As a resident of the Buckeye State, the railroading here is incredible, with the 2 mainlines from Chicago to New York, you get some of the busiest mainlines in the country, it's truly incredible to see. If and when you eventually come back, Berea, OH and Sandusky, OH, they both see a large amount of traffic
Most of the towns across the water level route offer great railroading - 100+ trains a day. We have a place on Catawba and have a secret little place that my wife and I go with the pups, kids and grandkids and picnic and watch trains. My father was born in Ashtabula. My great grandfather helped to design and build wooden ships in the harbor when he arrived from Italy. Point Park overlooks the bascule bridge, harbor, and yards.
@@PrenticeBoy1688 grandpa was a prosecutor and judge there. He and grandma, who was a nurse, knew everyone. As a kid I got to go to different railroad locations. Rode on locals and was allowed to operate the engine- also got to ride in the cabooses, turn locos on the wye at the west ave yard. Watched trains fly by from the interlocking on the water level route or crawl by on the harbor lines -- shaking the windows and ground. Was permitted, with the signalman help, to set up the routes and signals with the big Armstrong levers. The harbor was always a hive of activity. Before the ships became so large and had thrusters, tugs would help turn them and assist them beneath the bascule and rail draw bridges to their berths. I sure miss the 'old days'!
Welcome to Ohio. 24 year Cleveland Carman for csx. Glad you got to see how busy we are. On the switch heaters. There is just as many electric as there are propane ones. They are thermostat controlled, and run continuously once we get below freezing weather and precipitation. They don't melt after the fact, they prevent buildup from ever getting started. Just wanted to clarify that. Most power switches from Chicago to the east coast have some form of them.
@@distantsignal For some information. That local you saw at Marion on the C&O is L344. L344 comes out of Parsons (Columbus) and works customers all along the Columbus Sub to Fostoria and then runs back. In addition, if you plan to come for your next trip. Fostoria, Ohio has a Rail Festival every weekend near the end of September. LOTS of people show up there. I normally attend the show every year. In addition, Summerail is a great time to visit Marion, although I will stress this enough. Do not stay at Marion at night. From personal experience I have had things happen while staying there at night.
@@distantsignal Here was my take on the Fostoria Train show if you wanna check it out ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-r8OrOqoON8Y.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UAXbxvfHvKI.html
I live in southern Ohio and am happy you enjoyed my state. I enjoy watching your videos. I suggest if you return, visit the Warther museum in Dover to see the greatest collection of hand carved wooden trains in the world.
I know it's not quite the same as in the UK our freight trains are somewhat shorter than yours are, but if I want to go look at trains our local station has over 100 passenger trains a day and I don't know how many freight trains and the icing on the cake is we have a preserved heritage railway with preserved steam and diesel locos. Love these videos keep them coming please.👍👍👍👍
Come up to Northern MN, my girlfriend is actually in Tampa right now. The train watching here is amazing, and bring your son too, and I'm sure he'll see things he never has seen before. I remember when I visited Tampa last summer, and I was amazed at a Wawa. From your friend up north, have a Merry Christmas!
@@dalethekorean2231 Oh cool, CN railfanning is awesome up there. Still have to get up there sometime before they replace all their EMDs they use for the ore trains with GEs. Hoping sometime this winter
What....a....video! You caught a race, a meet, and even a zipper--all in one trip!! You guys really did it this time!! Thank you SO much to Danny, and all of the people he mentioned for making this such an incredible production!
LTNS Danny. With all of the insanity going on in the world today, your videos are a pleasure to see what makes America 🇺🇸 great. Family, father and son bonding and railroads! Thank you and God bless America 🇺🇸 🙏✝️
Fantastic video! As an Ohio citizen, it was great seeing your opinions on all of these spots. If you ever get back, I highly recommend Greenwich Ohio, with CSX and some daily Wheeling and Lake Erie Traffic, and Berea Ohio, just outside of Cleveland.
Great to have a post from the best! Next time in Ohio make sure to get to Cincinnati. Big CSX and NS yards and one of the best looking Art Deco Terminals, still in use as a museum and the occasional Amtrak Cardinal.
