Uploaded August 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The weather was bad on August 18, 2020 (of course) as I managed to sneak a few minutes of railfanning at Butler Street in Hamilton, Ohio.
It didn't take long before Norfolk Southern rewarded me with this northbound featuring an interesting ES44AC / SD70ACe / AC44C6M lash up, the latter still looking Altoona-fresh!
The weather was bad on August 18, 2020 (of course) as I managed to sneak a few minutes of railfanning at Butler Street in Hamilton, Ohio.
It didn't take long before Norfolk Southern rewarded me with this northbound featuring an interesting ES44AC / SD70ACe / AC44C6M lash up, the latter still looking Altoona-fresh!
![A Neat Meet At Butler Street [10/10/2016]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nayj-iIpax0/mqdefault.jpg "A Neat Meet At Butler Street [10/10/2016]
CSX train J783 meets CSX train Q506 at Butler Street Interlocking in Hamilton, Ohio on 10/10/2016.")
![South Shore @ Hegewisch / Burnham [Plus IHB] - July 21, 2004](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oBzCdVZpoRI/mqdefault.jpg "South Shore @ Hegewisch / Burnham [Plus IHB] - July 21, 2004
Its evening rush hour on the Chicago South Shore and South Bend, Americas last interurban electric railway. Hegewisch Station is the easternmost South Shore station in Illinois, and is also the location of Burnham Junction, where the parallel South Shore and Norfolk Southern lines are crossed by the South Chicago & Southern, aka the Bernice Cutoff. The Cutoff is essentially an industrial line that allows IHB and NS crews to access various lakefront locations.
Heres the lineup:
00:17 We see several South Shore commuter trains heading to and from Chicago.
02:40 A quick view of the station itself.
02:50 Another outbound train,
04:27 An IHB train runs northbound on the Bernice Cutoff
05:05 South Shore GP38-2s #2001 and #2004 idle at South Shores Burnham Yard, just east of the station. These units are used for South Shores freight operations.
**Originally recorded on VHS-C videotape.")
![10 Trains In The AM - Greenwich OH 2002 [Part 1]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oqF-l6petDo/mqdefault.jpg "10 Trains In The AM - Greenwich OH 2002 [Part 1]
10 trains [9 CSX and 1 Wheeling & Lake Erie] got us off to a good start on our railfanning trip in June 2002. Our goal was to spend 2 days railfanning Northern Ohio spots from Greenwich to Deshler. We found Greenwich to be so busy that we spent all of Day 1 [June 8, 2002] there.
Since the breakup on Conrail in 1999, Greenwich has been the Ohio crossroads of CSX. The busiest line by far is the old B&O Chicago Division. Crossing this is the former Big Four (CCC&StL) Cleveland to Indianapolis to St. Louis line. This line became part of the New York Central System, followed by Penn Central and Conrail, before becoming a CSX property in 1999. North of the diamond, the line continues north to Berea, where CSX trains can access their portion of the former Conrail lines across New York to the coast.
Trains from the Wheeling & Lake Erie also visit here, as their former Akron, Canton & Youngstown trackage joins the B&O line just to the west and exits the Big Four line a few miles to the northeast of the crossing.
The lineup on this video includes:
00:40 Scene 1: Its not yet 7 am as an eastbound CSX auto service train speeds by, led by a pair of CSX SD60s (or maybe SD50s - they go by too quickly to catch the numbers)
03:28 Scene 2: Immediately after the first train clears, a westbound CSX intermodal appears on the Big 4, led by a pair of ex-Conrail units (C40-8W and an SD60).
05:55 Scene 3: On the heels of the intermodal, a westbound manifest freight appears on the B&O with an all-EMD lashup of ex-GP30 Road Slug/GP40-2/SD40/SD40.
07:56 Scene 4: Now, the railroad is fully awake! Scanner traffic, headlights, and signals indicate that trains are coming from every direction - but which will hit the diamond next?
Its Q114, a Chicago to Boston hotshot intermodal train led by a pair of CSX AC6000CWs.
12:13 Scene 5: Next is Q136, a Chicago to Philadelphia hotshot intermodal, led by a pair of CSX C40s.
14:56 Scene 6: After misinterpreting scanner traffic and setting up for a train from a different direction, we were surprised by manifest train S374 (I had never heard an S designation on CSX before. Apparently, it is a Second section of a regular Q train) led by a pair a C40-8ws and an ex-Conrail GP38-2.
