October 2020 Railfanning in Central Ohio; A Good Day of Railfanning in Marion, Ohio.

Hello everyone! On Wednesday, October 14th, 2020, I traveled up to Marion for the first time in about 15 months (since July 2019) to do some railfanning with my fellow Youtuber and Railfan Cincy Railfan Productions. It was a good day all around at the old Marion Union Station and museum, one filled with the usual trains and a few surprises. Between the trains and the nice weather, it was a pretty good day of railfanning.

In a day full of surprises and interesting catches, perhaps no surprise was more unusual than the Loram Rail Grinder at work on the CSX Columbus Subdivision (the ex-C&O mainline). This was only the second time I've ever seen a railgrinder in action; the last time I saw one in action was back in June 2017 up in Chesterton, Indiana. On this day of railfanning the CSX maintenance crews were cleaning and replacing the ballast along the west CSX diamond (the Columbus Subdivision/Indianapolis Line Subdivision diamond), and it was a rather fascinating process to witness.

The only downside of the Loram Rail Grinder at work was a slowdown of trains. Between 8:30 and 11, there were over 9 trains, but between 11 and 3 (when the railgrinder and maintenance crews were at work), there were only 5 trains. While it's not surprising that CSX would send less trains due to maintenance on their tracks, Norfolk Southern was remarkably quieter than normal on this day. Not too sure as to why, but I believe it is possible the maintenance on the CSX and proximity of CSX tracks to the NS tracks could have an impact on total traffic. The Columbus Subdivision was the quietest line on this day, only the two local trains came through on this day of railfanning. The other two lines, even with slightly less traffic, still put on quite a show with their mix of manifest, intermodal, and local trains. Fortunately, after 3 p.m., traffic picked back up and I saw six more trains between 3 and 5 p.m.

The two catches that made the day came from the daily locals for both CSX and NS. The CSX local, as usual, featured the old Conrail Caboose that the local crews use around Marion on the Indianapolis Line Subdivision. It's always terrific to see ex-Conrail equipment and unpatched Conrail equipment still in use. The Norfolk Southern local, on the other hand, featured a conductor with a great sense of humor. As the local passed, the Conductor put on a Scary Clown Mask in the spirit of the upcoming Halloween Season. Cincy Railfan Productions and I now like to call him "Conductor Clown" and you'll be able to see him and his mask in the latter part of this video. It's always great to see railroad employees who have fun while on the job.

The local trains weren't the only trains to feature unique equipment and other interesting catches. Two of the afternoon Norfolk Southern manifest each featured a DPU unit, with the northbound train even including a Loram Rail Grinder unit. As for CSX, it almost seems CSX is bringing back Q365 and Q366 (or similar trains like it), though I'm not totally sure. Q365 and Q366 were perhaps the most unique trains in Marion as they feature both intermodal and manifest on the same train, and I saw both the eastbound and westbound versions of this train. Like I said, I'm not too sure if this is permanent or temporary, but it's worth noting.

All in all, it was a good day of railfanning and one of the few times I've been railfanning in which maintenance didn't pause the flow of traffic and the fun of railfanning. I plan to make it back to Marion sometime in the next few months. Thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoy the video!

-N&W475