Central, Pennsylvania, Railfan, Rushville, Seaboard System, Vincennes
The Wabash Cannon Ball
The Wabash Cannonball. To some, it's a country music classic, made famous by the legendary King Of Country Music, Roy Acuff. For others, it's two-toned blue and white locomotives hustling across Illinois and Indiana, taking men, women, and children between Detroit and St. Louis, as well as all points in-between.
Categories: Railroad Tags: Norfolk & Western, Wabash Cannon Ball, Wabash Railroad
5 Locomotives I’d Love To See On The Rails, Again
If you could stand trackside, today, and see any locomotive that has ever existed come by...which one or ones would you want to see? One of today's highly advanced specimens? One of the great first generation machines? Perhaps some classic steam pulling a hotshot freight or luxury passenger train? Here are five that I would love to see traversing the rails of America, one more time.
Categories: Railroad Tags: Alco C420, Alco Century, Alco RS-1, Baldwin AS-616, Baldwin DT-6-6-2, Fairbanks Morse H 24-66, locomotives, Trainmaster
Chicago, Attica, And Southern Railroad
Picture this. You are standing alongside a rail line on a bright, warm, sunny day. The rail line is not a high speed main line, in fact, it's rather worn. The ballast is almost completely obscured by grass and weeds, the ties are old and worn, it's obvious that maintenance is not a priority on this line.
Categories: Railroad Tags: Chicago Attica and Southern, Ghost Railroads Of Indiana
More Pictures From Trackside
Here are some more photos of railroading, taken from various parts of the state of Indiana.
Categories: Railroad Tags: Ball Jars, Connersville, Indiana, Muncie, Muncie & Western, Nickel Plate Road, railroad bridge, railroad pictures, Vincennes, Whitewater Valley
Pictures From Trackside, Railroad Track, That Is
I'm not the greatest photographer in the world, by any stretch of the imagination. But it is an activity that I've thoroughly enjoyed over the past several years, literally having taken thousands of images on prints, slides, and now digital. And one of my favorite subjects for the camera has been the railroads. Since childhood, I've spent so much time pouring over books and magazines that would feature outstanding photos of the latest, as well as vintage photographs of railroading action from around the United States. While I don't think that any of my photos will reach that level of expertise, I have, and continue to enjoy taking them, and decided it might be fun to share a few of them with you.
Categories: Railroad Tags: Ann Arbor, Arlington, Atlantic Coast Line, B & O, Big 4, Carthage Knightstown And Shirley, Conrail, CSX, Erie, Frankfort, Knightstown, Muncie, New Castle, New York Central, Norfolk Southern, Vincennes
