Eastern Railroad Discussion > Former CCC&StL Mainline Traffic Levels

So recently I've been kind of curious as to how traffic levels are currently on the Ex NYC/Big Four main to Indianapolis and St Louis. I know that between Olmsted Falls, OH and Greenwich, OH , the line is really busy and is a part of CSX's Chicago to Selkirk corridor, and I know that most of that traffic diverges off/onto the Ex B&O once at Greenwich and the rest of the traffic needing to go southwest continues past Greenwich and trafic splits off even further just past Galion, but I'm sort of curious as to how much of traffic is kept on the line the rest of the way to Indianapolis and St Louis. I've been thinking about giving the line a try mainly around western Ohio between Bellefontaine and Union City, but I'm wanting to make sure I'm not throwing myself into a situation where I have high expectations and by the time I'm actually there, those expectations shatter and I end up regreting it.

The Indianapolis Line Sub sees about 15 trains a day between Union City and Sidney. Traffic is a bit busier between Sidney and Bellefontaine. At Sidney, the Toledo Sub runs under the Indianapolis Line Sub with a connector on the southeast quadrant. The following list are the scheduled trains on the line.

Q007 Cleveland, OH - East St Louis, IL
Q008 East St Louis, IL - Little Ferry, NJ
Q106 East St Louis, IL (KCS) - Marion, OH
Q107 Marion, OH - East St Louis, IL (KCS)
L119 Worcester, MA - Rose Lake, IL
*runs 1x a week
Q131 Detroit, MI - Salem, IL (UP)
Q132 Salem, IL (UP) - Detroit, MI
Q142 Salem, IL (UP) - Detroit, MI
*runs 1x a week
Q207 Pottersburg, OH - Louisville, KY
*between Sidney and Bellefontaine
Q222 Gabbettville, GA - Marion, OH
*between Sidney and Bellefontaine.  Runs as needed.
Q225 Selkirk, NY - Cincinnati, OH
*between Sidney and Bellefontaine. Runs as needed
Q226 Louisville, KY - Baltimore, MD
Q255 Connellsville, PA - Cincinnati, OH
*between Sidney and Bellefontaine. Runs as needed
Q254 Louisville, KY - Doremus, NJ
*between Sidney and Bellefontaine
Q259 Connellsville, PA - Louisville, KY
*between Sidney and Bellefontaine
Q268 Louisville, KY - Cleveland, OH
*between Sidney and Bellefontaine
Q296 Louisville, KY - Philadelphia, PA
Q218 Avon, IN - Toledo, OH
Q219 Toledo, OH - Avon, IN
Q245 Cumberland, MD - Evansville, IN
Q260 Avon, IN - Selkirk, NY
Q348 Avon, IN - Willard, OH
Q349 Willard, OH - Avon, IN
Q358 Avon, IN - Cumberland, MD

Andrew

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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/16 06:04 by florida581.

Best time for the Indy in western Ohio is Dawn till around 10am. You might see 4-6 in the time frame. Afternoons can be very dead with 4-5 hours without a train. Q007 in early morning WB-usually before full daylight this time of year. Q008 usually passes Sidney 10am -12pm daily.
East of Sidney would be your best chance of a decent day.
With lighter traffic and mostly all double track means trains make good time and there is little chance of congestion. It can get a bit congested if train stalls on Bellefontaine hill and needs a push over the top. Also you may see the last few ore trains from Magination plant the run around their train between Sidney and Quincy and go down the connection. (Reverse is true for empties) That usually ties up the railroad for a few hours and can cause some congestion in the area.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/16 06:43 by howeld.

So if I'm understanding this correctly, would Sidney probably be the best place to be around if I wanted to see most everything that runs around this segment of the Indy Line?

Yes. There is the old train depot on the Indy line that is a decent place to sit and wait. You can see the connection and signals are visible for any EB moves. They light up usually 20-40 mins before a train arrives. Also a closed (to cars) road bridge over the tracks that is a decent photo location.

Also the Toledo sub is a short drive up the road if you hear anything on that railroad.

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The Indiana & Ohio crosses at Quincy. They run a southbound Mon-Fri that I've seen at Quincy 1-2 PM.   It turns at Tremont City and heads back to Lima.  Also at Union City is a fomer NYC interlocking tower and former PRR depot..  

Per a friend's report since 6:30am this morning (Monday) there have been 3 EB / one WB / 3 trains on the Connection track to the Toledo sub at Sidney.

Posted from iPhone

My Iphone does not show the time of T.O. replys, what was the time of your reply? Thanks.

howeld Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Per a friend's report since 6:30am this morning
> (Monday) there have been 3 EB / one WB / 3 trains
> on the Connection track to the Toledo sub at
> Sidney.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Time of post would be a wonderful change to the moble template.

Around 8:30 was last update from my friend. He also said there were a total of 5 trains that used the connection between 2am and 8:30am.

Posted from iPhone

Interesting. I saw some railroad cross the Big Four at Quincy on a map but I didn't know exactly what it was. Anyone mind giving me a little background info and history on the Indiana & Ohio's line through Quincy? I'm not too familiar with the area and I'm still trying to figure out what runs where, so forgive me for my lack of knowledge.

Posted from Android

The North south line at Quincy is the I&O a G&W railroad. Long ago it was the Detroit Toledo and Ironton. As the other poster stated, they run a local turn south out of Lima. No other regular traffic. I've caught them a few times around lunch time in Quincy. 161.220 on your radio for I&O. 160.800 road and 160.6800 dispatch on CSX. 160.230 road 160.290 dispatch for Toledo Sub. ATCS is in use on the Toldeo Sub and CPL signals north of town. Defect Detector on Toledo sub is south of Sidney at MP94.9

Quincy isn't a bad place to hang out. More out in the country so it easier to move around than Sidney where you blow 10-15mins just getting out of town. Signals and double cross overs are CP 153 on each side of diamond. Sidney is Cp 163 - single cross over west of connection.
Talking Defect detectors you may hear if you have a good scanner are184.5 (Dawn) / 169.1 (Hardon) / 159.5 (Pemperton) / 149.8 (De Graff) / 134.8 (Harper-other side of Bellefontaine hill so usually don't hear that one. Track 1 is the South (usually EB movements) and 2 is the North track usually for WB.

The climb to Bellefontaine hill starts around De Graff and crests a few miles east of CP 138 (where SR 33 crosses tracks at Bellefountaine). If you see any long EB trains that can't make more than about 25mph between Sidney and Quincy then there is a good chance it may stall on the hill.

There is a tall bridge on the I&O just north of Quincy but it is completely treed in this time of year.

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CSX decided to run the Indy to Cincy trains Q360 and Q361 via Sidney connection last night. Q361came up the connection and was was followed by K505. Both of these trains have to run around their power and head back west. To add to the fun Q360 arrived from the west and also needed to run around to go south. All three were sent to Ridgeway to Y their trains and return.

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