Two CSX trains are heading north together at Sandusky Street in Fostoria on Thursday night. Q-516-06 (Cincinnati, OH - Toledo/Stanley Yard, OH freight) has made the turn off the northwest transfer and heads up C&O main 2 with CEFX SD40-2 # 3141, while Q-281-05 (Selkirk, NY - Toledo/Walbridge Yard, OH auto racks, as required) had made the turn off the northeast transfer and heads up C&O main 1, with CSXT C40-8W #'s 7815 and 7720. 516 is beginning to pull away from 281 because it has the shorter train coming off the transfer, and, because 281 will be going into the North Fostoria center siding to wait for a gap in traffic in which to head north behind 516.
NS train 145 (Buffalo, NY - Kansas City, MO freight) rumbles west through the night across the C&O diamonds, with NS C40-9 # 8885 and BNSF ES44DC # 7750:
CSX train Q-394-24 (Toledo/Stanley Yard, OH - Cumberland, MD freight) heads south on the C&O across Columbus Avenue and the NS diamonds before making a left turn into the northeast transfer to head east toward Willard, OH, with UP SD70M # 3919, CSXT Road Slug # 2293, GP40-2 Slug Mother # 6938, SD40-2 # 8874 (making a RARE trip west; this unit is almost always stationed anywhere between Selkirk, NY and Oak Island, NJ), and RCPHG4 # 9136 in nice "YN3" paint:
NS train 272 (Kansas City, MO - Bellevue, OH auto racks) pulls into town just before midnight after a LONG wait at "FS" to the west due to cross traffic on CSX. NS C40-9W # 9201 and C40-8W # 8404 in Conrail Quality paint are crossing aover from NS main # 2 to main # 1, and then onto the Mixing Center Lead at "Pelton's" to do work at the Fostoria Mixing Center:
On Wednesday evening in Fostoria, CSX's northwest Ohio flooding reroutes have begun in full force. First, CSX train Q-219-22 (Toledo/Stanley Yard, OH - Indianapolis/Avon Yard, IN freight) passes straight south on the C&O across Columbus Avenue, with CSXT ES44DC # 5269 and SD60 # 8701. Then, after dark, train Q-636-22 (Columbus, OH - Toledo/Stanley Yard, OH freight) heads north behind CSXT C40-8 # 7491 in Conrail Quality paint and AC440CW # 376. Finally, train Q-272-22 (Louisville, KY - Detroit, MI auto racks), who usually comes into Fostoria from the west via Deshler, OH, also goes north, pulled by CSXT C40-8 #7574 and SD40-2 # 8139 in "YN3." Many more reroutes are to come.......
Norfolk Southern train 10E (Salem, IL/UP - Conway, PA freight), more often than not, is powered by Union Pacific locomotives through Fostoria, since the train originates on UP. Sometimes the train will just have NS power, and sometimes a mix. But as far as this writer knows, it has never had this for power, as it did on Tuesday evening, seen at Poplar Street:
(FXE ES44AC # 4652, and SD40-2 #'s 3219 and 3220 lead NS train 10E. Heads up eastward! (See Railfan Alert # 8 below!))
NS train 17K (Bellevue, OH - Tolono, IL/CNIC freight) heads wstbound at Union Street in Fostoria on Saturday afternoon, with NS ES40DC # 7541 and C40-9W # 9144.
On Friday night in Fostoria, CSX train Q-635-17 (Willard, OH - Russell, KY freight) is pulling out of the east siding to make the train's set offs in the C&O yard with CSXT ED44DC # 5379, while hot shot Q-109-17 (N. Bergen, NJ - Willow Springs, IL UPS/intermodal) with two more ES44DC's, #'s 5392 and 5300:
Top Photo:
March 5th, 2008:
Spring may be on the way soon, but it was certainly not here yet on this winter morning of storm recovery, full of snow, ice, and grey skies.
Through the scene next to old B&O depot in Fostoria blasts BNSF SD70MAC # 9618, looking rather ghostly with its "BN" logo no longer on the nose. She is leading CSXT train U-994-04 (Cicero, IL/BNSF - Colona, PA Powder River coal loads) eastbound on B&O main # 2, along with BNSF SD70MAC # 9404, also in the "executive" colors. Both units also have fairly newly applied "swoosh" patches on the sides of the cabs, not visible here.
The winter weather delayed many trains on this day, but didn't keep the Fostoria Rails from being just as busy as ever.
All content and images copyright 2007-2008 Fostoria Rails and Phil Michaels unless otherwise noted.
