Eastern Railroad Discussion > Traffic levels, Central Kentucky.

I was just wondering the difference in traffic levels between the NS on the CNO&TP, and the CSX line that runs through Berea, KY?

NS' line is by far busier than CSX's.  Unfortunately, traffic is down everywhere.  Between Danville, KY and Harriman Junction, TN, the busiest segment of the CNO&TP, there's an average of 24.4 trains in a 24-hour period.

•scheduled trains
122 Chattanooga, TN - Decatur, IL daily
123 East Decatur, IL - Chattanooga, TN daily
142 Chattanooga, TN - Elkhart, IN daily
143 Elkhart, IN - Chattanooga, TN daily
170 Chattanooga, TN - Conway, PA daily
171 Conway, PA - Chattanooga, TN daily
174 Macon, GA - Elkhart, IN daily
178 Birmingham, AL - Bellevue, OH daily
179 Bellevue, OH - Birmingham, AL daily
188 East Point, GA - Detroit Oakwood, MI daily
189 Detroit Oakwood, MI - East Point, GA daily
200 Chattanooga, TN - Chicago Colehour, IL daily
215 Chicago Calumet, IL - Atlanta, GA daily
216 Atlanta, GA - Chicago Calumet, IL daily
22A Norfolk, VA - Louisville, KY daily
223 Kansas City, MO - East Point, GA daily
224 Jacksonville Westlake, FL - Kansas City, MO daily
229 Chicago Landers, IL - Jacksonville, FL daily
23G Louisville, KY - Norfolk, VA daily 
25A Chicago Calumet, IL - Chattanooga, TN daily
282 Jacksonville, FL - Chicago Landers, IL daily

•unit / extras trains (within the past 30 days of 10/20/21)
70 grain
13 steel
8 coal
8 ethanol 
4 empty autorack repositions
Total: 103 (3.4 a day average)


CSX only schedules two daily road trains over the line:

Q541 Cincinnati, OH - Waycross, GA daily
Q542 Waycross, GA - Cincinnati, OH daily

There's also a handful of locals sprinkled here and there.  Unit train traffic isn't very heavy nowadays either.  Although the line is scenic, a lot of waiting will be required.

Andrew

The CC Sub isn't super difficult to chase. US 27 from Covington KY, KY 627 from Paris south, then back on I-75 to go farther south. The speeds must be down to 40 in many places now so you won't get every possible location but you can pick and chose. I have done it once years ago and one time this Spring. The major hangup is Paris KY, you can beat the train there from Cynthiana but it's easy to get lost in Paris. There has been a GALX coal train that shows up at any time. One idea would be to hang out around the approaches to Ohio River south of Queensgate Yard or at KC Junction in Covington KY and wait until something goes south then for several hours drive like Hell! 

You really don't have to drive like Hell though, depending on what you want. I got pictures in Falmouth, Cynthiana, could have done Paris if I had went to the right place, Winchester, and Berea with ample time to set up at each location. Falmouth and Cynthiana both have multiple places and angles for photography. I scouted Paris returning home and the best shot by far is Winchester Ave, which is KY 627 that goes to Winchester. North of the South Fork of the Licking River is more or less inaccessible. Winchester has a lot of areas that would be good for pictures north of Patio. The area around Patio is more or less inaccessible without trespassing or obscured scenes. What I do NOT know is if you could beat the train from Winchester to the tunnels just up from where KY 388 crosses on the east side of the Otter Creek. Richmond is pretty wide open in a lot of places and Berea has some opportunity, I chose shooting it going under the US 25 overpass / tunnel. I hope this helps some. 

Have Fun!

Jim

Edit: forgot the word NOT relating to getting to the tunnels.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/21 18:28 by tq-07fan.

Another great list Andrew, thanks. Sad this line has dropped in half (like UP's triple-track) in such a short time, since it used to average over 50 trains a day and high days had 60 or more...

JG

Since the Danville-Harriman Jct. segment is the busiest portion of the CNO&TP, we can look at Andrew's list and get a pretty good idea of the traffic on the NS lines that feed into that segment. 

Living in Central Indiana, I have a strong interest in traffic on the NS New Castle District.  Andrew's list includes 13 trains that also cover the portion of the New Castle between Muncie and Cincinnati.  I also suspect that a fairly decent number of those 103 unit trains from the past 30 days also used the south end of the New Castle District.  On the other hand, I noticed only one mixed freight south from Elkhart, as opposed to two such trains north.  Perhaps some of that traffic heads east to Bellevue before moving south on 179.  

