Eastern Railroad Discussion > Quick jaunt to Elkhart, IN

Looking to make a quick jaunt over the Memorial Day weekend to the NYC Museum in Elkhart.  Will be traveling from SW Ohio.  A few ?'s

*  What are the highlights of the museum?  Is it worth the drive?  I do have a particular interest in the NYC as the museum I volunteer at runs on a former NYC branch
*  Looking to spend 2 nights in a hotel. Is there anything railroad themed in in NW Ohio or northern IN we should check out?

*  I have some ideas on where to spend the rest of a leisurely drive and considering Fostoria ( a bit off the path) or Deshler.  Anyplace similair in NE Indiana to sit and watch trains with a young boy in tow for a couple of hours?
*  Knowing that the NYC museum is the primary driver of this trip, any other sites along the way we should check out?  

I think the NYC Mohawk alone is worth the trip! This was taken from the cab of NYC E8 4085, at left is GG1 4882 in PC black, middle is NYC Mohawk 3001 in steam engine black, and at right in NS black 9531 & 1149 haul freight WB through Elkhart. The Amtrak station and web cam are back there too. An Alco, two GE’s, and an EMD from an EMD. The E8 is open to walk through and sit in the cab to watch trains run by. I think that Conrail bay window, and a NYC jade Green Bay window are open too. Everything is open to see, as in nothing hidden in barns. There’s a Conrail wreck train and other cool cars back there too. The museum was a NYC Freight house, and they have tons of NYC stuff on display. There’s a large Lionel layout inside. Some Amish shops and such near by if the wife is with. About an hour and a half away is the Hoosier Valley Museum. I hope you have fun!

---

P Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> *  I have some ideas on where to spend the rest
> of a leisurely drive and considering Fostoria ( a
> bit off the path) or Deshler.  Anyplace similair
> in NE Indiana to sit and watch trains with a young
> boy in tow for a couple of hours?

The two best trainwatching spots in NE Indiana are St. Joe (CSX ex-B&O crosses NS ex-WAB) and Butler (NS ex-NYC crosses NS ex-WAB). Indiana Hwy 1 goes through both and intersects U.S. 6 in Butler.
However, neither junction has anything resembling a railfan park, and the Butler diamond has a nasty local who lives nearby and calls the sheriff on anyone who loiters there (whether they're actually trespassing or not, he thinks he owns the place), so unless you want to show your young'un what an a**hole looks like, don't linger there. There are other decent trainwatching spots in Butler, where the fairly steady flow of NS trains is occasionally interrupted by a CP trackage rights movement using the north/west transfer between the two lines.

St. Joe used to also have an antagonistic neighbor, but I believe that person has since moved out. There are road crossings of both lines near the junction, which is about a mile west of town.


Having said all that, the Waterloo station area and Kendallville both have decent places to hang out on public property near the NS ex-NYC main, and Kendallville has lots of quick food options (Waterloo not so much). Auburn is really the only place in that area along CSX that has much of anything service wise; nearby Garrett is a crew change for some CSX trains and it has a few shootable grade crossings east of town but the main road in town uses an underpass so there's not much to do there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/22 09:18 by toledopatch.

P Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
> <snip!>
>
> *  I have some ideas on where to spend the rest
> of a leisurely drive and considering Fostoria ( a
> bit off the path) or Deshler.  Anyplace similar
> in NE Indiana to sit and watch trains with a young
> boy in tow for a couple of hours?
> *  Knowing that the NYC museum is the primary
> driver of this trip, any other sites along the way
> we should check out?  

(Start with Maniacal Laughter! Then fade out...)

NW Indiana has a lot of great places to watch trains, depending on what you are in to. The area around Ft Wayne is dominated by NS but well worth the visit. There are places to park or drive around the NS yard in New Haven. The diamond at NE where the former Nickle Plate crosses the former Wabash is worth a short stop. Don't forget that the last set of RoadRailers pass through Indiana on the Wabash*. West of Elkhart I like Wellsboro where the CSX (Former B&O) crosses the CN (former GTW). No Railfan park but lots of open views of the double diamonds and lots of trains. It is busy enough to spend several hours there and I have not been hassled either time I have been there. There is also Chesapeake and Indiana that comes in from the south there. West of South Bend you can look at the NICTD / South Shore and if you plan ahead maybe even take a ride on one of the last Interurban Railways in the United States. The NS Elkhart Yard can be seen from the road that runs along the north side of it and the mainline is busy in itself. Coming back you could go through Lafayette Indiana which usually has something or a lot of things going for smaller medium sized city. If you have already seen Fostoria, don't waste your time there. Go to NW Indiana, lots and lots to see. 

Have Fun!

Jim

*The RoadRailers do not operate every day of the week. 

Thanks for the replies so far.  I'll reference this post in 2 weeks.  I'd like to stay east of US 31 in Indiana and west of I-75 in Ohio if at all possible.    

Any specific lodging that is railroad themed in NE Indiana? 
Also, we'd be interested in other railway historical sites.  Due to our short time window, we might like to target things we can drive to outside of normal 'business hours' of any museums as a full visit might not be possible other then the NYC museum itself.  Anything viewable in a quick visit?  I'd considered the Monon Connection Museum (fantastic place), but it's a bit outside of our travel zone, but that is an example of a place that would allow for a quick visit an any hour.  

Waterloo, IN and Wauseon, OH both have former NYC depots and nice places to sit trackside.  At Waterloo you'll you also get the Canadina Pacifc trains that use the NS between Chicago and Detroit.  I highly recommend both places but favor Waterloo because of the CP trains.  

West of US 31 but worth a mention for anyone else visiting the area is the Hesston Steam Museum https://hesston.org/ ... but that would be another daytime (weekend day) thing not a stop by any hour location.

The NYC museum is definately a good centerpiece for your travels. I hope you enjoy the trip.

If you go to St. Joe, be sure to visit Sechler's Pickles. They have a great little store with their products plus other food. 

The former PRR depot in Ft. Wayne is a beauty. I was there for a railfan show about 10 years ago. I believe it houses some offices now and don't know if it's generally open to the public.