CSX's Avon Rail Yard Tour and Indianapolis Railfanning
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2021
- Hey everyone and welcome back for another railfan adventure.
Today, we're heading west to Indianapolis and CSX's Avon Yard.
It's about ten miles west of downtown.
It's just about three-and-a-half miles from end to end, with 66 miles of track.
This is also known as the Big Four Yards in honor of the nickname for the railway that became part of the New York Central.
It allowed the New York Central to consolidate several other yards in the Indianapolis area.
When it was built, this was touted as the most advanced facility in the United States.
The yard had 55 classification tracks when built.
When built, the yard had a capacity of more than 4,400 rail cars.
It could process as many as 3,000 of them a day.
When first built, each track was controlled by a push button panel in the main yard building.
Now, it's all electronically switched.
Originally, the system could sort 160 cars an hour.
Less than a decade after Avon opened, the New York Central would disappear, along with its rival the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The two would try to stay in business by merging into what's known as the Penn Central.
However, three years after that, the Penn Central filed the largest bankruptcy in American history at that time.
Avon would come under the Consolidated Rail Company, Conrail and ultimately CSX.
Ironically, the New York Central preferred to merge with the Chesapeake and Ohio, but that was shot down.
CSX is the consolidation of the Chessie System and the Seaboard System.
This was a great trip.
Indianapolis has a lot to offer when it comes to railfanning.
Plenty of great spots.
And for a Saturday, there was a good bit of action.
As I was exiting the garage, that eastbound train came through.
There's not a great place to view Avon Yard though.
There is a bridge on either end with sidewalks but they both have fences on the sides.
Even then though, you're probably still too far away.
I hope to come back and check out some of the other lines that come through Indianapolis.
I don't know where we'll head next but I do hope you'll join me.
Until then, have a great day! - Auta a dopravní prostředky
I mistakenly say the Chessie System merged with the Seabord Coast Line.
I should have said the Seabord System.
My apologies for the error.
Really cool shot of the trains passing on the bridge. 😊😊😊
Awesome video! I love rail yards! ❤❤❤😊😊😊
Amazing Catch of that Chessie Boxcar on that Westbound Freight you caught at Indianapolis Union!
My dad worked there. He worked in the tower that controlled which track the box cars would go into.
That's pretty cool!
Did you ever get to check out the yard while he was working?
Man. This yard is near me, and I used to go here all the time to railfan, but school got in the way, but I plan on railfanning this summer.
Nicely done. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Thank you Joe. I really do appreciate it.
Your Communication and Drone Shots are Excellent. Just Subscribed to your Channel. Thanks!👍
Thanks Ken. I really do appreciate that!
Have a great day.
This may be my favorite. I have family in Indy, & always have wanted to railfan there. Great video!!
Thank you very much.
It's a shame there aren't any spots (at least that I could find) to watch the yard from the ground.
But Indianapolis seems to have a lot of good places to watch trains as they come and go.
AWESOME VIDEO NKYR, and the AVON yard was quite impressive! I'm glad you showed the "HUMP" have to say that was my 1st time seeing one and was AMAZING to see in action! Thanks for sharing your videos and I'm viewing them from Delmar, Delaware.
Hey Shawn, thank you very much. I'm really glad you enjoyed it and my other videos.
The metal shed was added for Amtrak.. Amtrak uses space on side south shared with Bus
Thank you for the information. I appreciate it.
Really wonderful above the trains video!
Thank you very much.
This will make you happy I gave your information to a friend of mine who happens to be a real fan himself good job I shot with the drone keep up the good work once again an A+ job well done
Thanks Albert. I appreciate you sharing my work.
Have a great day!
nice very cool
I just found you on YT. Great video. I live in Indy and you have shots that I've never seen. Keep up the good work and come back anytime.
Thank you very much, David. I do appreciate it.
I hope to make it back by the end of the summer.
If you have any recommended spots, I'm always looking.
Have a great day.
Selkirk (NY) also has a “balloon track” to turn locomotives around.
Wow! Epic video man! At the engine shops I can also see a Music City Star F40, and RSSX unit, and another EMD switcher which I’m not sure the company of. Very awesome!