Thanks for making this video, Danny. As a former Ohioan, I applaud your efforts in capturing the action in N. Ohio. After living there for four years (2010-2014), I love watching trains in the Buckeye State. Thanks again. Hope you come out west sometime. Tim
I'm watching this and absolutely agree. Trains are about 4 in my hobbie list behind Planes, Ships Fire engines. Danny does an amazing job. Top 3 channels
Great to see you came to my state. Hope you enjoyed your stay and got lots of good videos. Feel free to swing back up and catch some of the WLE I'm a conductor for them. It would be nice to see you.
This brought back memories of Ohio. I was in charge of Columbus/Parsons Yard & filled in on the Columbus Sub back in mid 90’s. An old trainmaster told me when I showed up that I must learn the 3 R’s to railroading central Ohio…reading, righting & Route 23.
Happy Birthday!! Ohio has so many awesome bits of railroading history! I work for a company in southwestern Ohio that makes components for locomotives and am happy to share about the cool Ohio railroading things I know (including several museums)!
Next Ohio trip you get to take I recommend a few spots heading eastward . Attica Junction , Greenwich , Sterling , Kent & Berea . Lots of great railroading up this way , glad you got to experience it !
Danny, you sure bring back a lot of great memories. I enjoy all of your postings and they take me back many years ago when I had the opportunity to wander through the state of California. Specifically Cajon Pass, Tehachapi, Truckee, Colton and many others. Im now 90 but with many memories of those days. I cherish all those places and have loads of video and still pictures I took at those times. To old now for that but I never lost the love of Rail fanning. Thanks so much for your work and I will keep an eye out for you. Have safe times and my very best. Jim Hatboro, PA
Come back and visit Berea and Bellevue. Maybe try for when they do the steam in the valley for the cuyahoga valley railroad too. Suggested you come years back, glad you finally made it. 😉
This video is just fantastic Danny. You mentioned the train with the steel slabs headed to Middletown Ohio. That’s where I live. I watch trains around Cleveland Cliffs steel here. That used to be A.K. Steel which when I was a kid train watching here, was Armco steel. There’s a lot of action around this mill. The double main that goes through the mill is Norfolk Southerns double main which when I was a kid was the Penn Central. This main and CSX main meet just north of this area near Carlisle Ohio headed towards Columbus. If you ever get this way please let me know I would love to meet up maybe for a quick picture. I have Loved this channel for a long time and this video to me is one of the best you’ve done!!!
@@craigslater2321 awesome!! I try to get out once a week to watch trains. I play in a band so when we play The Madison Inn I get to train watch as well. Lol.
My parents are from Richmond, Indiana. I still have a lot of family that lives there and works in Dayton, Ohio. Back in the 30s my dads side of the family worked a 5 man local that worked thru Dayton. I work for UP in Houston
You're a true gentleman. I thoroughly enjoy all of your content but this video in particular was outstanding. I don't get to take many trips or mini-vacations at all, but you made me feel like I was right there with you. It was a nice escape for my mind. Very refreshing and plain excellent. ) Take care.
Welcome to Ohio, Mr Harmon . Would have been cool to be there when you were , those are my spots I usually hit plus Bellevue and Berea. If you come back try Tony Packos in Toledo ( Hungarian hotdogs and a tribute to MASH) also your son may like Put In Bay ( Island) and there's another steamer in Cleveland not far from Berea ( William G Mather )
Happy Birthday, Danny. And your next rail stop is Kornwesthiem Germany. During the German Steam fest. I am surprised that you did not run into Jaw Tooth there in Ohio. I hope to see more Ohio videos.
I love this video....from southern Ohio, I have been to many of these locations railfanning. Have you ever been to the Station Inn in Cresson PA? Highly reccomend this location and B&B. Many trains pass by each day at the crest of the grade. Horseshoe curve is only minutes away, Museum at Altoona as well as Juniata Shop. We spend a few days each year here.
Thanks! Yes, we stayed at the Station Inn in Cresson, visited Juniata Shops and downtown Altoona and Horseshoe Curve and Gallitzin Tunnel. Pennsylvania is great for railfanning.
