The Railroad Bridges of Columbus and Drone Tours of Buckeye and Parsons Yards
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- čas přidán 9. 09. 2020
- Hey, and welcome to another video.
For this trip we head northeast to Columbus.
I went to Ohio's capital city on a Sunday.
I knew there were several railroad bridges downtown that I wanted to get video of.
I just hoped I could catch a train or two over them.
The video includes a look at the Lower Scioto Twin Bridges, also known as the Scioto River Railroad Bridge South.
The western span carries CSX and the eastern carries Norfolk Southern.
I hoped to find out more about the two spans but everywhere I searched turned up few details.
Both lines continue south. The CSX line continues north while the Norfolk Southern splits east and west.
Sunday must be local day for the area.
I caught several CSX trains.
They all snuck up on me though, because there is no crossing nearby requiring them to blow their horn.
I had my scanner on, but it was recording in the car.
Buckeye Yard was planned by the Pennsylvania Railroad but built by the Penn Central for about $29 million.
Construction started in 1968 and it was open for business at the end of the following year.
It replaced several old yards on NYC and PRR around Columbus.
Buckeye took over farmland and connected three Penn Central main lines.
It was a very well designed and busy yard in its heyday.
It suffered a slow decline over the years.
It began when Conrail eliminated through traffic between Columbus and Pittsburgh.
Then it abandoned the Bradford Line west of Columbus to Chicago.
It saw a pickup in the 1980's when the Sharonville yard, north of Cincinnati, closed its hump.
Auto parts were a large portion of what came through the yard but that traffic slowed over the years due to closures around the state.
When Conrail was split, Norfolk Southern continued classifying cars for about a decade but the yard just wasn't in a good spot for the NS network.
Then came the great recession. NS stopped using the hump at the yard in 2009.
The doubling of Moorman Yard in Bellevue to the north was the final nail in the coffin for Buckeye.
NS still uses the yard for some locals and car storage.
One of CSX's five Ohio intermodal facilities is here.
As part of the Conrail sale, CSX owns part of the yard.
It completed a $59 million expansion in 2013.
It added 24 acres and doubled capacity from 180,000 to 360,000 lifts per year.
CSX's Parsons Yard was built by the C & O between 1926 and 1927.
The yard featured a 27-stall roundhouse, with a 115-foot turntable.
During the 1950s, as diesel locomotives replaced C&O’s steam locomotives, portions of the roundhouse were closed and unused bays torn down.
In 2015, only 15 bays remained.
Those remaining bays are used for a variety of non-locomotive purposes such as storage and as a garage.
Please let me know where I should head next.
I'm always looking for suggestions.
Have a great day!
www.columbusrailroads.com/new/...
columbusrailroads.com/new/util....
A Sampling of Penn Central - Jerry Taylor has some great information about the old yards and the Buckeye project.
/ 2217591.a_sampling_of_...
midamericafreight.org/index.p...
www.csxthsociety.org/journal/v...
www.columbusrailroads.com/new/...
bridgehunter.com/category/cit... - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Gotta love that flying mattress at 16:15.
My precious queen.
I was wondering if anyone would notice it.
@@nkyrailfan It took me 4 tries to see what Jim C was talking about LOL. Great video by the way!!
That was hilarious ! I was scanning the comments to see if anyone else saw it
I knew those downtown bridges well 12 years ago. I used to walk around downtown in the evenings and night. I'd watch the trains pass, lights change engines rumble. Was great distraction while I was fighting to get and stay sober.
I couldn't recognize where the first train was and then realized after a few minutes its where an auditorium used to be where I graduated from High School.
My dad used to take me to Buckeye yard. He would get us up into the tower building, out where they were uncoupling at the hump and even once onto a train while it was shoving for the hump. I have a few pics, back when it was PennCentral.
That's awesome!
That had to be so much fun.
Are any of the pics online that I could see them?
hey that first train Was Q311! I GOT HIM AS WELL! THATS AWESOME!!!
At 1:40 is the "Spaghetti Warehouse."
I ate there one time about 1983. Good Food too.
On the way we passed under the ex NYC line to WVa.
There was a north bound coal train parked there and was able to photo it.
You should have covered Watkins Yard (NS) and Rickenbacker Intermodal (although drones may be prohibited due to the proximity to the airport). The Northend of Buckeye Yard and the CP Buckeye area would have been cool too.
Thank you for the tips Matt. I'll definitely check them both out when I'm back in Columbus.
Rickenbacker is too close to the airport for the drone, but if you know any good ground spots, I'd love to hear about them.
The same goes for Watkins.
Very nice I live along the dayton district sad to see another yard along it get torn up
Very cool. I imagine some of those rail overpasses were over part of the old IMSA Camel GT street circuit from the late 1980's.