Thank you very much. I really do appreciate it.
South of the bowl is the receiving yard, the two engines are pulling cars out to shove them over the home. North of the bowl is the departure yard.
Thank you for the info. I do appreciate it.
Beautiful video. Your drone video sets you apart from other videographers (i don't even know what that word means). What drone do you use? Also do you by chance work for one of the Cincy TV stations? Your video makes me realize how small we are in the big picture. Also, a single place in a particular town may degrade from the looks of a town or city but taken as a whole, the rest covers it up and makes for some very beautiful cities. Great job, keep the videos coming!
Thanks Rupert, I do appreciate it.
I use a DJI Mavic Pro 2.
Honestly, the drone does all the work.
I just try not to crash into anything.
I do work for one of the TV stations.
Like the operation of your RR.
It's a shame that the RR closed most of them in the US, we closed all of them in the 1960's in the UK, under the govenment and Beaching, where mainly single goods trains run.
Thanks from.the UK for the video
Thanks Anthony, I do appreciate it.
I've got the Microsoft Train Simulator version of this route from Marion, Ohio to Avon Yard. Looks like the track arrangement in downtown is quite accurate from what I see in the video.
is it racist?
The GMS car poking out of the train shed is still in service and operates as the W002. W001 is the passenger set that normally utilizes the 6025 for power, W002 is the self-propelled GMS car and W003 is the other passenger set that operates with the 9969.
Awesome! Thanks for the info Jason. I do appreciate it.
12:33 I’ve had the complete opposite experience NS will have me wait 2-3 hours for a train to show while CSX might be 10-45 minutes.
A slight correction. Chessie did not merge with the "Seaboards Coast Line System". Chessie merged with Seaboard System. The Seaboard System was a transformation of the Family Lines. The Family Lines was a conglomeration of roads all controlled by/with either ACL or SAL. ACL and SAL merged to form SCL (Seaboard Coast Line). When Seaboard System began, all family lines identities ended.
Thank you very much.
I'll make a note at the top of the comments about the mistake.
For as many Distant Signal videos as I've watched, I should not have made such a mistake.
in the Conrail Days you see more Automotive Traffic for the St Louis Gateway and for the UP At St Elmo, Ill and one of my favorite trains was STBN/BNST INFW/FWIN PIIC/ICPI PIEW/NLPI INSE/SEIN., PIIN/INPI STIN/INST AND ELIN-A/INEL-A To Name a Few now that CSX Took over not much Automotive Traffiic compare to NS on the Lafayette District
excellent video from start to finish really enjoyed seeing the yard and downtown Indy. The issues that CSX was having that day discussed on the scanner are they normal or did it seem more serious? thanks
Thank you very much. I really do appreciate it.
I think the issues are just daily problems crews must deal with.
It seems no matter where I go, I hear about at least one train dealing with some issue.
@@nkyrailfan thanks good to know
That yard is a former Conrail yard too
Tramps camped out on the west side of the river.
The exit to the Pogue’s Run tunnel (essentially a small creek that was buried under downtown Indy) on the east (right side of the frame) also at 10:27.
No more IU Tower. Used to be in the center of your parking garage shots.
It looked like something used to be there but had been cleared out.
It was removed fairly recently.
Good evening to you. Do you know if Amtrak had stopped running the Hoosier State train at the time you filmed this video? When you was at Union Station, I was looking for a parked Amtrak train or at least a locomotive nearby. Since at the time you was there the Cardinal would have came through already if it ran that day.
Sadly, it looks like the Hoosier State train service ended in 2019.
@@nkyrailfan Oh ok. Just curious
What drone do you have?
Is that a drone
Yes, it is.
I wonder if amtrak goes thru that yard?
I don't believe it does.
It looks like it takes the track the local takes and then heads north and then onto Crawfordsville.
No, it doesn't. It turns north east of the yard and heads northwest towards crawfordsville.
@@saucerman90 oh okay.
Never too poor to tour
2:59 what is in between the csx locos
I didn't even notice until Galaxy Railfanning pointed it out.
It's the Music City Star F40.
The Music City Star is a commuter rail service between Nashville and Lebanon, Tennessee.
@@nkyrailfan thank you