Wonderful video! I live in Fostoria, and I am proud of it. I found this video while researching Ohio railroads. The very beginning, where Fostoria is mentioned more than once, caught my attention immediately, Trains are definitely a part of life here with around 100 trains some days.. We have two underpasses and two overpasses, with an additional new overpass being planned to deal with the train traffic. Getting caught in the Iron Triangle is something we patiently deal with on occasion. We actually had two more rail lines going through town years ago. (New York Central and the Lake Erie & Western) I shared this link on a Fostoria social media group. Thank you!
Thank you for another superbly produced video. What great spots to visit. I could easily spend an entire day at each of the locations. Having access to the train symbols and destinations adds to the interesting narrative. Always looking forward to your next adventure on the high iron.
Danny, I've been an avid rail fan (on the computer) part time though, and I greatly appreciate watching your videos, the way you explain everything it's like a learning lesson of the rails. I myself prefer the CSX as they have the colors of the B&O line that ran thru my hometown of Windsor. As a retired semi driver I recognize all the cities you mention and I have family and friends in FL, Orlando, Marathon. I've also have give a shout out to your son and his co - conspirator aka your wife for dreaming up this trip for your 39th Birthday, LOL Glad you 2 had a Great trip North.
I went to Fostoria in October '99. The cops chased us around. A RR bull accused me of riding on a hopper. I told him I liked my legs too much to do that. He let me go. FF to 2009 and I met the spokesperson for the Fostoria C of C, promoting what a great place Fostoria was to train watch, at a train show in Livonia, MI. Edit edit:. I got to play in the switch tower in Marion. Armstrong means Armstrong.
I lived in Defiance OH for a bunch of years and my apartment overlooked the CSX line to Chicago! Loved it! Been to all the places in the video. Lots of great places west of Toledo on the main to catch long, fast trains across the open flat farmland.
Hello Danny from NW Ohio. Your work on this segment of the High Iron was simply fantastic. As a retired transportation manager for CSX in NW Ohio everyone would think you lived and worked here. You knowledge, videos and description of train movements and signals are remarkable and truly most enjoying to listen and observe. Thank you for all that you do to enhance railroading to the public. If you ever need anything while in the NWO feel free to reach out. Be Safe and Remember if it does not feel right STOP! Regards Eric 11/13/2022
Thanks so much for your kind compliments, Eric. They are most appreciated coming from an industry professional. I fell in love with Ohio from the moment we landed in Columbus. I love not only the railroading but the ease of travel from one place to the next. My favorite discovery was how nice all the people are. I'm definitely coming back and soon! Thanks again. Send me your email address to railfandanny@gmail.com. Thanks again.
Just discovered your productions first class!I am now a happy subscriber.I will keep watching as long as you keep making episodes. I live in Mount gilead, nc and am from Greensboro, nc.I am old enough to remember steam engines operating at the railway express yard in the late forties. I love trains now and wish that I had taken an interest in them when I was younger
When you go back check out Lima. The built shay locomotives there and have one sitting inside a building at the museam. Also check out Lincoln Park with a steam engine on display.
My dad worked at Scotts for 43 years and I worked there for about 7 years, Yes we made and packaged bonus S there! I had no idea about the spots in marion or fostoria, just know about the traffic though there or the other places. now i have check them out. Sugar creek, lima are great places too Quincy has a diamond and a mile long old tressle and Sidney has an old viaduct
I truly enjoy the quality and substance of your work especially your folksy and informative naration. As a wheelchair bound and relatively new rail fan I look forward to your every submission. I have spent many happy hours with you out there on the high iron😊😊
Note, at Fostoria there was also a NYC line that crossed here! Adding to the mess of tracks. Toledo to Columbus. There was even a NYC tower here called "F" tower. I got a photo of it in the early 1980s. Sources say it was the location for the first CTC set up.
if you enter North Toledo heading south on 75 out of Michigan you pass by a major rail yard. It is CN railroad's Lang Yard. you can see it from the freeway
Happy Birthday, Danny, and thanks for the excellent video of my backyard! I'm a lifelong Toledoan and have lived within sight of the biggest mainline on the East Side for 50 years. My dad was a model railroader with a setup that took up half our huge basement...I wish I had paid closer attention to it, didnt know I was gonna grow up to be surrounded by...and fascinated with...trains! Come back soon!
