Eastern Railroad Discussion > Toledo Railfanning Locations

It's now official! Mrs Gumcoach has accepted a teaching position in Toledo and we will be moving to Rossford from Indiana in a couple of weeks. I'm originally from Bellevue so this will put us much closer to home but I'm not that familiar with railfanning in Toledo so I'm asking for help on the good safe areas around town. Thanks in advance!

Now that the Wales Rd overpass project at Vickers is done it's very safe & easy to park at the stub end streets down by the auto detail shop and sit & watch to your heart's content the busiest location in town. A local "railfan" out to give other railfans a bad name has been scribbling anti-railfan graffiti on signal cabinets and signs in the area. It ranges from illiterate to crude and seems to be from someone intent on ruining the hobby for others. He's been targeting me personally and more recently some other "well known" local fans for his harassment along with general messages like "F*** all railfans". It certainly brings the wrong kind of attention to this hobby.

There is also an actual park with a caboose alongside the NS main in Holland, OH on the west side of Toledo but you only get trains on that line and it's on the north side of the tracks with a big fence along much of the length of it. I've never had problems at the footbridge just west of the Amtrak station but it's not the best neighborhood. Usually I'll only hang out there when I have company or go their for a specific train. Most other locations in the Toledo area I'd consider more "go to when you know a train is coming" type of locations. Of course Deshler, Fostoria and Bellevue are all great and within an hour or less drive from Toledo and all three have safe public viewing sites at their busiest points. Feel free to ask for any further detail or information you may want.

Regards,
Michael



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/14 11:37 by MDH.

Why doesn't someone turn the guy in for vandalizing RR property? Doesn't seem too hard.

MDH Wrote:
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> Now that the Wales Rd overpass project at Vickers
> is done it's very safe & easy to park at the stub
> end streets down by the auto detail shop and sit &
> watch to your heart's content the busiest location
> in town. A local "railfan" out to give other
> railfans a bad name has been scribbling
> anti-railfan graffiti on signal cabinets and signs
> in the area. It ranges from illiterate to crude
> and seems to be from someone intent on ruining the
> hobby for others. He's been targeting me
> personally and more recently some other "well
> known" local fans for his harassment along with
> general messages like "F*** all railfans". It
> certainly brings the wrong kind of attention to
> this hobby.
>
> There is also an actual park with a caboose
> alongside the NS main in Holland, OH on the west
> side of Toledo but you only get trains on that
> line and it's on the north side of the tracks with
> a big fence along much of the length of it. I've
> never had problems at the footbridge just west of
> the Amtrak station but it's not the best
> neighborhood. Usually I'll only hang out there
> when I have company or go their for a specific
> train. Most other locations in the Toledo area
> I'd consider more "go to when you know a train is
> coming" type of locations. Of course Deshler,
> Fostoria and Bellevue are all great and within an
> hour or less drive from Toledo and all three have
> safe public viewing sites at their busiest points.
> Feel free to ask for any further detail or
> information you may want.
>
> Regards,
> Michael


Michael, how about Oak Harbor ? Steve

halfmoonharold Wrote:
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> Why doesn't someone turn the guy in for
> vandalizing RR property? Doesn't seem too hard.

Knowing who did it and proving it are two different things. The RR police (since it was signal boxes he started with) are aware of him but unless they catch him in the act they have no proof that he's doing it.

hartrick24 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Michael, how about Oak Harbor ? Steve

Oak Harbor is a nice place to hang out also. Public road right along the south side of the tracks and I've never had an issue sitting along there. Couple easy shots of the Toledo District river bridge that are also easily accessible from both sides.

Regards,
Michael

I would be funny to find it is the owner of the body shop and see him arrested by NS.

Posted from Android

GTWMISteve Wrote:
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> I would be funny to find it is the owner of the
> body shop and see him arrested by NS.

Definitely not him - the actual owner of that shop is a good guy and fan friendly. He actually tried to clean up some of that crap only to see it replaced within days.

Others here are definitely more knowledgeable than I -- in fact, in the archives you can likely find a couple threads I posted when I moved to NW Ohio from Columbus a couple years ago and asked similar questions...

I get to Toledo just occasionally, and usually while on business, so usually just have time for some quick stops. Vickers definitely seems the best place to see action, though I've not been there since all the changes. Being more a fan of towers/interlockings/signals, my new favorite spot is AA/Hallett (sp?) Tower on the north side of town -- CSX crosses the Ann Arbor;I think it's the last operating tower in the city; and at least in daylight it seems fine to part in the lot across the tracks (I avoid parking in the tower lot, just to be safe...). I'm still holding out hope that an operator will see my little gold Accord there one day and invite me up, but with them being busy and all the security rules nowadays, I'm just happy to be there...

I know others like the bridge near the Toledo station -- again, I usually don't have as much time to get out of the car, so I sometimes pull off on the road the parallels the NS main just west of the station for a few minutes.

Less busy but seemingly in a very safe place is the B&O/CSX Toledo Sub through Perrysburg and Rossford. Still a couple CPLs, and Bates Tower stands for now...

- Robbie; Defiance, OH