ORDC Awarding Grants for Rail Projects

The Ohio Rail Development Commission this week announced it is awarding five grants totaling $2 million for rail development projects.

The Indiana & Ohio will receive $614,456 to rehabilitate its Midland Subdivision. The work will involve installing a crossover near Oakley Yard in Cincinnati and making improvements to Midland Yard in Clinton County.

The Oakley Yard project involves installing a crossover to be used to pick up staged cars on the mainline without moving the entire consist.

At Midland the work involves removing out-of-service tracks and switches and replacing them with new tracks and switches. The short line is matching the grant dollar-for-dollar for a total of $1,228,912.

The Ashland Railway will receive $613,898 to rebuild and replace five turnouts. Other work includes tie replacement, ballast installation and surfacing work. The Ashland is matching the grant dollar-for-dollar for a total investment of $1,227,796.

P&G Manufacturing will get $400,000 to expand its Bath Township manufacturing facility where it plans to invest more than $500 million and hire 135 new employees after the project is completed. P&G is a customer of the Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern Railroad and needs additional on-site rail infrastructure to serve the new facility, ORDC officials said.

The Wheeling & Lake Erie will receive $250,000 for a project to rehabilitate a swing bridge over the Maumee River in Toledo.

The 19th-century bridge’s mechanical system has outlived its useful life and railroad officials said it would become unusable if the end lift and braking systems are not upgraded.

The W&LE is matching the grant dollar-for-dollar for a total investment of $500,000.

Behr Process Corporation will receive $100,000 to improve on-site rail infrastructure ahead of a new 50-acre planned facility in Heath.

ORDC officials said the new facility comprises an investment of $80 million and the creation of 90 new jobs over the next three years for the manufacturing and distribution of paint products. The rail infrastructure is currently not in the proper condition to service the facility, ORDC officials said.

Behr is a subsidiary of Masco Corp. and is one of the largest North American manufacturers of paints, primers, stains and other surface products.

Catching Up With the Ashland

On Monday I chased the Ashland Railway train from Willard to Shelby. The motive power was 9166, a NW2R, and 2022 and 2023, both GP38-2s .

I got it at Willard at either milepost zero or 294 depending on what subdivision you are on.

I also photographed the train passing the old Baltimore & Ohio station at Plymouth and a bridge south of town.

Finally, I caught it passing the old power plant at Shelby Ohio.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

Ashland Gets Grant for Yard Expansion, Track Work

The Ashland Railway has received a grant from the Ohio Rail Development Commission to expand its yard in Mansfield.

The $735,882 grant will also be use for track repair on its route to Willard.

The $1.4 project involves installation of about 3,000 feet of new track and seven turnouts; ultrasonic rail flaw detection on 23 miles of the Willard line; and replacement of rail identified as defective by the rail test.

The RDC said in a news release the project calls for reconnecting stub-ended tracks and extending several yard tracks to improve the efficiency of rail-car switching and blocking, as well as increasing usable car storage.

The work will increase capacity of the yard by 80 rail cars.

“The yard rehab project will add much needed carload space, which will allow Ashland Railway to overcome a capacity problem that has been an issue in the past,” said Bob Thompson, an ASRY roadmaster.

New Signals Set for Shelby Diamond

New block signals have been placed at the diamonds in Shelby where the CSX Greenwich Subdivision (former Big Four) crosses the Ashland Railway (former Baltimore & Ohio).

A field report said that the signals are in place but bags are still over the signal heads.

They are slated to replace color position light signals on the Ashland and former New York Central-style signals on CSX.

There it Was Just Sitting There

After reading an online report as to the whereabouts of Norfolk Southern 8105, the Interstate heritage locomotive, I decided to make a detour last Saturday on my way to Marion to give a presentation to the railfan society there.

The 8105 was reported to be sitting in Willard since Thursday on the Ashland Railway after coming off CSX as train K525.

Reportedly, the train would leave for Mansfield on Sunday morning to be loaded at AK Steel before returning to be interchanged to CSX.

But on Saturday I found the 8105 and its train snoozing near the Willard hospital and behind an R.R. Donnelley plant.

Photographs by Craig Sanders

NS Interstate H Unit Runs on the Ashland

Of late the Ashland Railway has been running coil steel trains between CSX at Willard to AK Steel at Mansfield.  This train has been using Norfolk Southern power instead of the Ashland’s own locomotives.

Last Sunday, the NS Interstate heritage unit led this train from Willard.  I tried chasing but due to a late start I only got the train coming into Mansfield.

It delivered its train of empties to the mill and tied down.  According to another fan it was expected to return to Willard on Monday.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon