This is the latest installment in the series of driving trips of myself and my former coworker John. For those familiar with these trips, we hope you enjoy our latest adventure. For those unfamiliar, we hope you'll tolerate my ramblings about nothing in particular. A SPV Rail Atlas of Ohio will come in handy for following along.

Our schedules this year seemingly could never jive to get a driving trip in. After rescheduling several times, we finally arrived on October 23rd for our next journey. Coming up with an itinerary with new places to see in our great state is getting more difficult. As Johnny Cash once sang, "I've been everywhere..." Well, we haven't been everywhere in Ohio, but just about every rail line in the state has been followed on one of our trips. The notable exception are some of the lines in far northeast Ohio which take several hours of doing nothing but driving to get there. So earlier in the week John and I discussed possible options and he mentioned a spot not far from the Honda plant in Marysville as a possible spot to see. So taking this as a spot to plan from, I came up with a trip which started us in Marysville.

I picked up John who was still groggy and in disbelief at the Buckeyes' lost to Penn State the night before. I went to bed at halftime knowing that if I stayed up I would get very little sleep so I didn't know the outcome until the morning. I noted to John that it sounded as if Q123 was coming up the CSX (ex-CR) Columbus Line Subdivision which is just a mile or so from his house. So we drove over and waited about five minutes to see Q123 fly by us. The Leonardsburg detector said "60 mph" which at least temporarily reassured John and I that CSX had not relegated this low traffic line to "branch status" and reduced the track speed.

Q123 eastbound passes the signal at CP 111 at track speed on the CSX Columbus Line Sub.

Just north of this location is the line John mentioned to me - a branch line that extends from the T&OC and extends to Bellefontaine. I had driven up here several times but never noticed it. Just north of the County Road 125 road crossing you can see a tree line at an angle which denotes where the line used to exist. This line was abandoned by NYC so it has been gone for quite a while. We followed the line as closely as we could (the Honda plant was actually built on the right of way) until we arrived at East Liberty. John noted that he had seen photos of a depot here so we drove into town to take a look. Sure enough, a very precarious looking structure still sits today next to the RofW, as well as an old mill. The book "Railroad Depots of West Central Ohio" by Mark J. Camp notes that the depot was likely built in 1898 and that the rail line was abandoned in 1935 (though the "Sampling of Penn Central" book by Jerry Taylor says from Peoria to East Liberty was abandoned in 1937 and further west in 1932), so it is amazing the structure still stands. A local feline greeted us to her humble abode.

A feed mill and old depot still stand in East Liberty. Both have seen better days.

Here is a better view of where the NYC branch line ran between the two buildings. 

The feed mill still has its sign in place despite being abandoned for many years.

In spite being over 100 years old, the depot has weathered well being somewhat shielded.

The southeast side of the depot is largely overgrown with vegetation. 

Lots of junk, possibly from the old feed mill, litters the inside of the structure.

The size of the tree next to the depot gives a clue as to how long the rail line has been gone.

This friendly feline greeted us while we checked out the depot and feed mill. 

Historical marker in East Liberty, OH about John Garwood.

Looking north on the existing G&W (ex-CCC&STL) RofW at West Liberty, OH

Looking south on the G&W RofW at West Liberty, OH.

On the north side of town we find where the old alignment of the RofW curves into town. The rail here is jointed 90 lb., 1915 vintage rail.

The old CCC&STL alignment looking south toward West Liberty, OH

The old CCC&STL alignment looking north toward Bellefontaine, OH 

The grade crossing identification marker is from the Conrail era

The branch line we followed from Gar comes into Bellefontaine on the south end of town and meets what is left of a G&W (ex CR, CCC&StL) line from Springfield up to Bellefontaine at a spot called Gest. Here the track is welded 127 lb. 1952 vintage rail. We stopped here and took a few photos of the area which now serves as a trailhead. 

