A former CSX employees from Fostoria has filed a lawsuit against CSX, his union and an arbitration panel that upheld his firing.
Kirk E. Knopp filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division.
CSX fired him in 2019 for violation of its social media policies. The lawsuit contends that Knopp did not violate the policy because he did not in the social media post in question mention CSX.
The post was made in May 2019 and pertained to a 21-year-old man who was killed after being struck by a train in Fostoria.
The lawsuit said the post contained a derogatory comment posted under Knopp’s name.
The National Railway Adjustment Board Special Board of Adjustment heard the case involving Knopp’s termination.
The lawsuit alleges that Knopp was told he would not have to attend the arbitration hearing and therefore he was denied an opportunity to participate and provide testimony.
Knopp also argues in his suit that the arbitration panel did not consider the harshness of his being terminated due to one violation of the CSX policy. Furthermore, Knopp argues his social media activity is protected by the First Amendment.
He is seeking reinstatement with back pay and benefits. Also named as a defendant in the lawsuit is the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
Jackson Street Tower in Fostoria (Photo courtesy of Fostoria Rail Preservation Society)
The former New York Central tower in Fostoria that once held the nation’s first centralized traffic control panel has been razed.
Trains magazine reported on its website that Jackson Street Tower was demolished as part of a program to remove old and unused structures.
The first CTC operation was installed in 1927 and controlled 40 miles of the former Toledo & Ohio Central eastern branch between Stanley Yard in Toledo and Berwick Most of the line is now abandoned.
The operator in the tower also controlled the CTC panel, which has been donated to the Smithsonian Institution.
The tower was located on the north side of Fostoria and is not to be confused with F Tower.
This nd the three photographs below illustrate the dispatching on CSX in which the Q009 passes another train west of Fostoria and then that train crosses over and proceeds westward.
Second of two parts
We arrived in Deshler to find the railroad fairly busy with east and west traffic.
There was an interesting lash-up of an un-rebuilt SD40-2 leading an un-rebuilt GE Dash 8 that had been recently reactivated from the dead line.
It was still in YN2 paint but pretty shoddy looking. Unfortunately, I did not get a photo as I had left my camera in the car.
Another westbound, this time with BNSF power and flying two small USA flags, showed up. I did get this one having learned my lesson.
Finally the Q016 came but stopped west of town. We didn’t know why but found out that North Baltimore yard was congested and he needed to wait for room.
We went to Ohio Route 65 crossing and got him there about 7 p.m. When he got underway we raced ahead to Hoytville where he again stopped.
He finally got into the yard just before 8 p.m. and the dispatcher said he didn’t have any work here today. He would just re-crew and since that crew was on duty we hoped he would quickly get underway again.
Alas those hopes were dashed by some of the strangest dispatching I have seen or heard of.
Just west of Fostoria a westbound double-stack train was stopped on Track 1. The Q009 passed him on Track 2 and crossed over to Track 1 ahead of him.
So far so good but when the other train got going it crossed over from Track 1 to Track 2 and proceeded west.
We were extremely befuddled and annoyed knowing that any hopes of getting the Q016 again in daylight were not good.
I found out later that North Baltimore was having issues with switches not working. This could be the reason why the trains were crossed over outside of Fostoria.
We continued to Fostoria and saw a garbage train turn south on the former Chesapeake & Ohio. This took a good 15-20 minutes after which we went to dinner. The Denny’s in Tiffin was the only sit-down restaurant still open.
The Q016 did come through Fostoria just after 9 p.m. and didn’t have any more delays as it headed east but our chase was over.
As we drove home through Attica we saw a signal for a southbound Norfolk Southern train.
We waited and soon heard a northbound climbing the grade with two Union Pacific engines led by another old GE Dash 8 pulled from the deadlines with about 200 cars behind it.
After he cleared, the southbound came with another almost 200-car train. This ended our day and we drove home.
A CSX train passes F Tower as it rounds the connection to go north in Fostoria on June 21, 2015. (Photograph by Craig Sanders)
June 27, 2021, was a much anticipated day.
It was the Akron Railroad Club’s longest Day outing to Fostoria to visit the “iron rriangle.”
My day began at 6 a.m. with loading my Jeep being out the door at 6:20 a.m. I was five minutes behind schedule, no big deal.
Traffic on Interstate 480 and the Ohio Turnpike was light as usual on a Sunday morning. With one pit stop at a rest area and a trip through the drive thru at McDonald’s in Fremont, I was in Fostoria at 8:15 a.m.
I was surprised to find myself as the only one there. I picked out a picnic table with a view of all three mains and made quick work of breakfast.
The radio began to scratch, a train was nearing. It turned out to be Norfolk Southern intermodel 234.