Have you ever done/considered going railfanning abroad? spending time riding, and watching, trains in the UK and Switzerland is what got me into trains. Show up at any mainline (or main train station) in Europe and you will be presented with a wide variety of trains of all types. I personally loved the UK because they have both quirky trains, plenty of steam heritage railways, and all the info on them is online in english. Switzerland is fascinating because it is very much a (small) country built around trains- there's a bit of a feeling of stepping into an alternate history where no lines where cut back, and little stations still have lots of sidings with little switchers. Caught two ALC 42's hauling the Empire builder for the first time this morning- a new era for Amtrak's Loco's
The Harz Narrow Gauge Railways in Germany is also spectacular- would highly recommended for anyone wishing to experience the sight of 5 steam locos simmering outside a loco shed after pulling trains all day.
WOW! Danny you outdid yourself. The BNSF power you noticed had some background. CSX an NS will not accept transfer containers by truck in Chicago (only local origin). So BNSF combines international containers into trains destined for NS or CSX. These trains are made up at Logistics Park Chicago for containers from California ports and La Crosse, WI for containers from the Pacific Northwest. In the case of CSX, these trains go to North Baltimore. Once in the CSX system, the BNSF power can wonder all over on exchange. You probably know this, but VRF has cameras at Deshler and Fostoria. These is a great RU-vid video on the diamond replacement at Deshler. Thanks again!
I’m glad I live in Ohio so I don’t have to travel longer than three hours to see a conglomerate of trains. I highly recommend taking a trip to any hotspot in Ohio any time. Railfans here are usually friendly and the lines are busy all day and night.
When you come to Cleveland and Berea, make sure you also look into visiting the William G. Mather, another Lake Erie iron ore freighter that’s a museum, along with the USS Cod, both right in Downtown Cleveland by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Science Center (they have a Skylab Apollo module on display there, as Cleveland also has a NASA lab). You will definitely want to go into the Flats as well to see the plethora of lift bridges and swivel bridges across the Cuyahoga, and you want to get up on a high level bridge so you can see one of those giant ore freighters navigating the river on their way between Lake Erie and the Arcelor-Mittal steel mill. You can also ride the RTA Rapid Transit…the Red Line is heavy rail and the other lines are light rail. A little further south, the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad runs trips to Akron & Canton, alongside the Ohio & Erie Towpath from the old canal. There’s a ton of railroad action going on in NE Ohio!
I remember first seeing distributed power in richmond va 20 or so years ago and thinking "is that right? Can they do that?" Now I see it daily on intermodal trains.
Danny, usually, you're making me a little homesick for Florida since I lived near Orlando (where I did my own railroad job) for 26 years, but now you're making me homesick for Ohio where I lived for the first 21 years of my life. (Now I watch the miles long trains of the SP in Arizona!) My brother lives in Findlay and every time we visit him, I try to take my wife down to see all the traffic at the Iron Triangle. It's really something special. All those little towns in NW Ohio have great RR spotting areas. Thanks for another incredibly entertaining video!
Another GREAT video! Very cool footage from all angles, as well as loads of detailed info on what was happening in the video! Thanks Danny for doing what you do, it is appreciated!
Hi Danny you might want to consider Conneaut Ohio for the Nickel Plate Road railroad museum. They also have a museum on the north side the main line tracks and a steam engine on display coupled to a couple of car and a caboose. I do have photos also. Charlie G.
I stopped in Fostoria returning from Oklahoma back in 1985 in the middle of the night and I'll tell you what, I don't know how anyone slept in that town haha.
Love the Arlo Guthrie reference in the song "City of New Orleans" when you talked about the grain silos in Ohio and passing the houses, farms and fields! And Happy Birthday.
Danny, can't think of any body but you to cover the great state of Ohios railroad action. You did an absolute amazing job on this video. So glad you enjoyed this great state of mine. You covered of coarse the most popular spots that you could. I'm sure by now Berea Ohio has been mentioned to you a thousand times but when your here again. It is a must see place. The Columbus area has great trains as well but no railfan parks but a lot of places to catch the action.. this video was amazing, always enjoy your videos. But of course I live here and this one is my favorite. Thanks again for thinking highly of our state for big train action.. Pappy out....