Our forefathers could make bridges that lasts 150 years plus but we have a hard time making highway bridges last 30. Cool video of Columbus railroads. Thanks!
Excellent, top notch, really great work. Thanks.
Thank you very much, I really do appreciate it.
Just caught this video. Great.
I was looking at the twin bridges, and they look, at least the CSX half, rebuilt. The piers look pretty new and the CSX structure has little rust. Hopefully that means traffic good for at least one railroad.
I'll have to pay more attention the next time I'm in Columbus. I did notice one side seemed in much better shape from a paint standpoint.
Very Cool!! Thanks for posting!!
Thank you very much, I do appreciate it.
Nice shooting in my old stomping grounds of OSU.
Berea,Ohio is a hot spot with CSX and NS come together south of Cleveland.
Also Conway Yard in Conway,PA I think a NS yard. Very big!
I'm hopeful to make it to Berea at some point this summer.
I've seen pictures of Conway Yard and it looks massive.
Hopefully, one day I can make it there.
LM Tower: Gone but not Forgotten . . .
Very little of Columbus in videos. Glad to see this. Thanks.
Thank you.
I hope to head back up and catch a few more trains going through downtown.
Old Santa Fe grainers!
Very cool
It's strange to me to see Buckeye and the intermodal terminus from an outside perspective, as I live quite literally next door and drive by the three cranes every morning going to work
Very good video!
Thank you Cathy, I do appreciate it.
Great drone footage. Live next to Buckeye and remember when it was still active in the 2000s. I see intermodal activity every day and glad there's at least some life there.
Thank you.
It really is a shame to see these yards be destroyed.
@@nkyrailfan update: I live next to Buckeye and its completely gone, except for the CSX intermodal
@@ethanhatcher5533 Thanks for the update. It's a shame so many of these old yards are being destroyed.
Prescision railroading has destroyed so much in a rail fans mind. Plus the trains are so long they can't control the weight and derailments are more common now. I gave you a sub and like . Have watched a couple of your aerials so far and like what I see. Keep posting. I really like freight yards and railroad infrastructure. Thumbs up!
I agree. I miss shorter, more frequent trains. Now, I'm happy anytime I see something less than 10,000 feet.
I've got another video coming soon with some more shots of Queensgate Yard, but from the east side of it.
Like a month ago I caught a north bound ns with a caboose it was going by the park south of downtown pretty cool
Cool video. I moved to Hilliard on the west side just north of Buckeye Yard back in 2002. I've never gone railfanning around Columbus since except for a few spots on the north side, the city just seems like a maze of tracks, making it rather difficult at times to know what route is which.
Thank you.
It's definitely a maze but if you have time (on a weekday preferably) there are some pretty cool spots to check out in the area.
Interesting to see what has happened to Columbus. You might want to say that much of your video takes place at "LM/Scioto Tower", and that the trains heading northward on the ex-C&O line are going to Marysville/Galion/coming from Toledo respectively. I'm impressed that the drone keeps so still with the crosswinds. Fascinating, thank you for posting!
Thank you very much.
I plan on going back sometime this spring and will make sure to call the area LM/Scioto Tower.
The drone really does a great job of staying quite steady.
Also, let me know if there's anywhere else in the Columbus area I should be going.
I would say E Cooke Rd
As of 2021, Buckeye Yard has been ripped up. All of the classification tracks have been removed and the run-around tracks have been removed. A new developer has purchased the property and the possibility has aroused that a UPS trailer van yard could be built in what was once Buckeye Yard and become an intermodal terminal for the city of Columbus.
It is such a shame that the Yard has been torn out. Hopefully they're able to put the property to good use. And that would certainly make sense given the nearby intermodal facility of CSX.
At around 3:43, that single track is the former mainline of the Toledo & Ohio Central. That line now carries (among other things) the local out of Parson's that interchanges with my workplace and crew in Marysville OH, about 30ish miles up the line
edit: the local at 11:15 looks like ours, especially since you filmed this on a Sunday and we wouldn't have any empty hoppers for them
Thanks for the info I do appreciate it.
Is this the same CSX line that runs through Hilliard and the Etna and Cosgray crossings towards Plain City? Does Honda get serviced by this local? Thank you
@@clearlycaribbeanreb2895 Yes on going through Hilliard and serving Honda. I don't know which train works it, L332 no longer goes up there, they don't go north of Marysville proper
Come to Chattanooga.
couple of abandon RR bridges on that river too.
You could have zoomed in on the truck that lost it's "bed."
Lol, I thought about doing it, but felt bad for the people who lost their bed.
I have some slides of Buckeye in its more active years. Wish it could be active again.
You ought to try and scan them and post them online.
It really is sad to see these empty yards.
really sad to see what buckeye looks like. place used to be so busy. we had a lot of work there
Live next to it. We do have intermodals that load and arrive daily, operated by CSX out of the north end on the ex-NYC/"T&OC West Branch" to Toledo. But signs at Roberts and Trabue still show NS ownership.