NS 7600 was in charge of a trio of horses. As 234 cleared, a CSX train was lined from the south on the former Chesapeake & Ohio to east on the former Baltimore & Ohio. This was auto rack train Q214 behind a pair of locos lead by CSX 7793.
A few minutes later NS intermodel 218 was heard entering town. I lined up my shot only to say “that’s not 218, those are coil steel cars.” NS 7691 with two trailing units passed with coil steel cars extended as far as you could see.
Sixty-one cars deep the intermodal freight that 218 would normally carry was finally coming by.
“Strange” I thought to myself.
What was even stranger was the fact that 218 stopped east of town and set out the 61 coil steel cars in the “new yard.”
Those coil cars are heading to Pro-Tec Steel in Leipsic via NS local L70 as we’ll see later.
About a half hour passed with no action. The next train at 9:29 a.m. was a CSX northbound loaded coal train. The symbol sounded like U506.
It was making track speed through the interlockings and coal dust was flying off the cars as each set of wheels pounded the diamonds. The U506 was heading to the Toledo Docks where the coal will be loaded into a lake freighter.
Next up was NS local L70. They were heading to the steel plant in Leipsic with a cut of 46 coil steel cars. For power they had NS 3067 and NS 6338.
The cars that 218 set out will most likely go to Leipsic on Monday’s L70. There must have been a shortage of cars for the plant if they used a hot intermodel train to get them to Fostoria.
Just after 10:30 a.m. a CSX eastbound turned north on the C&O. It had CSX 771 up front with three other units trailing.
This was a mixed freight. I have no idea what the symbol was; couldn’t understand a word they were saying on the radio.
Twenty minutes later, we had the first sighting of a DPU. CSX Q203 had CSX 3286 up front and CSX763 about a third of the way back on a long train of auto racks. They went from south to west.
At 11:24 a.m. NS got back into the act with the passing of westbound intermodel 217. He had a bit of a saga trying to get through town. The detector east of town at MP 275.4 reported hot wheel, axle 26 on the fireman’s side.
The CSX dispatcher had them lined across the diamonds, but they stopped before accepting the signal at the C&O diamond to check the hot wheel.
The CSX dispatcher wanted his railroad back to run a couple of his own trains. He gave the NS train the diamonds because they were short and moving right along. After some three-way radio conversations among the CSX dispatcher, the NS trainmaster and the 217’s crew, it was decided the 217 would proceed through town and then stop and inspect the hot wheel.
CSX indeed had trains to run. For the next hour, six CSX trains passed. Leading the way was Q166, the CP run-through. CP 8724 was leading with CP 7044 in the middle. They go straight east on the former B&O.
Right on the heels of Q166 was CSX double stack Q158. It was lead by CSX 63 and one additional unit.
Southbound empty hopper train U501 went south a few minutes after Q158 cleared.
Next up was CSX westbound doubles tack Q157. It had CSX 3011 up front with CSX 3067 splitting the double stacks from a cut of auto racks.
One of the hottest trains on the railroad, CSX Q010 was next, heading east on the B&O at 12:16 p.m. He had CSX 817 and one additional unit up front with CSX 3223 in the middle.
CSX Q150 ended the flurry as it went from east to north. Its destination is Detroit. It was lead by CSX 423 and one additional unit.
While the CSX flurry was going on NS had a train that had worked in the yard for a while and was ready to head west. The 13Q had called their dispatcher and wanted an update as to when they were going to be moving west.
“CSX says he’ll take you as soon as a window opens up for you.”
When 13Q finally got the signal to proceed, we found out why CSX was reluctant to take the train across their diamonds. The 13Q was HUGE. Coming out the yard onto the main at restricted speed it went by for 25 minutes!
It only held up one CSX train. The Q151 was coming south and looking to go west toward North Baltimore.
As Q151 cleared the skies were darkening and rain looked imminent. I went into the restroom and then was hoping to make it back to the Jeep before the rains hit. No luck.
The skies opened up and a huge downpour was underway. Inside the restroom it sounded like someone pounding on the door. I stayed put until the rain let up a bit and I made a dash out the door to the other side of the building out of the wind and rain.
Interestingly, both CSX and NS at this time had gone quiet. It was radio silence for now.
When the rain finally let up enough that I could head to the Jeep, I decided now might be a good time for lunch. It was about 1:45 p.m. and my snacks that I brought with me can only hold you so long.
It was off to Arby’s, the closest fast food to the park. I was back in no time; no line at the drive thru at this time of the afternoon.
I ate in the car. It was still radio silence. They couldn’t be done running trains for the day, could they?
