Three Days' Worth of Railfanning

[B-Town]

11/8
My dad and I started out at Powell Road near Lewis Center, Ohio, hoping that Norfolk Southern would run a train, but an ATCS check showed that would not be happening anytime soon. We headed over to the Home Road overpass on CSX's Columbus Subdivision, but, just as before, we had no success. We left there once we heard CSX E904 call off Milepost 125 back over in Lewis Center. We rushed over to U.S. Route 23, sped through Delaware, and charged up Route 42. Once the train began calling off signals eight miles ahead of us, we decided to end the chase. At this point, another ATCS check from Geoff showed good news. An eastbound Norfolk Southern train was finally coming down the Sandusky Line. Before we would get to that, I shot the signal at Milepost 117 on the Columbus Line…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47491339@N04/6327066483/

We pulled up to Milepost 23 along Curve Road (back in Delaware) with enough time to set up the only flash I had brought. In my opinion, I think the picture turned out alright for just using a single Speedlight…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47491339@N04/6327558132/

11/9
After school on Wednesday, I went to Powell Road to see what was happening. Unlike the day before, there were actually quite a few trains running! The first one to pass under the bridge was CSX Q123. As mentioned in other posts, this train now runs to CSX’s intermodal terminal at Buckeye Yard via the Columbus Line instead of the Mt. Victory and Scottslawn Subdivisions. As you can tell in this photo, the Lewis Center defect detector has a new and ever-changing paint scheme…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47491339@N04/6332330343/

Meanwhile, NS train 218 was coming down the Sandusky Line, so I rushed up to the top of the bridge to shoot it…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47491339@N04/6332330647/

In that photo you can also see CSX U303, which was running right behind Q123. I stayed atop the bridge to shoot it, but in the meantime the rain intensified, getting me and my camera wet…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47491339@N04/6332330911/

By the time U303 cleared the defect detector, it was barely moving, so I rushed two roads down to Flint to see it again. Before CSX could make its move, NS had to run a mixed freight over the diamond at Worthington. It was raining even harder…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47491339@N04/6330977674/

As the train passes, the sun actually came out and a rainbow appeared over the signals…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47491339@N04/6332331205/

Now, it was time for that U303 to come on down. The clouds weaved their way all around the sun, but luckily, they cooperated enough to allow me to get a properly-lit shot of the train…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47491339@N04/6329748423/

11/10
...And finally, tonight I went out after school, once again. Just like Tuesday, it was another slow day for train traffic and I was only able to catch NS train 117 at the Powell Road overpass…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47491339@N04/6332331555/

- Brandon Townley