Friday, March 13, 2009

Around "Round Town"
Returning from a men's retreat down on the Hocking Hills region, I decided to detour through Circleville to see what railroad action I could find on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
I have passed through Circleville many times to watch trains in Chillicothe, but now I decided would be a good time to visit roundtown. Here are the results of my short trip.
First shot is back towards state route 22, Main St in town. To the left is the remains of the old papermill and just pass it is the grain elevator. Last time I was here, the siding was full of covered hoppers waiting for their share of the grain. The NS main is to the right, just out of view. As always, click on the photo for a larger view (or right click, open in new tab/window).

Here comes a very, very long hot shot with containers. I am standing on a fairly sharp curve and the train has slowed considerably down for the curve, as well as being in town. This long train will block a lot of street crossings! It is heading south to Portsmouth.
Here is a MOW car going the other way. My wife called me and I was on the cell phone when I saw the train approaching. This is the result of one handed photography. Good thing my DLSR has an "A" button!
I think this is what remains of the old PRR line from Lancaster. The shot is towards the east and this is an old station that is now a self store place.
Here is what happens when a railroad loses a business. Either the grain elevator is closed, which I suspect, or just does not use rail anymore...the tracks are weedy and have a heavy layer of the dark rust of misuse on them. This is westward and was once part of the PRR line.
This is the same elevator and looking east. In the distance you can see where the station is.
Turn around from the above photo and this is what you see. The old tracks passing under state route 23. They once headed to Washington Court House from Lancaster.

Driving around roundtown, you can tell where there were once more tracks laid out. The signs are there, but the tracks are no longer. What a place to have seen thirty to forty years ago!