November 2022 Railfanning in Fostoria, Ohio; A Decent Day of Railfanning at the Iron Triangle.

Hello everyone! On Veterans Day 2022, I ventured up to the legendary Fostoria Iron Triangle up in Fostoria, Ohio, with my friend and fellow CZcamsr Cincy Railfan Productions along with his younger brother. This day of railfanning was once again an interesting day as they always are in Fostoria, and once again a bit different than the normal day. This day of railfanning was one marked with a plethora of fallen flag rolling stock and older and legendary locomotives still in service. In terms of action, this day was a bit slower than usual (especially for Norfolk Southern), but the CSX action and CSX catches made up for decreased train count.
The day started with a bang; the first westbound manifest train of the day featured an old-school Union Pacific boxcar and a Denver and Rio Grande Western boxcar back-to-back in the consist. Both boxcars were in amazing shape for their age, and though it's hard to make out the Rio Grande logo on the boxcar, the reporting marks DRGW are still clear as day. Amazing catch, and this was the first time I can recall seeing a rare Rio Grande boxcar. The action of CSX continued to roll right along with an eastbound intermodal train and a coal train coming off the Columbus Subdivision within the next 30 minutes of railfanning. After the coal train cleared the Iron Triangle, manifest train M506 came eastbound with one of the best sites in modern railroading: A Dash 8-40CW leader. As many of you may know, Dash 8's and Dash 8-40CW's are now rail locomotives in the railroad industry, and CSX is the largest railroad to use Dash 8's for regular service. Seeing one in service is great, but seeing on as the lead engine is even better. The lashup on M506 was quite a sight in of itself with an SD40-2 and an SD40-3 as the trailing engines, pretty good!
After M506 passed on through, we caught back-to-back intermodal trains on the Norfolk Southern Fostoria District, passing by the railpark within 30 seconds of each other. The westbound intermodal had an amazing hornshow with an SD70ACe leader, and I was amazed with how well the footage came out of the two trains. Sadly, these trains were half of the entire action on the day for Norfolk Southern. The two remaining trains of the day were another eastbound intermodal train in the late morning and the afternoon local train returning to the NS Blair Yard after working the Fostoria industries.
The Willard Subdivision made up for the slowness of the Fostoria District for the remainder of the day following the three intermodal Norfolk Southern trains. Even better, CSX would feature another Dash 8-40CW, this time in YN2 paint, as the trailing unit on a westbound manifest in surprisingly good condition. This was the first time I'd seen multiple Dash 8's in action for the first time in eight months, and coincidentally, the last time I saw multiple Dash 8 locomotives was from my last trip to Fostoria in March 2022. After a westbound intermodal passed through, we had another great catch: G110 with BNSF power and a BNSF Warbonnet, aka a "Fakebonnet." This was the first BNSF Warbonnet I've seen since possibly my trip to Kansas City where I saw multiple Fakebonnets. A great catch, especially on foreign rails. As if that wasn't good enough, intermodal train I168 featured the third Dash 8-40CW of the day, another Dash 8 in YN2 paint. I cannot recall the last time I saw a trio of Dash 8's in the same day, it probably has been at least five years when they were more common. Still, seeing three of them in good operating condition is one of the best sites in the railroad industry and I hope these engines can keep running for a while longer before CSX retires them.
As for the rest of the day, aside from northbound manifest L456 on the Pemberville Subdivision and the NS local on the Fostoria District, all the traffic took place on the Willard Subdivision. Fortunately, the Willard Subdivision remained quite active, and featured more good catches. Among them were Canadian Pacific intermodal I166 and better yet, the rolling stock on manifest trains M560 and M368. M560 featured a number of great rolling stock, including Conrail 86-foot boxcars and a rare Louisville and Nashville Family Lines Boxcar. M368 featured a rare boxcar of its own, a Montana Rail Link boxcar. It was a good day for the boxcar with all these fallen flag railroads still in action on the modern CSX trains.
Overall, for my first railfanning trip to Fostoria in over eight months, this day was a decent day overall. I can't complain too much with the number of Dash 8's in active service, a good inclusion of foreign power, and the sheer and incredible number of fallen flag boxcars, many that are rare. This trip has me wanting to return to the Iron Triangle once more, which I plan on doing probably in the beginning of 2023.
Thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoy the video!
-N&W475

[@TriGogglin]

👍👍👍

[@jamesburnside3023]

Well done Cheers

[@NW475]

Thanks mate!

[@donconklin1770]

Good video!

[@NW475]

Thank you my friend!

[@nanjegowda2727]

Nice vidio

[@NW475]

Thank you!