Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS Northern Ohio Connections to Bellevue

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. There are 3 connections from the Chicago line to access Bellevue.

Oak Harbor - East bounds connection to the Toledo District; access Bellevue from the west

Sandusky - East and West connections to the Sandusky District; access Bellevue from the north

Vermilion - West bound connection to the Cleveland District; access Bellevue from the east. Under construction: east bound connection to the Cleveland District

All of these are within 60 miles of each other....how much traffic is expected to use the new connection? How much uses the others?

Thanks in advance.

-Dave
Amherst, Oh

Well lets see here:

CP 267 is the Oak Harbor connection. Trains come off the Toledo Line to go west on the Chicago Line and vice versa. Its been quite a few years since I have been there, so I cannot elaborate on that, even though thats where I started.

CP 242 is the connection for Sandusky, and even though I live here, working at Cedar Point, there are quite a few trains that use that connection. Some dont go to Bellevue though, some end up at the old triple crown facility now a transload facility. From my vantage point at CP 241.6, Ive seen 4-6 trains use that connection in the many hours on one day I spend out there. IT could be more, but I try to be out in daylight hours.

The Vermillion connection is where NS sent the Wabash last summer to Bellevue. There I am not sure of what trains use that connection either.

Michael Fair
Royal Oak, MI



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/17 19:54 by bath_wildcat.

The Vermilion connection is used by trains going into or out of the east end of Bellevue Yard, to and from places like Buffalo, Binghamton, Cleveland, and Conway.
The northeast connecting track at Sandusky seems to be used mainly by coal trains from the east that are headed to the Sandusky Dock, as well as occasional other trains traveling between points east on the Chicago Line and either the Sandusky or Fostoria districts. Certain ethanol trains that have operated via Fort Wayne, for example, use that connection to get to the Chicago Line.
The northwest connecting track at Sandusky is mainly used by westbounds out of Bellevue that have exited Bellevue Yard using the (relatively new) Potter Road connection as well as through trains coming up from Columbus like #17M, #25N and #29G. As far as I can tell, eastbound-to-southbound trains only operate via Sandusky on rare occasion. Most of them use the Oak Harbor Connection and the Toledo District via Fremont.
The Oak Harbor Connection is used by most eastbounds from Toledo to either Bellevue Yard or points south of Bellevue on the Sandusky District. Westbound trains are relatively rare, but use this routing when operationally convenient. Trains that yard at Klines Yard in Bellevue, of course, are highly likely to go this way.

Did NS ever finish and put in service the Eastbound NYC to Eastbound NKP connect at Vermilion?

Posted from Android

NYSWSD70M Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Did NS ever finish and put in service the
> Eastbound NYC to Eastbound NKP connect at
> Vermilion?
>
> Posted from Android

Was there a couple months ago and no tracks
have been laid. The switch to connect to
the water level is there but not place.

There is also a new signal.

Eddie Durnwald
Fostoria, Ohio

Thoroughbred-Ed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Was there a couple months ago and no tracks
> have been laid. The switch to connect to
> the water level is there but not place.
>
> There is also a new signal.
>
> Eddie Durnwald
> Fostoria, Ohio

Is the switch for this new connection going to be pretty close (on the NKP side) to the current connection? I know there is a road crossing the NKP right by the switch for what will be the east connection, and am wondering if the new west connection switch will be immediately west of that road crossing.

Thanks,
Tom

As of a couple weeks ago, both crossovers for the new CP223 on the Chicago Line were installed. Signal cantilevers were up. It looked like track had been layed on the connection, but not across Risden Rd yet. Neither connection switch had been installed. The switch on the NKP side will be west of Coen Rd by a few hundred feet. You can see the new eastbound signal back toward the woods. When I drove by, signal crews were installing their equipment in the bungalow. It will require some pretty extensive testing before being placed in service, what with the number of possible combinations of routes and block occupancy. I would guess maybe by mid-summer???

I've read on a rail fan forum that the new Vermilion connector between ex-NKP eastward to ex-NYC main westward will be used for Chicago-Buffalo/Southern Tier intermodals 22K/23K and 205/206? If so, does this move shorten these trains' transit times somehow?

The following were taken Wed. 4/26/17 in response to the new connection Eastbound from the Chicago line to the former NKP line.
I was last there in Nov. 2016 when site work was underway. I was told then by an NS employee there work would continue in spring 2017. And it did. All images were taken on Risden Rd just South of Rt 6. on the Chicago line looking somewhat south/southeast toward the NKP line near Coen Rd.. As you can see, track panels are stacked, a switch is laying between the double main on the East side of Risden and a group of signal personnel were also there doing something with the gate, testing it and the lights. They're not very good pictures, as I didn't venture too far away from the road berm. What's not visible in these pictures is the connection further east from the Chicago line to the NKP put in to take traffice away from the western suburbs along the NKP (Lakewood, Rocky River, Avon/Avon Lake) soon after the Conrail split. I'll post a few pictures of what I think are old NKP signals along Berkley Rd. in Vermilion in another post.
RichS

---

---

---

Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Its hard to get pictures of the new connection
from the NKP side to the water level because
its not that close to a road crossing.

Does anyone know what the NKP side of the connection will be named? The existing is named GC.

So this connection will be East bound Chicago line to Westbound NKP?

Are these to help direct traffic into the correct receiving tracks at Bellevue?

Thanks for the replies and pics.

-Dave

NKP-PRR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone know what the NKP side of the
> connection will be named? The existing is named
> GC.
>
> So this connection will be East bound Chicago line
> to Westbound NKP?
>
> Are these to help direct traffic into the correct
> receiving tracks at Bellevue?
>
> Thanks for the replies and pics.
>
> -Dave


The connection will be Eastbound Chicago line
to Eastbound NKP line. The connection that was built
when NS received their part of Conrail June 1st 1999
was Westbound Chicago line to Westbound NKP line.

Don't know what the new connection will be called.

The new connection will help move traffic from the NKP
westbound Buffalo - Cleveland line to westbound water level line.

Most will be intermodal from the NS southern tier line.

This will relieve congestion at the Cleveland connection
that was built when NS received their part of Conrail.

I don't think it will effect anything at Bellevue.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/17 09:06 by Thoroughbred-Ed.

So westbounds from the NKP will transfer to the westbound Chicago line?

Didn't think there was that much traffic on the NKP to divert. Aren't they only allowed 6-7 trains a day on that line? sorry for all the questions.

Posted from iPhone

NKP-PRR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So westbounds from the NKP will transfer to the
> westbound Chicago line?
>
> Didn't think there was that much traffic on the
> NKP to divert. Aren't they only allowed 6-7
> trains a day on that line? sorry for all the
> questions.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Sorry that I might of cause some confusion,
when I said that traffic on the NKP line will
used the new connection.

The new connection is only going to be use
for intermodel traffic coming from NS
Buffalo southern tier line.

All other traffic will not use the
connection and go into Bellevue.
As most will have to be hump and
classified.

I am sure as time goes on intermodel traffic
will continue to grow coming from NS Buffalo
Southern Tier line.

Other traffic from the Southern Tier that
are Chicago bound may also be using this connection
in the future.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/17 10:29 by Thoroughbred-Ed.

I don't think there will be any name change to the existing GC. The new connection is to allow routing flexibility, and to avoid congestion at Rockport Yard.