Looking north on the existing G&W (ex-CCC&STL) RofW at Gest (just south of Bellefontaine, OH

Looking south on the G&W RofW at Gest (just south of Bellefontaine, OH. A rail-trail is on the right side of the tracks.

On the west side of downtown Bellefontaine, all of the rail lines converged at the aforementioned sharp curve. A large station used to sit just north of the curve and two branch lines radiated to the northwest, one for the T&OC line we followed from Gar, and the other another former CCC&STL branch. Both show abandoned by Penn Central on the SPV map. BS Tower, a non-descript cinder block building slowly being taken over by vegetation, still stands at the former junction point at what is now known as CP 141. The first time I was here was in 1997 and the north-south track seen at Gest ended just south of the tower and still had an active NYC style signal even though the track was physically disconnected from anything else! Here are some photos of the area.

Looking southwest in Bellefontaine, OH, BS Tower is in the center of the photo behind the trees. The north-south line came in between the tower and the building on the left. This was once a very busy place.

Looking northwest in Bellefontaine, OH, the other T&OC and CCC&STL lines would have radiated north where the trees are on the left side. A large depot once stood where the trailer and containers are. 

The trees around BS Tower are now taller than it! The north-south line went to the left of it.

An eastbound CSX train struggles up the grade into Bellefontaine, OH. The 3rd unit was not online

This photo shows the sand being released by the locomotive to help gain traction on the curve and uphill grade 

After what seems like an eternity, the head end finally arrives at the road crossing. The train is moving at a jogger's pace through town.

After the rear end passed by, we heard the eastbound give a good roll by of a westbound. As loud as the eastbound was, the westbound sprints into town like a cat as it descends down the hill through town.

A CSX westbound empty hopper train effortlessly glides through Bellefontaine, OH 

We pile into the car only to hear another meet, this time it is another eastbound struggling up the hill. Though not quite as slow as the first train, this one also wasn't moving very fast, either.

Another CSX eastbound fights the grade and curve as it heads into Bellefontaine, OH

A going away shot of the train as it heads toward the Rt. 47 overpass

Our trip plan had us now following the Indy Line west for a while which is what we did. By the way, the road crossings a couple miles west of Bellefontaine offer some of the most scenic views in the state. The terrain is hilly, the few curves are broad yielding beautiful photos of the RofW and surroundings. It reminds me of some of the scenery shown in the western states. We passed through the town of De Graff which had some cars spotted at the local agri-business. Little did we know at the time that the spur leading off the main is the original alignment of the RofW. It is well documented that the CCC&STL realigned the RofW further west in Sidney which is what yielded the infamous Big 4 bridge, however it appears a second realignment was done between De Graff and Sidney. The satellite maps show the old RofW hugging the south shore of the Great Miami River then diverging south back to the current alignment about 1/2 mile east of the diamond with the DT&I (now G&W). Eagle-eyed John spotted the old RofW as we came into Quincy. Our guess is that this was realigned around the same time as the work in Sidney.

From Quincy westward to Sidney, CSX reworked the signals to be bidirectional as part of the work done to put in the new connector between the Indy Line and the ex-B&O Toledo Subdivision. Just west of Quincy we hear someone calling signals and see this eastbound train at Pemberton.

We catch this fast eastbound intermodal train at Pemberton, OH

After driving the wrong way on a one-way street for a block (I apologize to the three drivers who honked at me, and to my passenger John), we found the old feed mill that has a marooned Western Maryland boxcar placed at the building. In spite not turning a wheel in probably decades, the car still looks pretty good.

We continued to follow the line west through towns much smaller than other cities or countries with the same name (Houston, Russia and Versailles). At Dawn (the city, not the time reference), we did a quick stop to look at the grain elevator at this location. John notes that the elevator appears in one (or more) railroad books. The elevator is still there but any remnants of a spur are long gone. 

Also while out here in rural Ohio, John mentions that almost every house has a Trump-Pence political sign. Little did we know that this was indicative of how the Ohio vote would go - rural Ohio heavily in favor of Trump and the large metro areas for Clinton. Who says the rural vote doesn't count!