I cannot think of any New Castle District trains that currently miss running across the Danville-Harriman Jct. segment, such as a train that might originate or terminate at Cincinnati or Danville.  (From time to time, I've heard spotty reports that either NS 196 or 197 had returned.)  On the other hand, over on the Dayton District, doesn't NS still run 375 / 376 between Columbus and Louisville (and beyond Louisville in these PSR days)?  Whatever happened to 111 / 112, and 167 / 168, all of which had been regulars on the Louisville-East St. Louis line? 

Also please don't forget the R.J. Corman ingot trains that use the CSX Corbin Line between Winchester and Berea. 
 

      



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/21 07:31 by inrdjlg.

inrdjlg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Living in Central Indiana, I have a strong
> interest in traffic on the NS New Castle
> District.  Andrew's list includes 13 trains
> that also cover the portion of the New Castle
> between Muncie and Cincinnati.  I also suspect
> that a fairly decent number of those 103 unit
> trains from the past 30 days also used the south
> end of the New Castle District.  On the other
> hand, I noticed only one mixed freight south from
> Elkhart, as opposed to two such trains north. 
> Perhaps some of that traffic heads east to
> Bellevue before moving south on 179.  

> I cannot think of any New Castle District trains
> that currently miss running across the
> Danville-Harriman Jct. segment, such as a train
> that might originate or terminate at Cincinnati or
> Danville.  (From time to time, I've heard spotty
> reports that either NS 196 or 197 had
> returned.)  


The New Castle District is averaging 16.5 road trains in a 24-hr period.
 
•scheduled trains 
122 Chattanooga, TN - Decatur, IL daily 
123 East Decatur, IL - Chattanooga, TN daily
142 Chattanooga, TN - Elkhart, IN daily
143 Elkhart, IN - Chattanooga, TN daily
174 Macon, GA - Elkhart, IN daily
188 East Point, GA - Detroit Oakwood, MI daily
189 Detroit Oakwood, MI - East Point, GA daily
197 Ft. Wayne, IN - Cincinnati, OH daily
200 Chattanooga, TN - Chicago Colehour, IL daily
215 Chicago Calumet, IL - Atlanta, GA daily
216 Atlanta, GA - Chicago Calumet, IL daily
229 Chicago Landers, IL - Jacksonville, FL daily
25A Chicago Calumet, IL - Chattanooga, TN daily
282 Jacksonville, FL - Chicago Landers, IL daily

•unit / extras trains (within the past 30 days of 10/24/21) 
49 grain
11 steel
10 ethanol 
2 potash
2 empty autorack repositions 
74 total / 2.5 a day on average 


> On the other hand, over on the
> Dayton District, doesn't NS still run 375 / 376
> between Columbus and Louisville (and beyond
> Louisville in these PSR days)? 


375 Middletown, OH - Rockport, IN daily
376 Rockport, IN - Middletown, OH daily


>Whatever happened
> to 111 / 112, and 167 / 168, all of which had
> been regulars on the Louisville-East St. Louis
> line? 

111 is abolished.  
112 St. Louis, MO - Kansas City, KS (BNSF) daily
167 St. Louis, MO - Louisville, KY daily
168 Louisville, KY - St. Louis, MO daily 

Andrew
 

Thank you, Andrew, for the schedule updates on the NS New Castle and Dayton Districts, as well as essentially the Cincinnati-Danville and Danville-Louisville-East St. Louis service lanes!   

inrdjlg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank you, Andrew, for the schedule updates on the
> NS New Castle and Dayton Districts, as well as
> essentially the Cincinnati-Danville
> and Danville-Louisville-East St. Louis service
> lanes!   

You're welcome.  

For the Dayton District, you can include:
26Z Cincinnati, OH - Columbus Rickenbacker, OH daily
27Z Columbus Rickenbacker, OH - Cincinnati, OH daily

West of Louisville, you can include:
110 Louisville, KY - Kansas City, MO (UP) daily
125 Kansas City, MO - Louisville, KY daily

Andrew



 

BigDave Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was just wondering the difference in traffic
> levels between the NS on the CNO&TP, and the CSX
> line that runs through Berea, KY?
How many trains run on CSX's line south of Louisville to the west of the CNO&TP?