It was an hour and a half between trains. CSX Q358 finally broke the dry spell (trains not rain) at 2:44 p.m. as it passed behind CSX 5467 and one additional.
NS was next with the return of local L70 about ten minutes behind the Q358. It was only a few more minutes when a northbound CSX grain train came past on the C&O. It carried symbol G326 and was lead by CSX 384.
About 45 minutes passed before our next move. This was an ethanol train that came into town eastbound and turned south on the C&O. It was lead by a pair of CP GE’s. The leader was CP 8957.
CSX was next, as they took out the trash, sort of. Earlier in the day CSX 5329 running as local H792 tied on to some garbage cars and headed south to the garbage dump. They set out the cut that they took down and came back with 75 empties. They took the empties around the southeast wye and left them in the B&O east siding.
While they did this CSX Q169 double stacker came by westbound. CSX 9010 was today’s leader of a short train.
Q635 was approaching on Main 2 with more garbage cars to set out for the dump south of town. The H792 returned light to the yard on the C&O side to wait for Q635’s set out. They would take them south before calling it a day.
Q635 had CSX 3266 up front. It had garbage cars up front, some mixed freight in the middle and more garbage on the rear.
While they tied up the southeast connection to make their set out, CSX Q201 came around the northwest connection traveling from south to west. It had CSX 47 doing a solo.
It was now after 6 p.m. Several more cars of fans were arriving. The big news of the day was CSX Q016 had CSX 3194 on the lead.
CSX 3194 is painted up in a blue and black scheme to “Honor Our Law Enforcement.”
I wondered if it would make it before dark. It had left Chicago in late morning and they had to change crews at North Baltimore. All we could do was wait and see.
CSX Q555 was next. This is a Collinwood to Cincinnati train. It had CSX 409 and 888 up front pulling a cut of steel slabs followed by some mixed freight.
On the heels of the Q555 was coke train K182. It had CSX 354 and 562 up front.
With the diamonds clear of CSX action, the CSX dispatcher let NS have the rails for one each way. The 15Q behind NS 3618 passed at 7:06 p.m. As his last cars were disappearing around the curve on their way out of town, NS 12Q came into view with four ponies up from with NS 1142 as the leader.
My last train of the day was CSX Q370 at 7:26 p.m. This mixed freight was lead by CSX 988 and CSX 110.
I didn’t leave at this point. I stayed at the park until 8:45 p.m. hoping to catch the CSX 3194 before dark. I also was concerned about the prospects of finding something to eat this late in the day. Some restaurants have been closing earlier than usual due to the shortage of workers.
I missed the CSX 3194 by about a half hour. It went by about 9:15. I watched the play back of the action from Sunday on the Fostoria Rail Cam Monday morning before leaving for work. I also missed one westbound intermodel on CSX that passed just before the CSX 3194 came by.
Oh, well, maybe next time, when things get more back to normal.
For those keeping score with me, I totaled 30 movements in 12 and a half hours. The only foreign power leading were the CPs on Q166 and the ethanol train.
I was surprised to see as much action on the C&O south of Fostoria as I did. The last time I spent a day at Marion, my train count on the C&O was zero.
I’m already looking forward to next year’s Longest Day. Where are we headed?
The Akron Railroad Club will meet this Friday at 8 p.m. at the New Horizons Christian Church in Akron.
It will be the club’s first monthly meeting since February 2020.
Club President Todd Dillion will present a digital program titled Off the Beaten Path: Railfanning in the Era of COVID.
It will feature images of U.S. Sugar railroad operations in Florida, Tampa Bay trolleys and CSX tribute locomotives 911 (Spirit of our First Responders), 1776 (Spirit of the Armed Forces) and 3194 (Spirit of Law Enforcement).
The program will focus on Todd’s travels between Ohio and Florida.
The club will be having its annual longest day event on June 27 at the Iron Triangle RailPark in Fostoria.
Club members and their guests will spend the day watching and photographing trains on CSX and Norfolk Southern mainlines that pass through Fostoria.
The park is located within the “iron triangle” of the three rail lines.
As always, the event begins when the first member arrives and ends when the last one leaves.
A CSX conducted was killed Sunday morning after a tree fell on his train during a shove move.
Details about the accident are sketchy, but an online report said it occurred at 7:38 a.m.
CSX confirmed in an email statement to The Blade of Toledo that the employee had been killed but did not elaborate on how it happened or name the worker.
The statement did say the death remained under investigation.
The Blade also said that local law enforcement agencies declined to provide information about the accident.
The online report indicated that the tree fell on the conductor, who was riding the rear car during the shove move in the yard. The tree reportedly impaled the worker.
The Forest City Division of the Railroad Enthusiasts will hold an outing in Fostoria on Aug. 8.