Eventually we arrive in Ansonia where the CSX rail line used to cross a PC (ex-CCC&STL) north-south line. Today the PC line exists south of the CSX main where it heads toward Greenville. This line is operated by RJ Corman. CSX has a small yard just west of where the diamonds used to be and a transfer track exists in the southwest quadrant. The train station, in poor shape, also still stands where the diamonds used to be. While circling the area we hear an eastbound train approaching and watch it by.

The view east at Ansonia, OH. The north-south PC line crossed where the depot is standing. The transfer track on the right heads to Greenville.

An eastbound mixed freight heads east through Ansonia, OH. The class lights are a give-away that this is a former Conrail unit leading.

We then follow the PC line south. A few miles south is where this line crossed a branch of the CR (ex-PRR) Panhandle line at Meekers which was abandoned in the mid-1980s. Nothing more than a tree line suggests that this one busy line existed.

After grabbing an average tasting lunch at Burger King (our preferred location, Wendys, was jam-packed with the Sunday post-church crown), we drove into Greenville to check things out. Along with the RJ Corman line, Greenville used to also have another ex-PRR east-west branch and a B&O (ex-D&U) northwest-southeast line thread through town. The now RJ Corman line crossed both lines, first the B&O on the northwest side, and then the PRR line on the southwest side where the two lines look to have run on common trackage for a mile or so before splitting. The RJ Corman line ends where this common trackage once existed. A switch allows it to access a mile or so piece of the east-west PRR line that runs to the east side of town. The east end of the PRR line is also where RJ Corman's operations are. A nice depot still exists a little north of the aforementioned switch which is now occupied by an antique store. We stopped to take a few photos.

View looking north in Greenville, OH. The depot, now an antique shop, sits next to the RJ Corman main (ex-CCC&STL). 

After doing a reconnaissance through town, we then followed the B&O RofW northwest to Union City, Ohio / Union City, Indiana. There also used to be an interurban route which basically followed the same route to Union City. Here are a few photos of the trackage and tower.

The view east at Union City, IN. The Ohio  - Indiana border is a block east of here. The land where the signal box is once had more tracks. 

The tower in Union City, IN still stands but needs a new roof.

We then followed the Ohio/Indiana state line road north until we met up with another RJ Corman line (ex LE&W). The track, jointed 115 lb., 1965 vintage rail, has a thick coating of rust but appears to be in good shape. The line has been paved over on the state route road crossing and vegetation covers the track so it isn't passable in its current state. We take a few photos to document it.

Looking east into Ohio (the concrete post marks the state line), the line is overgrown. The track has been paved over at road crossing in the distance

Looking west into Indiana the line is rusty but looks to be in good shape

We then follow the line back eastward into Ft. Recovery which has a large grain elevator but no spur exists. A little further east we find a string of tank cars in storage. 

Moving east we arrive in Celina where the RJ Corman line once crossed the PC line mentioned in Ansonia, as well as a long gone CH&D north-south line. A few NKP style signals still stand along the RofW of the RJ Corman line. The last remnant of the north-south CH&D line used to serve a grain elevator on the north end of town but it appears the route has recently (within the past five years) been abandoned. Here is a view where the line snakes into town.

Looking northeast toward Celina, a NKP style signal still stands at what used to be where a remnant of the CH&D breaks off to the north (the cars are on the CH&D alignment)

Looking southwest away from Celina, the former LE&W line appears to be getting some use

View of Grand Lake St. Marys on the eastern shore. The lake's algae bloom has resulted in fewer tourists visiting the area.

Here is the end of the line in Minster. The track makes a sharp curve and ends on the customer's property. A grain elevator just out of view on the immediate left may have been the original last customer, then this extension was built to serve the industry on the right.

Looking north toward St. Marys the line runs along side a large building which used to have an active spur

A CSX westbound heads into De Graff, OH. The original RofW breaks off just to the right of this photo.