Drones bring an exciting new perspective to railfanning that was not possible just a decade ago. This RU-vid channel features high definition drone footage of some of the most exciting railroad locations in Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as other regions of the United States.
Another good video buddy. I'm enjoying your content, so thank you. Of course, I do have some questions since you kind of have to chase trains since there are three locations. What corner would you say gets the most traffic? What's your best guess on how many trains per day go through on each line? When I go out there in September, I feel like it would be best to hang out at the NS/CSX diamond that would yield the most traffic? Thanks for your time.
It's tricky because the CSX Willard Subdivision (the east-west CSX line) probably gets the most traffic, but it's the farthest from the shaded area with restrooms and seating. The Norfolk Southern line gets a decent amount of traffic, and the CSX Toledo Subdivision (the north-south line) gets a fair amount of traffic. Numerous CSX trains transfer from the Garret Sub to the Toledo Sub or vice versa. If I had to pick one place to sit I'd probably hang out at the shaded structure, but if you're able/willing to move around you can get a lot of different angles and perspectives.
This is a pretty cool video. I hope to be able to see this place when I visit it in a couple of months. Hopefully they have lots of locomotives to see view. Going to check out more of your videos and I'll try to comment.
It's a bit tricky to get a good view of this location, so having a drone was helpful for me. There's also a smaller Larry's Truck and Electric location with numerous locomotives in McDonald, Ohio. You can get a decent view of that property from the Ohio Avenue overpass.
Another good video and good information with different spots to railfan. Have you ever railfanned by the Maumee River with NS? Good bridge? Tough location to get trains at?
It's a bit difficult to get a good view of the Maumee River bridge, but if you got to Middlegrounds Metro Park, there's a place by the water that actually has a decent view. That may be your best bet! The bridge is cool because it swings open for large lake freighters to pass through. If you're lucky, you'll get to see the bridge swing open!
Nice video and lots of traffic. Your video camera is nice as well. What frame rate do you shoot in? I plan on landing out in Pittsburgh and then making my way west to this area. Are there any places that I should railfan between Pittsburgh and these two cities? Thanks
Thanks for watching! I shoot my videos at 60 frames per second. I’m originally from Northwest Ohio, so I’m mainly familiar with that part of the state, especially the area west of Toledo on the Norfolk Southern Chicago Line. I also lived in Central Pennsylvania for a few years, so I’m familiar with the area east of Pittsburgh when it comes to PA.I don’t know the area between Pittsburgh and Fostoria quite as well. Fostoria and Deshler are both amazing places to watch trains. Fostoria gets more traffic than Deshler. Marion, Ohio, may be another good place to visit if your route takes you through Central Ohio. Let me know if you have any other questions!
@@DavidLauback I have a ton and thanks for the response. I'm planning to spend 4 nights out in Ohio and I want to visit the areas that you mentioned and I mentioned. Does the NS mainline from Toledo to Pittsburgh carry a good amount of traffic? I've wanted to railfan the NS for a longtime now and I finally saved up the cash to do it, so I'm excited. Any thoughts on the Toledo area (since you mentioned it)? Fostoria and Deschler as well please.
@@AllthingsVegas There’s a lot of traffic on the Norfolk Southern Chicago Line, which runs through Northern Ohio between Cleveland and Toledo. I’m not super familiar with the line east of Sandusky, but there are a couple neat bridges where the tracks cross the water in the Sandusky area. The Sandusky Bay Bridge is neat to see, although it’s tough to get a close view. There’s a state fishing access pier just west of the bridge that provides some decent viewing. There’s also a neat bridge that goes across the Portage River in Port Clinton, but again, it’s a bit tough to get a good view. Oak Harbor has a neat crossover bridge where the line splits off and goes down to the big NS yard in Bellevue. Sometimes you can catch trains going over and under the bridge at the same time, which is neat. Northwood, just east of Toledo, has a diamond with the CSX (known as Vickers). You can’t get super close to the diamond, but a lot of people like to sit and watch trains by Advanced Auto Images, just off Wales Road. If you want to do anything on the Chicago Line west of Toledo, I would recommend that you check out my video called “Exploring the NS Chicago Line - Toledo, OH to Butler, IN. That area has plenty of traffic and lots of fast-moving trains! I think I would recommend spending at least a full day doing Deshler and Fostoria, if not one full day at each place. Those places are amazing! If you want to learn more about Deshler and Fostoria, I would recommend watching my “rail park review” videos on my channel for those two locations. Marion has a nice train depot next to the diamonds and is about an hour south of Fostoria. Deshler is about 45 minutes east of Fostoria, so you could potentially hop from one to the other on the same day. North Baltimore is about halfway between Deshler and Fostoria. There’s a diamond there just west of I-75 and also a huge CSX intermodal facility to the east of North Baltimore, although it’s tough to get good views of the intermodal facility. In my opinion, the drive between Deshler and Fostoria is really fun if you take State Route 18. That route never gets too far from the tracks and so you can see stuff along the drive! I’ll let you know if I think of more stuff. I’m sure there are great places to watch in Northeast Ohio too, I’m just not very familiar with that part of the state. Again, feel free to ask if you think of more questions!