The event at the Iron Triangle Rail Park will replace the traditional August picnic. The Cleveland-based railfan group will not have an August meeting.
The event will begin when the first person arrives and end when the last person leaves.
Fostoria is the crossing of two CSX lines and a Norfolk Southern route.
Earlier this summer the RRE had an outing at the railfan park in Bellevue. It’s next scheduled meeting will be on Sept. 11 subject to further developments during the COVID-19 pandemic relating to social distancing and group gatherings.
Railfan photographers tend to pay scant attention to the details of railroading.
The typical photograph shows the lead locomotive of a train with, perhaps, at least some of the freight or passenger cars following it.
But less often does the photographer zoom in on the intricate details of the equipment.
There is much to see and study in images that zero in on the elements of railroads.
Such is the case with this image of the wheels of a Canadian Pacific AC44CW banging the diamonds of the crossing of the CSX Pemberville Subdivision with the Fostoria District of Norfolk Southern.
Everything in the image is a uniform shade of brown, but there is much detail to examine in the track and locomotive trucks.
Such detail might be lost on trackside observers, but a breakdown of one of those components could disrupt a railroad’s operations.
A former Burlington Northern “Grinstein” unit looking good aside from some exterior dirt leads train 234 through Fostoria during the Akron Railroad Club’s longest day outing.
Fostoria was as good as advertised last Sunday in terms of rail traffic as a thin crowd of Akron Railroad Club members turned out to watch trains at one of Ohio’s busiest railroad junctions.
Between 8:45 a.m. and 4:35 p.m., 36 trains rumbled past the Iron Triangle Railfan Park while at least one ARRC member was present.
Marty Surdyk and his brother Robert were the first to arrive, pulling in at 8:45 a.m.
One minute later they logged their first train, an eastbound manifest freight on Norfolk Southern.
Rick Houck arrived later as did ARRC President Craig Sanders. That was the extent of ARRC participation.
The day featured good weather that was not too hot, not too cool and not too humid.
But there were quite a few clouds and the often 50-50 sky conditions meant that the Surdyk brothers, both of them confirmed film users, often watched a train pass by with a shrug of WWTF because of the shadows cast by the clouds.
For those who are unfamiliar with the term WWTF it doesn’t incorporate in part the phrase “what the” but instead means “why waste the film.”
Traffic was fairly steady through Fostoria during the time that ARRC members were on hand. The longest lull was about a half-hour.
Not surprisingly, most of the trains belonged to CSX. Fostoria is the crossing of former Baltimore & Ohio and Chesapeake & Ohio mainlines with the ex-B&O handling most CSX traffic between the Midwest and Atlantic Coast.
CSX put 22 trains through Fostoria, using all of the connecting tracks between the ex-B&O and ex-C&O.
The vast majority of traffic on the ex-C&O was going to or coming from the ex-B&O with most of it taking the ex-C&O north of town.
Just one train made a straight move through town on the ex-C&O, a southbound (railroad eastbound) grain train that featured some of the most weathered covered hopper cars you will ever see.
No trains came into Fostoria from the south on the ex-C&O other than the yard job’s motive power, which was turning its locomotive to face a different direction.
It was a good day to see foreign motive power with units from Union Pacific, BNSF, Canadian Pacific and Canadian National leading trains past the railfan park.
An eastbound NS stack train, the 234, came in with a former Burlington Northern “Grinstein” unit, which is now owned by a locomotive leasing company Progress Rail. But no NS heritage units made an appearance.
CSX eastbound intermodal train Q010 had as its second unit a Chessie System sticker unit No. 7765. It looked like an oversized bumper sticker.
Traffic was a mixture of intermodal, manifest freight, auto racks and tank car trains. Noticeably absent were coal trains.
Throughout the day Robert Surdyk was monitoring the progress of the NS executive train, which had left Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 8:30 a.m. en route to Chicago.
About 5 p.m., Robert, Marty and Craig decided to head north to Oak Harbor to intercept and photograph the NS F units.
And with that the longest day shifted for another two hours to a new location.
The Q507 was another one-hit wonder, albeit a colorful one.
I took 18 minutes for auto rack train Q253 to round the curve from the ex-B&O to the ex-C&O.
A mother and her son eye an NS light power move.
NS westbound train 11Q had a load of tank cars.
Grain train E781 was the only move straight through town on the former C&O. It is shown crossing Columbus Street.
NS train 10E comes around the curve with a brace of Union Pacific motive power.
The newest addition to the railfan park is a former B&O caboose.
The Chessie System sticket on the nose of CSX No. 7765.
It will be the club’s first monthly meeting since February 2020.
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