The following copy is from a Trains Magazine article published in July 2006.
A triangle of steel rails cross each other, the echoes of air horns ring out, and the throb of a diesel engine is almost always in the air. While residents may bristle when stopped by the flashing lights and lowered gates of a grade crossing, rail enthusiasts will delight in the seemingly endless parade of trains.
Welcome to Fostoria Ohio, one of the busiest railroad spots in a busy railroad state.
 Four carriers once crossed paths here on diamonds less than a half-mile apart. Today, the number of railroads serving Fostoria is down to two, with traffic concentrated on three high-volume main lines, but the action is busier than ever, thanks particularly to CSX's 42-percent acquisition of Conrail in 1998. Running on a Northeast-Southwest alignment is Norfolk Southern's Fostoria District between Bellevue, Ohio, and Fort Wayne, Ind., originally part of Nickel Plate's main line to Chicago. Local yards can be found on either side of the city. North of town at the Fostoria Mixing Center, Ford Motor Company vehicles are brought in by train from assembly plants and sorted by destination, in much the same way that a trucking warehouse sorts packages. Double track extends from Fostoria (east of town at the Mixing Center) to Arcadia, six miles west, where the Lima District branches off to reach Findlay and Lima. CSX's double-track Willard Subdivision, once part of Baltimore & Ohio's main line, runs East-West through Fostoria, and is the railroad's main artery for traffic moving between Chicago and the Northeast. This includes business originating on former Conrail lines serving Boston, New York City, northern New Jersey, and upstate New York, as well as traffic on the traditional B&O route from Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cumberland, and Pittsburgh. The North-South Columbus Subdivision acts as a steel conveyor belt for northward-moving coal from Kentucky and West Virginia, and is the gateway for automotive, grain, and merchandise freight trains serving Toledo, Detroit, and other points in Michigan. North of Fostoria, the line is double-track to a control point outside Walbridge yard near Toledo. South of Fostoria, stretches of single and double track alternate to Columbus. Daytime CSX local H-793 is based out of the C&O yard north of the tower, and works the Columbus Sub daily except Saturday. Four wye tracks connect the B&O/C&O diamond, which allows trains to head in any direction on either line. About half the CSX trains through Fostoria do change routes. |
An abundance of trains
While traffic levels fluctuate throughout the year, the number of trains passing through Fostoria on a given day can approach 100 or more. CSX freights outnumber NS trains by about three to one.
Norfolk Southern's 10-20 trains a day are a mix of intermodal, automotive, and merchandise freights, with a handful of unit coal and grain trains as well.
The majority of westbound trailer and stack trains run at night, in a window from about 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Eastbound volumes are heaviest in the morning, between midnight and noon. On Sunday and Monday, the number of intermodal trains drops by about a third.
Early morning yields the greatest concentration of automotive trains on CSX, most of which use the Columbus Sub north to Toledo and Michigan from points east and west. Autorack train Q222 arrives in Fostoria around midday from Toledo, and will reverse direction and enter NS trackage to reach the Fostoria Mixing Center on NS. Freight traffic on CSX is spread evenly throughout the day.
Unit coal trains abound on CSX. About three-fourths of the coal moving through Fostoria uses the Columbus Sub from Kentucky and West Virginia. In roughly equal numbers, the coal trains continue north to Lang Yard in Toledo, utilities in Michigan, and during shipping season, the Toledo Docks. A few veer west at Fostoria for destinations in Indiana and Chicago.
Here are some of the photos that I captured.
Thank you for looking. This is my first attempt to do a blog. Any comments will be appreciated. Thank you! Bud
