“Oh, yeah, I’ve photographed there . . . and there . . . and there . . . and there!”
If you’ve spent any amount of time photographing Ohio railroad operations you’ll find yourself saying that to yourself as you leaf through the August 2020 issue of Trains magazine.
And if you like railfanning in Ohio you’ll love the issue when it arrives in your mailbox late this month or you buy it where magazine are sold once it goes on sale on July 14.
Trains devoted most of the content of the August issue to Ohio, which it deems the heart of Midwestern railroading.
The coverage starts with an historic overview of Ohio as a crossroads for major railroad lines that was written by H. Roger Grant.
There are features articles about Cincinnati Union Terminal, how former Conrail lines fared after they were split by Norfolk Southern and CSX, and a look at how the former Detroit, Toledo & Ironton has managed to survive after losing much of its traditional sources of freight traffic.
The images illustrating the articles and a gallery of Ohio photographs feature work by well-known Buckeye state photographers David Oroszi, David Patch, Michael Harding and Matt Arnold.
Other photographers whose names you might recognize also contributed images from various locations in the state, many of which will look familiar to you.
The issue was overseen by former Ohioan Brian Schmidt, now an associate editor at Trains, and who supplied several photographs including the cover image of a CSX train rounding the north to east connection at Deshler past the iconic Baltimore & Ohio color position light signals.
Grant’s story is illustrated with historic photographs featuring railroads large and small.
Although Northeast Ohio didn’t rate a story of its own, it’s not ignored. Cleveland’s role as the epicenter of the Conrail X features prominently in Bill Stephens’ article about the Conrail split.
Editor- in-chief Jim Wrinn gives a shout out to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek and the various hot spots of Fostoria, Deshler and Marion.
But he said his favorite place to hang out in Ohio is Berea.
He correctly notes that there is so much railroading in Ohio that one issue hardly does it justice. But it does provide a good overview that will resonate with those familiar with Ohio railroads and their history.
Throw in two In My Own Words pieces about a double-saw meet on the Norfolk & Western in Northwest Ohio, and how a 12-year-old used to get to Deshler and a piece on how to railran the Napolean, Defiance & Western and you have an issue that you’ll want to spend hours enjoying.
Oh, there is one other name in the issue you might recognize. I wrote the story about the I&O that begins on Page 30.
It was fun to be a part of contributing to a special issue about a place I’ve gotten to know so well in the past 26 years.
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