August 26th, 2007
After the last of the wedding celebrations in Ann Arbor, we headed for Toledo, Ohio in the afternoon and then to Alliance, Ohio to meet a friend in the evening. We found a lot of interesting stuff, mostly parked, in Toledo in the two hours or so we were there, and caught a Wheeling and Lake Erie train parked under the Interstate 80 overpass, which caused us to jump off the next exit and backtrack, in the town of Parkertown, Ohio.
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is a relatively large city on the Ohio-Michigan border at the western tip of Lake Erie, boasting several large yards and industries as well as the Ann Arbor railway shops.
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Two units head through Toledo light power.
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A pair of green FURX units leads a rack train out of Toledo.
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Four units, including CSXT 8888, move light power into Toledo Stanley Yard.
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A long CSX manifest freight leaves Toledo.
Parkertown, Ohio
Parkertown is a siding under Interstate 80 on an NS line where the Wheeling and Lake Erie has operating rights. It is between Sandusky and Bellevue.
December 26th, 2019
Leaving family near Buffalo, we continued westward, stopping for three eastbounds at the museum at North East. We found the Bessemer and Lake Erie with a rare BLE leader in the yard in Conneaut but could not get a good shot from the one forested vantage we found across the valley, and finished the day with a stop at the Napoleon, Defiance & Western Railroad, a railroad with the dubious distinction of being known for its rather exceptional lack of maintenance.
Conneaut, Ohio
Steve told me I needed to check Conneaut -- and you do too. It is an interesting town on the south shore of Lake Erie which is not easy to explore but has plenty to see if you are willing to go down small single lane roads to their ends.
Napolean, Ohio
Napolean is the northern limit of the Napolean, Defiance, and Western Railroad. Chasing this line is relatively easy -- even on foot.
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We went looking for parked Napoleon, Defiance & Western Railroad power after hours and stumbled across their local still at work in Napolean, catching it gingerly inching over the worst tracks I have ever seen at twilight.