Is Deshler better?

[Alan]

Hi Fellow Railfans.

I was wondering if people think Deshler is better then Fostoria. I know all of the same east, west trains pass through both towns. What about north, south trains through Deshler. Are there any places to eat or sleep in Deshler?

[Mr. Tops]

Depends on what you plan on doing...Do you want to see a lot of trains, or do you want to see a few less and relax at at a park setting and see all the trains from your lawn chair? There are more CSX trains in Fostoria, plus you get the NS line from Bellevue to Ft. Wayne that will offer about 20-25 trains per day. However, you have to move around quite a bit to get all of the action. For a detailed report on a recent trip to Fostoria, here's a link to Bob M's post; he saw 115 in 30 hours: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13560. Deshler you will see anywhere from 50-60 trains per day.

North/south in Deshler is almost non-existent north of Deshler, only being a handful of trains that use the Toledo Sub north of Deshler, but there are about a dozen trains south of Deshler that use the SW and SE transfers. Q500 and Q501 are the only regularly scheduled trains that use the SW transfer. Q231, Q272, Q339, Q340, Q342, Q375 use the SE transfer. Q324, Q508, Q509 use the NW transfer, when they run. Q506, Q507, Q516, Q517 are the only regular trains to run straight through north/south, although any of them can take the the C&O south out of Toledo and turn west at Fostoria and then use the SE transfer at Deshler. I'm not sure if 516 and 517 are running right now.

No hotels in Deshler. Nearest one is just off I-75 at the North Baltimore/SR-18 exit. It is a dive. There are several chain hotels in Fostoria and the bigger cities around Deshler. So, it's up to you...

Deshler: Sit, relax, see all the trains from your lawn chair (50-60 tpd)
Fostoria: Stay busy catching all the trains on 3 different lines (90+ tpd)

[Y@]

For atmosphere, people, fun, and photo opps, Deshler wins in a landslide. For traffic volume, F-Town wins, but as Tops said, you gotta be willing to move to see all of it.

Deshler is a great place to be a foamer!

[gridejq]

Q516 and Q517 are no longer

[Y@]

516 and 517 have been gone awhile, and i never remember seeing them run straight north-south. in fact, i caught one of the last 516's with WC 6004 in the consist last year.

[Alan]

What is a foamer?

[SD80MAC]

What is a foamer?

Railroader slang for railfans.

[Y@]

Foamer- A term railroad employees use to describe a railroad enthusiast / railfan and the railfan community at large. Most often used disparagingly.

Thank you UrbanDictionary!

[MagnumForce]

Fostoria is quite a bit more urban in nature, Deshler is pure small town America. I love Deshler, but I enjoy having both places so close to home.

If you are looking to stay in Deshler you can pitch a tent or bring a camper to Crossroads Park, the railfan Park in town, we have a porta john, electric hookup, a scanner, and free wifi. Just drop a dime in the donation box to help the cause.

[PAT.C]

BEEN TO BOTH---LIKE BOTH---PREFER DESHLER.
THEY'RE NOT FAR APART-- CHECK THEM OUT THE SAME DAY.

F-TOWN IS CRIME AND DRUGS SO WATCH OUT--DESHLER IS SMALL TOWN RELAXATION.

[trainjunkie47]

I prefer the relaxed nature of Deshler.

[MagnumForce]

The crime and drugs in Fostoria is overblown. Sure it has more of both then in Deshler but it is also & times the size of Deshler.

That being said it is a lot worse then a town like Defiance that is a bit bigger.

I have been going to Fostoria for years and have never been bothered.

They are only a half an hour apart so why not try them both?

[odave]

...you can pitch a tent or bring a camper to Crossroads Park, the railfan Park in town, we have a porta john, electric hookup, a scanner, and free wifi. Just drop a dime in the donation box to help the cause.

Sounds like a nice place. I'm usually allowed one solo camping trip per year in the fall, maybe this can be one of my destinations.

Is this the aforementioned porta john?

[MDH]

I was wondering if people think Deshler is better then Fostoria.

I'll answer this just like how my 4 year old would:

"Which one do you want?"

"Both!"

[MagnumForce]

Is this the aforementioned porta john?

Indeed it is, although I think that picture is at least a year old, we have a nice concrete paver walkway to the Eel House now.

[StupidFlee​t]

[Y@]

LMFAO!

