The Akron Railroad Club’s annual longest day outing will be held this year in Ravenna.
The outing on Sunday, June 26 will feature trains on the Cleveland Line of Norfolk Southern and the New Castle Subdivision of CSX. The NS tracks cross over CSX in Ravenna on a bridge.
Attendees will observe the action at Diamond Street, Lake Street and other points nearby.
Some members plan to have breakfast that morning at Megan’s Family Restaurant at 266 W. Main St. in Ravenna.
The Ravenna outing is a first for the ARRC. Previous longest day outings have been held in Alliance, Bellevue, Marion, Fostoria and Deshler.
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?
Although it won’t be holding a meeting this month, the Akron Railroad Club plans to hold its annual longest day outing on June 28.
This outing this year will be held in Alliance. Attendees are asked to meet at the Lincoln Monument located at the west end of the Alliance station parking lot, preferably between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.
The plans are to have Alliance serve as a central meeting point with attendees exchanging cell phone numbers to establish a communications network.
Attendees can then stay in Alliance or set up at such locations as Rootstown, Ravenna, Sebring, Salem or East Palestine and communicate train movements by cell phone.
At the end of the day the attendees still present will meet for dinner in Salem or Alliance.
The ARRC officers are discussing holding a Dave McKay outing on Aug. 1 in Berea.
The McKay Day outing had originally been scheduled for early May but was officially canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, some ARRC members attended an unofficial McKay Day outing in Berea on the original date.
The Aug. 1 date was chosen because it is two days before what would have been Dave’s 77th birthday.
The ARRC is still unsure if it will be able to hold a July meeting as it has not yet been cleared by the New Horizons Christian Church to resume meeting there.
The club had not met or had an official event since February.
The Akron Railroad Club has announced that it plans to hold its annual longest day outing on June 28 in Alliance.
The group will meet between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. by the Lincoln monument located just west of the former passenger station platform.
Attendees of the event will be encouraged to exchange cell phone numbers and then spread out to area locations, including Rootstown, Ravenna, Sebring, Salem or East Palestine and report train movements from their location by cell phone.
The plan is to get the same trains in different locations and share photographs of those trains during the member’s night and pizza party planned for Oct. 24.
Those attending the longest day outing will meet in Salem or Alliance that evening for dinner at a restaurant to be determined.
The longest day outing is a traditional ARRC event that is typically held at an Ohio railfan hotspot.
Past longest days have been held in Marion, Fostoria, Deshler and Bellevue.
There has been consideration given to holding the 2020 longest day in the Pittsburgh region in an effort to encourage greater participation, which has lagged in recent years.
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.
A westbound CSX container train rolls through Fostoria in a view capture from an overpass on the west edge of town. The train will probably work at the intermodal facility west of North Baltimore.
Seven Akron Railroad Club members make the trek to Fostoria on Sunday for the club’s 2012 longest day outing. Club president Craig Sanders was the first to arrive at 9 a.m. Also enjoying the outing were Paul Woodring, Rick Houk, Marty Surdyk, Todd Vander Sluis, Eli Akerib and Bill Kubas.
All seven stuck it out until calling it a day just after 7:30 p.m. Although the train total for the day is still being calculated, we estimated we saw or heard on the radio about 50 trains. There were few lulls and they did not last long.
Foreign power was sparse, limited to two CSX trains with BNSF power and the eastbound salad bowl train with perishable produce that interchanges between Union Pacific and CSX in Chicago and carries UP power.
Perhaps the sighting of the day was a former Santa Fe caboose on the rear of Q383, an eastbound manifest freight that came through at 10:15 a.m. The caboose, now owned by a Massachusetts group, still wore its Santa Fe colors and markings.
Otherwise, the day had the usual array of freight trains that can been seen in the Iron Triangle, including manifest freights, intermodals, auto racks, and coal and grain trains on CSX and Norfolk Southern.
All seven members present enjoyed dinner at the Bob Evans restaurant in Fostoria. Having been out in the heat most of the day, we kept the server busy bringing the water pitcher over to our table for refills.
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