@@DavidLauback I read this a few times and I'll be checking out more of your videos. I'll be out there in a couple of months and I'm beyond excited as I have been looking forward to catching some NS action (never been east of Chicago). I made a note to visit Bellevue, Oak Harbor, Marion and Bellevue. I noticed that you have a Toledo, Ohio video and I'm going to be there, so I will watch that video too. Any changes or is it pretty much the same as far as railfanning there (additional tracks, etc)? As far as flying a drone, do you recall if Fostoria, Bellevue, Deschler, Toledo, Oak Harbor, Sandusky (bridges), Marion, Alliance or North Baltimore are an issue like you can't fly in the area? I also really appreciate the fact that you do a few things. You answer folks in the comment section and you give them information. Not everyone on here does and I really appreciate it.
@@AllthingsVegas I don't believe there are any major changes to the areas since these videos were published. The old passenger depot has been torn down in Deshler since I recorded videos there, but that's about it. As far as flying drones, they may not want you to fly directly above the North Baltimore CSX intermodal terminal, but I don't know that for a fact. I tried to sort of keep my distance when flying around last time I was there. In the Toledo area you just have to pay attention to all the applicable drone rules such as not flying too close to airports and hospital helipads and the like. I've actually never been to Alliance or Bellevue, so I'm not sure about those locations. (I hear they're great for train watching though!)
We don't live near any busy railroads anymore, so I generally only record new content when I'm traveling. Hopefully I'll get a chance to record some videos this summer! 🤞
David, your rail videos are outstanding. I've been to the Horseshoe Curve many times but have never experienced it as seen through your aerial footage. I'm planning to do a small segment about the Horseshoe Curve history as part of one of my motorcycle riding videos on my channel. I was wondering if you might allow me to use some of your footage in my video? I can credit your channel onscreen somehow and add a link to your channel in the video description. I couldn't find an email address for you. You can get mine on my channel if you want to discuss. Regardless, great stuff. I've always liked trains but have never appreciated them in the manner you and other rail fans do. And I live in Central Pennsylvania.
How many of these places are there? I was in Galveston, TX last year and there's a big locomotive collection there. It seems like there's thousands of tons of potentially recyclable metals just lying around.
Super. And this is only one of maybe a dozen locomotive graveyards, containing everything from F units, center cabs, and four wheel switchers all the way up to fairly modern high horsepower diesel locomotives, many sidelined simply because they are not emissions compliant. 💙 T.E.N.
Awesome video! Ive been to deshler quite a few times and its a bit far away from where I live but i do go out there a couple times a year. Roughly 70 miles east of Deshler there's a hotspot in Greenwich, Ohio that is home to a somewhat similar layout to deshler however it offers up much better angles and has very similar traffic to it. Greenwich also has the unique quality of having Wheeling and Lake Erie trains run through at least once a day and the town has a very charming atmosphere to it like Deshler and is pretty railfan friendly. Greenwich goes under the radar a lot and it doesn't dissapoint. I would recommend going in the summer months as there's a park nearly with bathrooms that do close in the wintertime. There's no railpark here yet however with a new mayor in town that seems to be more receptive to the idea this may change.
Sorry for the late comment lol. But is Toledo a good railfanning spot? Like how many trains does it get? And where exactly is the bridge location? I like that spot a lot
Yes, Toledo is a great place to watch trains! The main Norfolk Southern line through the city probably gets somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-60 trains per day. The bridge we recorded from is a pedestrian bridge just west of the Amtrak station and is practically underneath I-75. I heard a rumor that this bridge may be taken down sometime in the future, but for now, it provides great views of the station.
Those some NS High Hoods used to operate in the Ashtabula Harbor. I remember seeing them back in 2015-2016 right when the coal industry left. Sad they didn't keep them around for the Iron operations they do now
