Chasing the ND&W, vanwerty style!

[alittlevanwerty]

Last Thursday I made a point to go to Defiance since I haven't filmed them in a while. I made it just in time to catch 1603 pull the cut off the interchange siding.

After this the crew shut 1603 down and left in the black Taurus. I did not see which way they went but assumed it was toward Napoleon. Thankfully they did go that way. West of Napoleon there was 4 boxcars that must have derailed but were back on the tracks. I beat them to the industrial park, think it was lunch time. After driving around the block about 25 times the had 1601 fired up and running light westbound for those boxcars. 3054 was tied down with a sting of boxcars and a hopper next to the Cold Storage building.

After some help from the MofW crew and a torch they were able couple up the cut and run east.

This is the train I got to film in Napoleon. Notice to the left of the train an actual signal maintainer can be seen.

I know its not ND&W but I caught this CSX train in Deshler shortly after leaving Napoleon.

[alittlevanwerty]

Coming soon a chase on the west end, today I filmed PREX 1606 leading a train east and there was a surprise on the end... PREX 107, a BN paint rebuilt NW2. Surprised nobody reported that! What happened to the Gettysburg loco?

[AARR]

Nice vbids asalways vanwerty. Love the pull from the interchange with th long slow moving train. I know its slow the whole way but the intercahnge pull had far more cars to watch

[wildcatsa1fan]

Gettysburg tied down in Woodburn. Everyday I drive by never moves. It has a tanker on behind. BN nw has been in Woodburn for a week. Moved yesterday!!!

[MagnumForce]

Not so cool waiting on that long slow train on the way home from work


They get back to Domersville Road Westbound at around 3:20 a lot, it seems. Creates a hell of a traffic jam at that busy time of day.

[alittlevanwerty]

Nice vbids asalways vanwerty. Love the pull from the interchange with th long slow moving train. I know its slow the whole way but the intercahnge pull had far more cars to watch

Thanks! You will love yesterday's LIFW then, it took 10 solid minutes for them to get it across Cole St!

[alittlevanwerty]

Gettysburg tied down in Woodburn. Everyday I drive by never moves. It has a tanker on behind. BN nw has been in Woodburn for a week. Moved yesterday!!!

Odd that Pioneer assigned them power they don't need. Wish I could see it run, variety is a good thing. Nice to have a NW2 working here in NW Ohio now.

[alittlevanwerty]

Not so cool waiting on that long slow train on the way home from work


They get back to Domersville Road Westbound at around 3:20 a lot, it seems. Creates a hell of a traffic jam at that busy time of day.

I imagine people that work in Defiance look forward to higher track speeds.

[alittlevanwerty]

Tuesday my first stop on my way north to railfan was the track by Lafarge. PREX 1606 was not at its usual spot so I followed the line west finding their train tied down about a mile west of Antwerp. After a mostly unsuccessful time at other tracks I came back to Antwerp about 2 pm to see if it was still there and to take a few photos. I had just gotten out of my car to take some stills when the crew arrived in the black Taurus. Dang I'm lucky! I got to film my first locomotive startup!

With the little time I had I shot them at 3 more crossings. Antwerp has been on my bucket list. Too bad the unusual signals don't work but still cool.

Love that NW2! The green brings variety to PREX's black paint locos.

[AARR]

Hey! In the 2nd video the elevator is loading a truck on the railroad spur. That's sacrilege

[jrgerber]

Curious, how extensive has the trackwork being done since Pioneer took over? Has it improved anything?

Does the traffic or potential traffic warrant pouring $$$ into the line?

[wildcatsa1fan]

Just to put it simply you can not walk along side there trains now and keep up. They've replaced every fifth tie and placed gauge bars all over the property. We are getting ready to start loading cement cars (about five a week) at Lafarge soon!! There's new traffic for ya. We haven't loaded rail consistently since 94.

[AARR]

Just to put it simply you can not walk along side there trains now and keep up. They've replaced every fifth tie and placed gauge bars all over the property. We are getting ready to start loading cement cars (about five a week) at Lafarge soon!! There's new traffic for ya. We haven't loaded rail consistently since 94.

Thanks for the update. Always happy to hear about new business!

[iKJames]

Just to ask, how often are they running a train on the west side now? Since last I was in the loop it was every other day or something like that. Just thought I'd ask since I need to get out there and catch them, but it'd be good to add some variety of sorts besides the east end. Thanks.

[wildcatsa1fan]

Right now once and sometimes twice a week!! Majority of time once a week though!! Systech there only customer right now!

[alittlevanwerty]

Right now once and sometimes twice a week!! Majority of time once a week though!! Systech there only customer right now!

Makes ya a tough catch! It's been 6 months since I caught a movement over here, I pass through looking about 3 times a month.

[alittlevanwerty]

Just to put it simply you can not walk along side there trains now and keep up. They've replaced every fifth tie and placed gauge bars all over the property. We are getting ready to start loading cement cars (about five a week) at Lafarge soon!! There's new traffic for ya. We haven't loaded rail consistently since 94.

Thats a lot of ties! Track does look much better in most places, much more solid! Will the cement cars go to NS or CSX IN Defiance?

[alittlevanwerty]

Hey! In the 2nd video the elevator is loading a truck on the railroad spur. That's sacrilege

I still don't see how it saves elevators money to ship by truck to larger elevators. Guess I don't know what it costs to ship by individual car vs unit train. Wish this elevator would use rail, their location is great for filming.

[MSchwiebert]

That's the key to it - I'd be surprised if anyone even offers a single car rate - and if they do, it'll be quite a bit higher than a unit train rate.

Hey! In the 2nd video the elevator is loading a truck on the railroad spur. That's sacrilege

I still don't see how it saves elevators money to ship by truck to larger elevators. Guess I don't know what it costs to ship by individual car vs unit train. Wish this elevator would use rail, their location is great for filming.

[CAT345C]

From the pictures I've seen it almost looks like they are getting ties in and some stone and planning to come back at one time with a tamper and do some surfacing. Anybody know if Pioneer has a tamper that they float around from railroad to railroad?