Amazing video, what drone are you using, very nice!
Thank you very much Todd, I do appreciate it.
I use a DJI Mavic 2 Pro.
It's relatively old compared to other drones out there, but it still works great for me.
Anyone else spot at 16:15 the mattress falling off the truck lol!
very sad to see Buckeye year like that. i’m right down the street from it. and it’s so sad to see it. the only think that goes in is a local and for csx is 708, 147, 146.
I agree. It really is sad to see these massive yards collecting dust and growing weeds.
@@nkyrailfan My memories of Buckeye. About midnight in the parking lot at the loco terminal and near the lot was an L&N C630. Got out the tripod and tried a night shot.
Got kicked out. to this day I was surprised anyone saw me! between the autos.
Seeing PC E8, GP9Bs, ALCOs and TP&W GP18 number 600. and other TPW GP38s too. Photoed Southern locos being turned on the "reversing loop."
The best part of Columbus is every 2 years when the "team up north" comes to town and gets the 5HIT kicked out of them. Then they go home,,,23 north.
You may have said but I cannot see what type of drone you're flying can you tell me which throwing you you're using ?
Thanks
Buckeye Yard, is no longer in existence, was torn out.
I saw that.
It really is sad to see these old yards ripped up and destroyed.
Get some video footage of the Marion hump yard former Erie yard
Hey Matt, is that the yard west of the diamonds?
If so, I'll try to head back up there this summer and get video of it
Heard some helicopters flying around in part of your video probably Midflight or Columbus Columbus police chopper. Did you have to get clearance for this flight ? just curious.
I did not have to get any special clearance.
The riverfront section of Columbus is between several restricted spaces where I would have needed FAA approval but where I was, I was able to fly with no issues.
I actually graduate my conductor certification classes for CSX this Friday and start working at parsons yard next Monday! I’ll be glad to update you with any info I find out while I’m there! Reply with any questions you have for me to ask anyone when I get there :D
That's awesome and congratulations! I hope you like it.
Thank you so much for the offer, I'll be sure to ask some questions in the future.
I would say one I know for sure, would be when a good time to catch a train leaving (north or south) on a weekend would be?
I'd like to follow something to the Ohio River or maybe up to Marion or further.
Either way, congrats again.
@@nkyrailfan Thanks so much! I’ll be sure to ask and keep a close eye. I know the road trips I’ll be going on will be primarily north and south since they have me going to Russell, KY and Up to Toledo multiple times for the next few months so those will be a definite. I’ll be able to inform you of a better schedule when I’m there in the action 😎
@@nkyrailfan Sorry for the late reply. I actually just worked the Marion Local yesterday. It’s H709 and it’s a daily run of mixed manifest empties and loads to Marion yard. We brought 35 and took 100 back to parsons. This one runs Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and leaves parsons anywhere between 2am and 3am and returns typically between 9am-11am (unless of course, our EOT decides to go into emergency every 5 min like the other day lol). I also worked the Sandusky local H792 that heads north anywhere between 6am to 7:30am. We head north up the Columbus Sub sometimes all the way to CD 112. Usually get back right around our 12 hour mark at 5pm. Great place to catch it before it slows down back into the yard is Kinnear Ave. by OSU. It also travels over all 3 bridges, 2 of which has pedestrian paths beneath (you probably knew that) and the time to catch it on those bridges when it returns would be between 3:30pm-4:30pm
Thank you so much for the info!
I'll definitely try and catch the Sandusky local if I can.
It sounds like it would provide a lot of good backdrops along the trip.
I hope you're enjoying the work.
Have a great day!
@@nkyrailfan Thank you! Yes it’s a great line for backdrops. There’s lots of over passes as well as crossings in the country that are lit up amazing by the sunrises
Where was the old passenger station?
I do not know. I wish I could help you out Tim.
14:06 now it’s being torn down for apartments of all things 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
What a shame, I just can't imagine that land being useful for apartments.
I'll have to stop by again when I head back to Columbus to get some the other yards.
NO, it's for WAREHOUSES !
@@CHESSIESYSTEM1985 *bruh* *moments* *intensify*
What kind of Drone do you use the pictures are fabulous
This was shot with a DJI Mavic Pro.
However, a few months ago, I upgraded to the Mavic 2 Pro.
Really though, most of the drones on the market give great results.
They're ripping out tracks now at Buckeye.
Ugh... That really is sad.
I've heard it's going to be industrial space being built in its place.
Buckeye yard is officially gone
Thanks for the heads up.
I hope to get up to Columbus in the next few weeks and check out the other yards.
I'll have to stop by and see what Buckeye looks like.
🌐🌐🌐🌐🌐🌐🌐🌐🌐🌐