I&O Operations

[Notch 8]

If a person was wanting to catch traffic on the I&O north of Quincy and south of the MI-OH Stateline what times would work best ? Anything daylight or weekends ? I look for change to come to this property and wanted to catch some of the trains and the property prior to the changes.. My parents use to live in Rosewood OH and I remember the GT Trains... Oh how I wished that I wold have taken more photo's of that line when the GT ran their trains over these rails, Does the Canadian traffic still travel south the Cincinatti over this route. I remember NS coal trains too... and alot of auto racks.. What is the condition of the line today ? I know 5-6 years was the last big re-tie south of Quincy. Does anything interchange at Hamler ? Quincy ? I don't think that Henry would be to pleased to see the property today ! Hopefully the new owners will be able to put more traffic over the I&O and the CF&E... or let Amtrak run on it, stranger things have happened !

[StupidFlee​t]

Does the Canadian traffic still travel south the Cincinatti over this route.

Not a lot.

I remember NS coal trains too... and alot of auto racks.

Both gone.

What is the condition of the line today ? I know 5-6 years was the last big re-tie south of Quincy

25 MPH seems to be common.

Does anything interchange at Hamler ? Quincy ?

Some grain trains interchange in Hamler. The interchange in Quincy has been gone for a long time.


Follow viewtopic.php?f=26&t=26661 for the north end and viewtopic.php?f=26&t=24722 for the south end.

[midland sub]

Buy the Neff Videos on the DT&I-GT years. There's a nine video set available, the last two are pretty rough tough. Best way to remember those years.

Line is exactly what it is supposed to be. Overhead traffic was a drain from the get go. No money in moving it as CN set the deal up with the I&O getting a flat fee per car. CN also got a split of all traffic they originated for first ten years like the pig iron traffic. CSX snagged a lot of the CN traffic, but everyone forgets that CN bought a certain railroad over in Illinois back in '99 that extended their southern reach too. Autorack traffic was a joke. Revenue was nothing on it. Derail one loaded one and it took forever to recover the revenue to pay the transit damage on it.

25 mph from Diann to Wash CH. No need to go faster at this point. Track is in much better shape than it was say seven or eight years ago, but that's more change in management. Ford wouldn't be too upset other than the dirty, mix matched locos. Property makes money.

[alittlevanwerty]

You can catch the LSL leave Lima southbound between 10:30 and noon. Many good spots to photograph the run.

Any know what's up with the pig iron traffic. I have not seen the empty gons on the LSL lately.

[lbable]

Any know what's up with the pig iron traffic. I have not seen the empty gons on the LSL lately.

The unload and service tracks for Cincinnati Barge on the oasis were out of service for about a week. CDT didnt get to run around for that same reason that weekend.

[AARR]

The LNL operates late at night from what I hear. Not much chance of catching it during daylight hours. However, the Delta Local usually operates during daylight hours and goes north to Flat Rock several days per week usually departing around 6am.

[midland sub]

Thanks for the info on the pig iron. Haven't really seen any for the past couple weeks when I've been around. Heard there might be a bit more pig iron moving on the I&O.

Any know what's up with the pig iron traffic. I have not seen the empty gons on the LSL lately.

The unload and service tracks for Cincinnati Barge on the oasis were out of service for about a week. CDT didnt get to run around for that same reason that weekend.

[Y@]

Delta Switcher goes on duty before dawn and usually heads north sometime between 11-13:00 three or four days a week. They return south whenever they're done in the Rock. That's about it for daylight runs on the north end.

[Notch 8]

Thanks to everyone for the replies, my other qustion is more than 1 train a day ? How many car average ?

Mike

[midland sub]

No just one train on each segment unless there's a grain train. LSL is Lima to Springfield (thru Quincy) in the late morning/early afternoon and back. LNL is Lima to Delta at night and back.

[GenXRailMedia]

I look for change to come to this property and wanted to catch some of the trains and the property prior to the changes..

I would regard the last 2-3 years on the former DT&I north of Springfield as the hitting rock bottom years, and would just as soon forget they ever happened.

[AARR]

I would regard the last 2-3 years on the former DT&I north of Springfield as the hitting rock bottom years, and would just as soon forget they ever happened.

Did you mean north of Lima. Seems traffic south of Lima to Springfield and WCH is decent with P&G's, pig iron, etc.

[midland sub]

No AARR he means north of Springfield. The last of the autorack traffic left in early 2010 and a lot of railfans lost interest in the I&O for the most part. Throw the revenue discussion out the window for a minute and the autorack traffic really was the last remnant of the old DT&I. I think most railfans remember the auto traffic of the '70s and '80s when the DT&I comes to mind. Other than the Neff videos my GT experience was not much more than seeing them back in '93-94 while at Wright State in Fairborn every once in awhile, so I really don't have much to complain about the GT years. The I&O purchase of the line from Springfield to Diann brought a lot of hope and excitement to the line. The overhead traffic and the overflow traffic from the Conrail split chaos made the first couple of years great to watch. Sort of the spirit of the old DT&I again. Now that the autorack traffic is gone and never coming back, the mystique of the DT&I is gone for a lot railfans.

[Notch 8]

Kinda like when the AA lost her Ferries ? Never to be the same.....

[AARR]

Kinda like when the AA lost her Ferries ? Never to be the same.....

April, 1982, is when the last ferry brought in railcars. It's never been the same even though the successors of the lines (TSBY/GLC) have built up decent online busines.

[MSchwiebert]

Granted, part of it was due to the "mega-mergers" (CSX & NS) but the dark era in my opinion was during the GT's ownership of the line. The GT never understood (or cared) about what made the DT&I work, and the traffic they ran off illustrated that perfectly. Consider that at this time both the N&W & Chessie had bid for the DT&I as well. If, for instance the N&W would have ended up with it, could the DT&I have served the purpose that NS's New Castle district serves today? Almost certainly had either N&W or Chessie ended up with it, the North end and it's advantage of avoiding Toledo would be more widely used than it is now.