I grew up in the Bellefontaine, OH yard, which used to be huge - all gone now. My grandfather was an engineer on the Pennsylvania RR, later merged with NY Central to become Penn Central, which my stepfather worked for. When I was very young, Grandma would take me to Hopewell Crossing on US 68 north of Bellefontaine, to wave goodbye to Grandpa as he left on run. Later, my stepfather worked for Penn Central and then Conrail, and he'd take us kids to the yards when he'd take "hustler" (I think he meant hostler) duty. Years later, I moved to Lima, OH, very near the CSX yards, where we'd occasionally hear a steam engine come through, going south. I could hear the whistle far off, and we'd jump in the car and head to the Flanders Ave crossing to watch it go by. I love watching your videos. I don't get time to do much train watching these days so your videos are just like being there!
Danny this was a really interesting video. I’m originally from Defiance Ohio, which is between Toledo and Fort Wayne, and didn’t ever realize that amount of traffic we had in that area of Ohio. I am on the east coast of Florida where the Bright Line is running right by my shop every day.
Back in 2003 I got hired on at CSX in Saginaw Michigan as a conductor. After being there about 1 year they leased the Saginaw yard out to the local Railroad. With my low seniority I couldn't stay in Michigan so I moved to Lima Ohio. So now instead of going from Saginaw to Toledo I would take the train from Lima to Toledo. Sometimes we would go straight through Deshler to Toledo, other times we would hang a right and go over through Fostoria and up that way to Toledo. And once in awhile we would hang right at Deshler to go through Fostoria and take our train into Willard! I stayed with the railroad for about 7 years but I am now into expediting in a van and I am actually at the Loves station here in North Baltimore watching this video while waiting to get a load from dispatch. I seen a Hallcon Van stop in with a crew to get their snacks and I started talking with one guy, and it turns out he lived near my home up in Michigan and his cousin told him about the job on the railroad. He mentioned his cousin's name and turns out he was one of my favorite Engineers as I worked as a conductor!!! Great video and brings back many memories of my time on the rails!!!
Awesome video, as always! I might have to get out to Ohio and check some of these places out. As a person with disabilities, I also appreciate you bringing attention to and spotlighting the access ramp at the Fostoria platform. It is definitely heartening to see venues making attempts like this for accommodating individuals with disabilities, as well as to hear members of the nondisabled community spotlighting such attempts when they are made.
I'm a Conductor who works out of North Baltimore. I typically go to Chicago going through Deshler nearly everyday. I also go around the Northwest transfer connection track towards Toledo/Detroit that you covered. When you have a short train, you can look Westwards over the NS tracks and see the rear of your train before it hits the Wye. Also, as I work out of North Baltimore, I rent a place in Fostoria. The entire town is one of those railroad towns, rightfully so, as you can always hear a train horn blasting. Another great video Danny. Thanks!
My town I live 1/2 block from iron triangle 😊😎 I see this and hear them every day love it. When we moved here took us a couple of weeks to get used to You have to be here for the steamers pls let me know when your coming back would like to meet you 😊
Happy to hear my home town mentioned in your narration, Edgerton. When I was a young boy, I remember my Dad grabbing the whole family and taking us to a hilltop on the west side of town that had a view of the railroad tracks to see an experimental jet-powered train being tried out on the straight stretch of track that runs from Stryker, Ohio to Butler, Indiana. I didn't understand the history that was happening that day, all I knew was it was amazing to see and hear this super fast train going down the track.
I’m a buckeye myself, and live just a stone’s throw away from a rail yard. I hear NS trains going in an out of that yard all day every day. Thanks for coming up to Ohio and showing off its splendor!
AYO OHIO!? Jokes aside, this was a really well put-together documentary about trains from the GOAT of train videos - and Danny has THE speaking voice for railroading.
Thanks to Rob and your wife Danny for suggesting and organizing this Ohio adventure. Another exercise in excellent. Happy belated birthday. What a treat 😎👍🏾
Ohio is nice for trains. I grew up in Dayton where there was a big auto industry when I grew up in the 70s. One of my houses was closer to the tracks (about a mile and up hill). In summers we kept the windows open and we heard trains constantly, possibly every 1 hour. Parts were going into the auto plants and finished cars out. The auto plants are basically gone from Dayton but there are parts manufacturers. Much less trains.
