| Northern Ohio Railfan 
 Home Berea to Oak Harbor Oak Harbor West Berea to Greenwich Vermillion to Bellevue Favorite Links | |
| Berea is where we start. The parking lot is gone but there are still 
    some places to shoot from.  It can get crowded on weekends. The Pufferbelly parking lot is good for trains coming and going from the Short 
    Line. The blue star indicates the Berea tower. Here are some pictures. I've also listed a small map with some key spots indicated, and I've provided a brief written description of each area At this point, I should mention the Ohio Gazetteer by Delorme. It shows all the roads that I mention. Also there is a county atlas put out by Commercial Survey Company for Cuyahoga, Lorain-Medina and Erie-Huron counties. It is excellent, and it's easily recognized by it's red cover It costs only $5 and is available everywhere. | |
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| Olmsted Falls | |
| About two miles west of Berea just off of 
    Bagley road on Garfield street is an old depot at milepost 196. The depot 
    is the home of a model railroad club. There is a Pennsy caboose parked in 
    the yard. It is a good place to park and take pictures except in the winter 
    there are pole shadows. The red cross shows the location of the old depot on 
    Garfield street. From here go back to Bagley and go east 1/8th of a mile to 
    Columbia and turn right. Go south one mile to where the Columbus line 
    crosses Columbia Road. This is marked by the red dot. | |
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| Elyria | |
| The Amtrak station in downtown Elyria is an excellent spot. There is plenty of parking. It is on the corner of East Bridge Street and East River Road. You can hear westbounds at the Olmsted detector about 6 miles to the east. There are two other spots in Elyria, Olive Street crossing and Abbe Road crossing where you can watch westbound trains working the small yard. The red cross is the Amtrak station, the blue stars are the other 2 locations. | |
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| Vermilion | |
| Downtown Vermilion is great with a small park 
    and plenty of parking. This is MP 220.9 right at the detector. Good for westbounds and eastbounds. From there, go East on Rt 6 about 3 miles to 
    Sunnyside road. Turn right, then go south one mile to the tracks. Best for 
    PM westbounds. A lot of trains stop at Fairlane just to the east. Park on 
    the southside at a safe distance from the tracks. Trains can be moving very 
    fast through here. The red cross represents the Sunnyside NS crossing. Get 
    back on Route 6 and go west through Vermilion to Coen Rd about 1 mile west 
    of downtown, turn left and cross the tracks. You can park just south of the 
    tracks. Best for eastbounds in the morning. Amtrak #44 comes through about 
    11:30 am. Just south on Coen Road, NS crosses. This is where the new 
    connection has been installed. It is for eastbounds from NS to ex-CR or 
    westbounds from ex-CR to NS. This spot is best for eastbounds in the am. There is a detector 7 miles west and one 11 miles to the east. Referring to 
    the map, the new connection is between the two blue stars. 
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| Huron | |
| At mile post 232, Huron has two good spots. 
    Number 1 is at river road. Summer early AM eastbound shots can use the 
    signal for a prop. Number 2 is at Rte 13 on Main Street. Good all day long. 
    Best in PM to work signal bridge into shot. Park in the convenience market 
    lot. The donut shop at Rte 2 and main street has excellent muffins, but they 
    close at noon. Huron has an elevator complex which has 2 switchers and 1 
    stored. This is served by NS daily. This track runs under the NS main line 
    at River road. There is also an ore dock next to the elevator this is served 
    by W&LE. The Wheeling usually shows up in the morning with 50-60 empties and 
    takes all day to be loaded by a front end loader. Best time is pm. When you 
    are done, drive south on River road following the Huron branch about 2 miles 
    to Knight Rd, left on Knight to 2nd road Jeffries, turn right on Jeffries, 
    south 1 mile to the NS at a place called Shinrock siding. 
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| Shinrock | |
| The red dot indicates Shinrock siding. 
    This is where the Wheeling gets on the Huron branch.  They pull into the 
    siding from the west, then run around the train to recouple and head north 
    to Huron. Since the units are usually coupled back to back, you can get 2 
    sets of shots. The Wheeling symbols are 340/341. From here you can follow 
    the NS into Bellevue or go back up to NS Chicago line 
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| Rye Beach Road | |
| Back in Huron we head west on 
    Route 6 to Rye Beach Rd. Turn left, go south to tracks. A good place for Eastbounds with the signal for a prop. From here you can follow the tracks 
    on Route 6 or take the bypass all the way around Sandusky to Route 101 exit 
    at 101 and turn right. Go northeast on 101 to Superior turn left.  1/2 mile 
    to Venice Rd, rt6, Turn right on Venice go 1/4 mile, turn left on Huron just 
    before NS tracks. Go north to Conrail main. 
 
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| Sandusky | |
| We are now at CP 242.  The red cross shows this 
    location. A good spot to sit all day.  The Sandusky detector is at MP 239, 3 
    miles to the east.  The Gypsum detector is at MP 251, 9 miles to the 
    west.  Here NS runs transfers from the coal dock to their Sandusky yard. They have to call the NS Toledo East dispatcher to get across.  Normal power 
    is SD9's.  To the east is NS's Sandusky yard and the Amtrak station.  The 
    station is on the north side of the tracks and is tough to work into a 
    picture because the yard is usually full and cars are in the way. A single 
    GP-38 works the yard.  Leaving CP 242, go back to Venice road and head west 
    following the tracks.  You will end up on Barrett road which is right along 
    side the tracks.  At MP 244 to MP 246, there is water between the road and 
    the tracks.  Some shots can be taken from here.  The blue star shows this 
    location. Follow Barrett into Bayview, go south on Rte 269 to Rte 2, turn 
    right, go west across the Bay bridge. Exit on Rte 53, go to the first 
    light, turn left on State road and go west 1/2 mile to Lake road. Turn 
    left and go south to the tracks. 
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| Gypsum | |
| There is good parking here right at the signal 
    and the Gypsum detector.  The red cross indicates the location of the Gypsum 
    detector. Retrace your steps and get back on Rte 6 west and go around Port 
    Clinton because there aren't any decent shots in Port Clinton because the 
    tracks are elevated. Cross the river and get off at Rte 163, turn left and 
    go west to Oak Harbor. Turn right on Rte 19 and go north to the tracks 
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| Oak Harbor | |
| There is an old depot here that is now used by 
    M of W people.  To the west the NS line from Toledo to Bellvue crosses 
    overhead.  There is a lot more traffic on this line now that the connector 
    track is in. Trains coming east off the ex-Conrail line going south to 
    Bellevue. Trains coming north from Bellevue going west to Toledo on the 
    ex-CR main. Here you are between the La Carne detector at MP 260.9 to the 
    east and the Graytown detector at MP 272.9 to the west.  Nice shot in 
    midsummer am for east bounds coming around the curve under the NS bridge. 
    Just to the west is the new connector from CR to NS. The new connector is 
    between the blue stars. The red cross is the place for EB shots. | |