A Railroad Tour in Lancaster
Running around Lancaster the other day, visiting the hobby shop to get a few things for my model railroad, I decided to take a "tour" of my hometown and see what the local Indiana and Ohio (I&O) railroad was up to. It being Saturday, I didn't expect to see anything, but you never know!
So sit back and enjoy my little tour.
Once upon a time, Lancaster, like a lot of towns in Ohio was a town with two railroads, lots of track, a large yard, frequent trains that came from somewhere and went somewhere. And, as we all know, economy changes, times change and today, all Lancaster has is a short line that serves two industries, a glass plant and a cereal making plant. Let's see what is left.
First is the glass plant, here are two shots, one shows (top photo) the cars waiting at a siding near the plant (in the background). I've posted two shots, one distant and one close.
On the other side of the plant is another siding, this one descends into the plant. Here are a couple of cars waiting their turn. Some days this siding is full of cars, but not today!
After visiting the glass plant, I drove out to the plant's warehouse. Maybe I will catch the switcher pulling some boxcars out of the warehouse? Let's see.
Nope, looks like no one is here either. Here is the switcher, a leased MP15AC (ex-TVFM)(via http://www.ole.net/~rcraig/MPR.html, The Diesil Shop).
To the left of the photo is the warehouse. The engine goes inside the building to retrieve its cars.
Now its turn to check out what is left of the yard downtown. Once upon a time, there were two railroads running through this area. Today, one is gone and the other has passed on (It was Hocking Valley Railroad, then C&O, now I&O). What will we find?
First we see what is left of a loading/unloading ramp. Someone has made it a home! (Right click on the image and open in another window to see who!)
Look here! Here is a CSX hopper, just sitting and it looks like it has been sitting, sitting and sitting here for a long, long time. Look at all that sand under the wheels! Did it leak out? Why is it sitting here?
Here is a full shot of the hopper. As you can see, its been here awhile. Does anyone remember me?
Here is a view of the yard with the old C&O freight house in the background. It is now a FOP building.
Next photo is the cereal plant just outside of town. Here you see the grain cars waiting to be unloaded.
Well, we've come to the end of the line, so to speak. Where I stood to take the photo above, I just turned around and took the last photo below. This is the end of the line east from Lancaster. Once it went to another town and west to Cincinnati. But now no more.
Thanks for taking a tour with me!
Running around Lancaster the other day, visiting the hobby shop to get a few things for my model railroad, I decided to take a "tour" of my hometown and see what the local Indiana and Ohio (I&O) railroad was up to. It being Saturday, I didn't expect to see anything, but you never know!
So sit back and enjoy my little tour.
Once upon a time, Lancaster, like a lot of towns in Ohio was a town with two railroads, lots of track, a large yard, frequent trains that came from somewhere and went somewhere. And, as we all know, economy changes, times change and today, all Lancaster has is a short line that serves two industries, a glass plant and a cereal making plant. Let's see what is left.
First is the glass plant, here are two shots, one shows (top photo) the cars waiting at a siding near the plant (in the background). I've posted two shots, one distant and one close.
On the other side of the plant is another siding, this one descends into the plant. Here are a couple of cars waiting their turn. Some days this siding is full of cars, but not today!
After visiting the glass plant, I drove out to the plant's warehouse. Maybe I will catch the switcher pulling some boxcars out of the warehouse? Let's see.
Nope, looks like no one is here either. Here is the switcher, a leased MP15AC (ex-TVFM)(via http://www.ole.net/~rcraig/MPR.html, The Diesil Shop). 
To the left of the photo is the warehouse. The engine goes inside the building to retrieve its cars.
Now its turn to check out what is left of the yard downtown. Once upon a time, there were two railroads running through this area. Today, one is gone and the other has passed on (It was Hocking Valley Railroad, then C&O, now I&O). What will we find?
First we see what is left of a loading/unloading ramp. Someone has made it a home! (Right click on the image and open in another window to see who!)
Look here! Here is a CSX hopper, just sitting and it looks like it has been sitting, sitting and sitting here for a long, long time. Look at all that sand under the wheels! Did it leak out? Why is it sitting here?
Here is a full shot of the hopper. As you can see, its been here awhile. Does anyone remember me?
Here is a view of the yard with the old C&O freight house in the background. It is now a FOP building.
Next photo is the cereal plant just outside of town. Here you see the grain cars waiting to be unloaded.
Well, we've come to the end of the line, so to speak. Where I stood to take the photo above, I just turned around and took the last photo below. This is the end of the line east from Lancaster. Once it went to another town and west to Cincinnati. But now no more.
Thanks for taking a tour with me!
