Eastern Railroad Discussion > Learning the CSX in Dayton....And Getting Rewarded For It!

I mentioned earlier I moved to Wright Patt after 2 years in England. Well now that I have gotten my fix of American Muscle provided by Norfolk Southern on the NS Dayton District, I wanted to expand my horizons to the west, and railfan the CSX Toledo Sub. I needed transport, but without a car for now a bike would had to do. It was a long, and tiring day with sadly not much to show, but what little was caught was rewarded handsomely. I grew up near the Joint Line in Colorado before I joined the USAF, and seeing the diversity in motion makes it feel like I never left!

I woke at 0530, ate breakfast, and biked from Wright Patt to Vandalia; it was a painful hour and a half of mugginess and mosquitoes. Once I arrived I set up for a Southbound train i knew was coming. 20 minutes later, it showed up with a nice surprise to get the day started, BNSF 5810, solo, leads a string of autoracks through the middle crossover at speed. I wondered for a second if BNSF had some sort of trackage rights but they did call out CSX Q-something, so this, i assume, is very uncommon.

The next train showed up maybe one hour later or so. CSX 8730 leads a solid string of grain hoppers southbound. I always love the Conrail era marker lights on these things! Any EMD thats not an SD70 will be a welcome sight to me!

Following close behind, as in 10 minutes behind, was CSX 938 with a mixed freight.

Some more...

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Once the parade passed, the sun started to get high, and with the high humidity, hydration of the name of the game. I relocated to another spot further south, Old Webster St crossing. Next time I'll try to avoid this place as a shooting range is nearby for police training. I would probably get sick of constantly getting asked what and why are you here. (got asked twice in 2 hours)

Anyway, the next southbound was another manifest, but with a leaser on the front, HLCX 8137 provides a hand for this CSX manifest. They would eventually dive into Dayton Yard to do a pickup, clearing the way for a Q train and a track inspector.

The next one is CSX 5372 with a Northbound Q train. This would be the last train for a while as a track inspector was following.

I headed to lunch at my sanctuary, Chick-Fil-A, and headed out again, with Downtown in mind for the Afternoon. Then...the worst luck happened, my tire got a puncture half way. With no bike shop or Wal-Mart within walking distance of my location, I had to take a taxi to one to get it fixed. This was an expensive and long setback, costing 3 hours of trackside shots. But such is life, it never goes according to plan.

Last set...

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So once my bike was fixed I was on my way to try and grab a shot that only works during specific daylight hours, the truss bridge shot on the West Side of Downtown Dayton. I arrived, and within 30 minutes of my arrival a train showed up, but in the wrong direction. However, the lead unit made this the catch of the day, Ex SP SD40M-2 NREX 2706. Back lit and in the wrong direction, but I could care less, it was still in SP paint. The last time I've seen units similar to these were in the deadline in Denver's Burnham Shop, so seeing one alive and running was...beautiful.

Last train of the day, unfortunately. Here a mixed freight with CSX 8527 in the lead roll under I-75 as it heads north. Back lit but I still got the shot.

I carried a book of codes with me to understand where these trains are going. It takes a bit of learning, but it seems alittle easier than UP or BNSF's system. I also had a pdf on my phone of the track profile to further understand the stations these trains pass. The eastern roads are a nice change from the west I'm accustomed too. If all this variety was just in Dayton than I cant wait to visit the northern NS and CSX mainlines, the mountain routes to the south, not to mention the countless shortlines. I think I'll like Ohio.

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 Hi Carlos
Nice job on learning the route and the scenic pictures
Good Job
Tom Boylan

Great bunch and effort.
JB

Hi Carlos, Ohio has a lot to offer for an avid railfan inlcuding lots of foreign power.  Many great railfan locations you'll enjoy once you get a car.  Like the scenic spots you found!

Carlos, thanks for the effort (on your bike) you went through to post these nice photos. 
John

Welcome to Ohio.
Being on a bike you may want to consider using ATCS as both the Dayton Dist and Toledo sub have really good coverage. It would allow you to see locations of trains that may not pass your location for hours and allow you to decide how long to wait or to move. For example the Toledo sub has coverage for nearly the entire subdivision between Deshler and Cincinnati.
I use a tablet computer and my smartphone for Internet so it is bike friendly.

I am originally from Dayton and used the RTA for a lot of railfanning. 

http://www.i-riderta.org/schedules/

All the RTA buses have bike racks so you can take your bike along as well. With a bike you could even get to Miamisburg by bus then bike south toward Carlisle, and Middletown. Going north Vandalia is about as far as you can get by RTA bus but without peddling the whole way there it may allow you to bike farther north.

Dayton is an often overlooked place to railfan but a good place to do so. Have fun!

Jim

Nice pics!! Thanks.....