17:22 Scene 7: We missed again, as a westbound manifest freight appeared on the Big 4 led by a leased ex-Canadian Pacific SD40-2, an ex-Susquehanna B40-8, an ex-Conrail GP40-2, and a CSX GP38-2.
19:39 Scene 8: Q390, a train we had been expecting for some time, arrived on the scene led by a Union Pacific SD70M, a UP C40, and a CSX C40-8W.
22:14 Scene 9: A westbound autorack train with an all-EMD lineup of CSX SD40-2 and ex-Conrail SD50 (or early 60?) arrived on the scene.
26:07 Scene 10: We finish up the early-morning segment with a W&LE train. Scanner traffic indicated its number as #236, but this would be an unconventional number for a westbound train. In any case, a pair of SD40s are on the point (SD40-2 #6381, ex-EMDX, ex-Milwaukee Road, and SD40 #4003 lettered Bo Bo on the nose, an ex-Missouri Pacific)
Enjoy!
**Originally captured on VHS and 8mm video tape**")
![Epic Chicago Railfan Trip Pt. 1 - Morning at Joliet [6/24/2004]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ovk52gz3UAo/mqdefault.jpg "Epic Chicago Railfan Trip Pt. 1 - Morning at Joliet [6/24/2004]
It was the first morning of our epic, 2-day railfan odyssey in Chicago. Our first stop: Joliet Union Station. Here is the morning lineup:
00:33 [8:21 AM]
Metra Rock Island District train departs for Chicago behind MP36PH-3S #401
01:03 [8:22 AM]
Metra Heritage Corridor train departs for Chicago Union Station behind F40PH-2 #127
01:39
Metra Rock Island District train arrives behind MP36PH-3S #413
02:34 [8:36 AM]
Metra Rock Island District train departs for Chicago behind MP36PH-3S #413
03:21
Metra Rock Island District train arrives behind MP36PH-3S #408
04:23
WB GTW (CN) local behind GP38-2 #4924 (ex-Missouri Pacific #906) and GP38-2 #5850 (ex-Rock Island #4368)
05:50 [8:53 AM]
Metra Rock Island District train departs for Chicago behind MP36PH-3S #408
06:46 [9:24 AM]
Metra Rock Island District train arrives behind F40PH-2M #205
07:13 [9:38 AM]
EB BNSF Intermodal approaches, stops.
08:00 [9:41 AM]
Metra Rock Island District train departs for Chicago behind F40PH-2M #205
08:42 [9:43 AM]
EB BNSF Intermodal led by C44-9W #4114, NS C40-9W in Grey Primer, BNSF AC44CM in Santa Fe “Warbonnet”, and BNSF GP60M #117
10:14 [10:06 AM]
Amtrak train #300 “The State House” led by P42DC #124
11:46 [10:21 AM]
Metra Rock Island District train arrives behind F40PH-2 #104
12:22 [10:24 AM]
EB BNSF intermodal led by C44-9W #4731, C44-9W #4899, SD40u #6314 in Sante Fe colors, an AC44CW, and AC44CW #948 in “Warbonnet” colors.
13:28
Metra Rock Island District train departs for Chicago behind F40PH-2 #104
14:34
EB BNSF intermodal led by C44-9W #4660, C44-9W #4892, C44-9W #5174, C44-9W #4325 and FURX SD40-2 #7265 (ex-Burlington Nothern)
16:00 [10:54 AM]
Amtrak Train #303 “Ann Rutledge” led by P42DC #64
17:52
EB BNSF intermodal led by C44-9W #4511, C44-9W #4353, and GP60 #8709 in Santa Fe colors
18:57 [11:08 AM]
Metra Rock Island District train arrives behind F40PH-2M #212
19:23 [11:14 AM]
WB BNSF intermodal led by 3 C44-9W’s
19:59 [11:19 AM]
EB Union Pacific intermodal led by SD70M #5110 and B40-8 #1885 (ex-Southern Pacific #8088)
21:16
Metra Rock Island District train departs behind F40PH-2M #212
21:48
EB GTW (CN) local behind GP38-2 #4924 (ex-Missouri Pacific #906) and GP38-2 #5850 (ex-Rock Island #4368)
22:45
WB BNSF intermodal led by GP35u #2503 (ex-ATSF #1452 and GP9u #1661 (ex-ATSF #722)
23:18 [11:56 AM]
WB intermodal led by Union Pacific SD70M #5151, LTEX SD40-2 #3916 (ex-Missouri Pacific #3232), and SD40-2 “Snoot” #3302
*All times are EDT because I did not reprogram the camera for CDT.
*Originally recorded on VHS-C videotape.")