[BL2-1843]

As Mr. Tops and others say, it depends on what you prefer, the amount of trains, or other amendities. I do get a kick out of many who say you have to travel around a lot to "see them all". That however depends on if your interested in just seeing the trains, logging train and locomotive numbers, taking photos etc. While sitting along the B&O across from the old Amtrak Station, or, east of the Amtrak station, your up close to see trains on NS and along the old B&O, yet you can not see the locomotive numbers on the old C&O going north/south, or those taking the NE transfer without using binoculars. And then, you can't hardly see a thing of trains taking the SE transfer.

However, sitting at Columbus Ave, you can see ALL trains and locomotive numbers from dawn to dusk with ease, even though your are indeed further away to see east west trains on the old B&O, plus at night, the lights of F tower and other nearby lighting is enough to see locomotive numbers with binoculars. The trick for me, and a few others, in my goal of NOT missing the numbers on ANY train is to be on the right side of the tracks when two or more come by at the same time. I have had trains using all four transfers at the same time, and thats a trick. I may have to move around more than some, but thats the fun of the whole thing in my effort to not miss a number on every train.

I know that everybody has their "own thing" on what they are interested in, but its totally apalling in those precious few times that I have gotten caught on the "wrong side of the tracks" to ask railfans later, if they got the locomotive numbers on the train I missed. Very few times can I obtain them from fans who noted them. It is quite obvious that MANY fans there do not take photos, to not take videos, do not log train and locomotive numbers, they just sit there and watch trains. To me, I just think and ask myself "Whats the Point" of being there. If I did not do one of the above mentioned, and had no documentation of any kind of what I have seen, I might as well have stayed home, for just sitting and watching a train go by would not mean a thing to me. All I can say I guess, to each his own.

While I am not a drinker, if I wanted to go someplace to just socialize, I'd go to a bar.

[Alan]

Well Bob, you'll have to count me as one of the people who just sit there and watch the trains go by. I've been going to Fostoria for about 10 years now. When I first started going there I use to video tape each train that went by the old Amtrak depot. After about 6 hours of video tape I had the film transfered to dvd. When I watch the dvd, all the trains look alike except for a special train I may have caught on tape like the Barnum & Bailey circus train, or a train with military tanks on it. I could care less what engine it is, what number it is. I just enjoy sitting there watching the trains go by. Where I live in Michigan your lucky to see 5 trains all day. Now with the economy the way it is your lucky to see that many. So to go to Fostoria and see 50-60 trains in 12 hours is really alot of enjoyment for me. Like you said, to each his own.

As far as Columbus Ave. goes, this may seem like a silly question, but where do park? I've parked on the dirt lot next to that old building and a cop came along and told me to move or I'd be arrested, not the most friendly cop in Fostoria.
I wasn't trespassing on railroad property, I was sitting in my car. Maybe he didn't like my choice of music, I don't know. While I agree with you that you can see all the trains from Columbus Ave. I don't know where to park. That's why I'll park at the depot and once in a while walk to Columbus Ave. I also think there are better photo ops at Columbus Ave.

Someone had said that Deshler is not far from Fostoria, why not do both. Sounds like a plan to me.

[BL2-1843]

As many local Fostoria police that have come across my path over the years while at the diamonds, not a one has said anything negative to me, and those that stop, even in the dead of the middle of the night, its been nothing more than "how is train traffic this time of night". On Columbus Ave. I park either by the porta johns and picnic tables by the old building, or in the paved parking lot of the small industrial building directly across the street. In the middle of the night, will sit in the gravel area just to the east of the southeast transfer to get a better a look at the trains going east west on the B&O going by F tower.

I took slides from 1974-1986, and video from 1987-2006, but have logged daily trains since 1964 and continue to do so. Thats 45 years of log books noting train numbers, engine numbers, times by, and even back in the day when there was such a thing, caboose numbers. In addition, I have log sheets for every locomotive on CSX, (NS too) along with its paint scheme, can tell you the exact day I last saw any given locomotive, and cross reference it with the daily log book to tell you what train it was on and where. My goal here is to see how many different locomotives I can see each month, model by model as well, and do montly reports as well.

As I said, to each his own on what they want to do when fanning at trackside, but I could not just sit there and watch trains without any documentation of what I saw. I find it interesting as well, when doing overnighters, and on the times when there are many other fans there as well that spend more than one day there, they will always say. "Where did you stay last night" The response is, "Here" Here? Here where? Right HERE,, we spent the night here. Most are flabbergasted at my log sheets by how many trains went by in the night. Its that middle of the night action, often time hot and heavier than daytime, is what these overnighers are all about.