What's to see along I-69?

[GAP]

If you head south from Coldwater Michigan along I-69 what good railfanning sights are along the way? Where do you cross the NS and also the CSX? Anything else of interest along the way?

[CSXIndyLine]

You'll cross the NS Chicago Line at Waterloo, then the CSX Garrett Sub a couple of miles south in Auburn. Then theres a mess of tracks in Fort Wayne. A little bit south of the Fort you cross the NS Huntington District. Then its a while before you see more tracks. Towards Muncie you cross the NS Frankfort District, then the CSX Indianapolis Line in Daleville. From there on its Anderson where you cross the CSX Emporia Branch, then the Indianapolis Line again in Pendleton and that will do it until you get to Indy.
The NS and CSX lines up north host a nice number of trains with frequent train traffic. I'll let some of the others fill you in on Fort Wayne as I am not too familiar with that area. If you are willing to get off 69 and go about 9 miles east of State Road 32, you will run into Muncie where the NS New Castle District and Frankfort District meet the CSX Indianapolis Line. Theres a nice amount of trains through the area, but expect lulls. Its sometimes hit or miss up there. NS is usually steady throughout the day, CSX had spurts in the morning and evening, with a handful during the day. If you make it into Indianapolis, it is not as busy as you might think it is. However, with the right devices, one can scoot around town to a variety of locations to catch the action. The Louisville and Indiana Railroad comes into Indy around lunch time every week day. INRD has a small yard on the southside. Unless you know something is coming, I wouldn't recommend sitting on IRD (been there, done that). Through downtown around CP IU you will have the Indy Line trains (20-25 a day) along with the B&O trains (2-4 a day?) Around midnight, Amtraks southbound Cardinal comes in from Chicago, with the Hoosier State leaving northbound around 6:30am. Then vice versa for the NB Cardinal and SB Hoosier.
I'd say your best bet for stopping somewhere along the way would be either the Chicago Lines up north, Fort Wayne, or Muncie.

[jwilliam33]

You'll also cross Indiana Northeastern's ex Wabash line at Ashley, Indiana.

[GreatLakesRailfan]

Unless it's all ripped out now, IIRC, you should cross a Rail America line down near Upland/Gas City (south side of Marion). Might be the CERA(?) Last I knew, a lot of the line had been pulled out, but some was used for storage...