Railfanning along I-75

[gp9fan]

In the next month I will be making two trips south from Detroit down I-75,one to Urbana and one to Middletown. I'm wondering if there any areas within a reasonable distance of I-75 where I might catch and photograph a few trains. On the Urbana trip I won't have a lot of time to hang around waiting for a train but perhaps there might be some local switching or something. On the Middletown trip I will be spending the night there so I will have a bit more time. I am especially interested in short lines and industrials. Any info you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,Karl

[railohio]

Urbana only has an Indiana & Ohio branch in town that will probably only see a train a couple days each week.

Middletown is a great railfan spot. South of Dayton, however, the tracks begin to swing west of the Interstate about ten or fifteen miles so there aren't any "easy catches" from the highway in that area. In Middletown the Great Miami Railway used to serve a paper mill but they had some financial difficulties recently and I don't know if they are still serving it or who else might be if they closed up shop. There is also a Norfolk Southern industrial spur through Franklin with numerous photographic possibilities.

Good luck!

[bill_whh]

Great Miami Railway is now a US Rail coporation. US rail have run the GMRY name and operations into the ground. Currently GMRY / US Rail is using a LTEX 1415 GP15-1 in orange and black. They have the FLSX #1 GMRY #20 & #70 all sitting out next to the river. Unknown if they are operational. The GMRY is switching the Smart Paper mill in Hamilton, Ohio.

In Franklin, Ohio NS comes south from Moraine, Ohio to due switching. There used to be 2 roofing places in franklin, but one has closed up and is turning into a transload operation. The switcher will hit Mound corporation and then duck into the Franklin spur when it works. Point of interest. Catching the local on the bridge in the industrial track and the small segament of street running.

Middletown, CSX, NS, I&O, Industrial's: AK STEEL, EVERTZ Tech, Precision, Worthington, SOS, Cohen Bros. Some are accesible, some are not. I am local to middletown and if i can, will give you the dime tour if wanted.

Worthington Steel: located in monroe, ohio. Exit #29 of I-75. St rt.63. Take it west to New Garver Road and turn right. Follow garver rd around to a plastic manufacturer (stone throw from I-75) Turn left on a small side street and head towards a huge blue building. You might be able to get a good shot of the blue GP7 or GP9 that they have in use.

Precision Strip: Loactes in Middletown, Ohio on Oxford State Road. It is near the cincinati-dayton rd end. Take exit #32 from I-75. Go west on st rt 122 to cincinati-dayton rd. turn left on cincinati-dayton rd then go to Oxford State rd and turn right. You will cross a track and on the left is Precision. They have a critter of some sort (read 44 tonner, 80 tonner idea) it may be visible, may not. Directly across from Precision is the AK Steel complex.

Ak Steel: NOT RAILFAN FRIENDLY!!! Do not let any security see you taking pics. They go ballistic. You can still get shots of the fleet from public access, but it can be trying. The complex is about 2400 acres and very big. They oprate sw1200's ( ithink that is what they are) in RC mode. Red, WHite and Black snappy scheme.

SOS: Middletown, Ohio, Follow same directions for precision strip, but do not turn at Precision. Keep going straight. Turn left at Yankee Rd. cross one track and on the right side is SOS and Quaker CHemical. Only SOS has a Trackmobile.

Cohen Brothers Scrap Yard. Follow SOS directions, but turn right on Yankee rd and follow down quite a ways down. Yankee will turn into University. Cohen will be on left side when road gets wide. They have a Critter and i dinky in there (read 44 tonner, 80 tonner idea and a small end cab 2 wheel job)

Evertz Tech: My employer, inside a closed complex guarded by gates. Has a Trackmobile 4600

CSX has a yard in Middletown at the south end of town. It can be reached from Oxford State Rd. Not very photogentic. NS has a yard on the south east side of town off of cincinati-dayton rd. Not photgentic. Yardmasters and trainmasters on duty at both locations. No PD that i know of. NS & CSX both have 4 yard jobs per 24 hours. Numerous Trains dedicated to AK Stell.
Coils, Ore, Coal, Slabs, Coke & etc... Many road freights and an occasional I&O thrown in. West of Middletown is CSX's Toledo Sub. Hard to chase.

Story.... I had the opprotunity to follow a I&O south from Moraine Yard towards Middletown. I did not have a chance of keeping up throught the little towns and such.

To get frequencys and such, i would recomend visiting http://www.cincyrails.com/ it will have the most up to date frequncys....

Bill

[gp9fan]

Thanks very much for the info. As it turns out the trip was cancelled but I will keep the info for future reference as I will be going down there in the next few months. Karl

[Northwest727]

I am currently attending college in Bowling Green, Ohio, and I can say that the former T&OC line (western division) that almost parallels I-75 seems to be a fairly busy line. Its not busy enough to kill time waiting for a train to come, though, even though I do that here in Bowling Green

[railohio]

The Toledo Branch Subdivision through Bowling Green currently has six regular freight trains plus a local based in Kenton and extras as-needed.

[dti407]

Brian,

Last I knew Q636 and Q637 go down the C&O. (I saw 637 in Carey yesterday.) Did two new freights get put on?

All that's left on the Toledo Branch is Q131(overnight), Q132 (early morning), Q218 (overnight), Q219 (evening), and the Kenton local, H719 (overnight), and extras.

[railohio]

Not to my knowledge. I guess I'm still living in the past!

[Northwest727]

The Toledo Branch Subdivision through Bowling Green currently has six regular freight trains plus a local based in Kenton and extras as-needed.

Its seems as though it is busier than that...hmm.

[Tadman]

Middletown is not far from Hamilton, which has a busy railroad scene, especially following Hwy 127 north and south of downtown. Also on 127 just north of downtown is the Hamilton works, the H in BLH.

[ELSFRR]

You can't forget between Cincinnati and Corbin, Ky. However, it doesn't excatly parraell the road but towns right off of it, has a NS line with is fairly busy, and a pretty big CSX grider bridge between Verona and Florance that goes over 75

[tree68]

Fostoria and Deshler are both fairly close to I-75, IIRC. Both have diamonds - Deshler is CSX in both directions, Fostoria is CSX and NS. Deshler has a small park right next to the diamond with a gazebo and radio feeds. Haven't been to Fostoria, but I understand that it's a fairly fan-friendly place.