Deshler is a very active junction between CSX N-S and E-W lines, which are all part of CSX's
Great Lakes Division.......
The E-W double-track line runs between Cleveland and Chicago. East from Deshler, it's
the Willard Subdivision (Deshler to
Willard), and runs through
Fostoria. Going west out of Deshler, it is the Garrett
Subdivision to Auburn OH.
The N-S line runs from Perrysburg (Toledo) to Cincinnati (via Lima and Dayton).
It is the Toledo Subdivision from Perry to Trent
OH (~161mi). Deshler is at milepost BE164.8. The busiest interchange is the
SE connection - for WB trains coming from Fostoria going south to Cincinnati.
Local railfans have been fortunate in their quest to set up a railfan park on the SW
corner of the diamond, and it is frequented by railfans a lot!
On the opposite corner stands the Deshler Tower, and it is out in the open and easy to shoot.
The line between Cleveland and Chicago is very busy, with easily 100 trains on an average day.
Maybe 20 of them take the interchange track between Fostoria and Lima.
East and west of Deshler, trains run at a pretty good pace, and Deshler Road (OH18) offers a
good vantage point of them for the most part.
Radio frequencies are:
Nearby hotbox detectors are at 52.2 to the east, 73.3 to the west, 160.6 & 158.9 to the south, and 178.8 to the north.
Other (kinda) nearby hotspots include:
-- Fostoria OH (~27mi east via OH18)
-- Leipsic OH (~8-10mi south on OH65)(the B&O line running south out of Deshler goes thru here)
-- Lima OH (~40mi south)(ditto for the B&O line going south out of Deshler)
-- Marion OH (~70 SE)
-- Sidney OH (~35mi south of Lima off I75)
-- Butler IN (~50mi NW on US6).
Over on the other side of North Baltimore (and I75), the line crosses the
Toledo Line Subdivision.
If anyone has them, I could use some good pictures of the signals at
locations 10, 13, and 14 on my map, or of the CPL's that used to be
on the E/W mainline, as I ran out of time and sunlight
on both occasions I was in town on a recent trip to MI and OH.
BTW, the angle of the diamond is 71 degrees:
Acknowledgements:
Denver Todd
Eric Davis, for all of the signal photos he sent in!
Thanks to Jim Mihalek for several of the photos, including the top of the page, looking east across the Deshler crossing, while everything was still all CPL's!
Robert L. Wheeler Jr, for corrected radio frequencies
Michael Maurer, for suggesting I add the angle of the diamond.... great idea, Thanks!
Dusk comes to Deschler... there's a small pond adjacent to signal #4.....
WB to SB Interlocking CPL
Bright Marker!
SB Interlocking CPL's
SB freight passing signals at 6, a little fuzzy...
NB to EB Interlocking colorlight along with EB Interlockers
Southside NB Dwarf CPL
Southside NB Cantilevered CPL's
Looking south from the cantilevered signals.
Looking even further south, pushing the limits of my little SX130.
SB freight passing under the cantilevered signals..... photo by Eric Davis
Northside NB and SB Interlocking CPL's
Another far off shot, taken from the cantilever location and across the
diamond....... Guess we'll have to do another trip to Deshler :-)
Two close-up shots of the dwarf, one is a time exposure.... cool... Thanks Eric!
SB CPL at the diamond
WB Colorlights at the diamond
Southside SB CPL on Signal Bridge
In this far off distant shot (taken from the cantilever),
we can see the signal bridge, and on the other side of it, a NB CPL off to
the side.... even further, the two red dots is probably another intermediate
signal another 2 miles or so down the tracks.... didn't have enough time or
sunlight to investigate..... anyone have pix?
Photos by Eric Davis.... GP-30 #2312 passing under the
signal bridge on its way south, and another cool time exposure!
EATS....
Admittedly, there are not a lot of choices when it comes to eating in Deshler, however, I can find three places,
and one comes recommended, Ron's.
-- Subway, at the Shell station on Main St.
-- Ron’s Supervalu Sandwich Shop, by the track about 3 blocks west of the park
-- Moma Rose's, at 119 East Main St, altho Google Maps streetview is not recent enough to capture the place.
Ron's
Subway at the Shell station
Don't see this a whole lot anymore with the digital signs....
One of the grade crossings on Main St with the N-S line.
Disclaimers:
I love trains, and I love signals. I am not an expert. My webpages reflect what I find on the topic of the page. This is something I have fun with while
trying to help others.
Please Note: Since the main focus of my two websites is railroad signals, the railfan guides are oriented towards the signal fan being able to locate them.
For those of you into the modeling aspect of our hobby, my indexa page has a list of almost everything railroad oriented
I can think of to provide you with at least a few pictures to help you detail your pike.
If this is a railfan page, every effort has been made to make sure that the information contained on this map and in this railfan guide is correct. Once in a while,
an error may creep in :-)
My philosophy: Pictures and maps are worth a thousand words, especially for railfanning. Text descriptions only get you so far, especially if you get lost or
disoriented. Take along good maps.... a GPS is OK to get somewhere, but maps are still better if you get lost! I belong to AAA, which allows you to get
local maps for free when you visit the local branches. ADC puts out a nice series of county maps for the Washington DC area, but their state maps do not have the
railroads on them. If you can find em, I like the National Geographic map book of the U.S..... good, clear, and concise graphics, and they do a really good job
of showing you where tourist type attractions are, although they too lack the railroads. Other notes about specific areas will show up on that page if known.
Aerial shots were taken from either Google Maps or Bing Maps as noted. Screen captures are made
with Snagit, a Techsmith product... a great tool if you have never used it!
By the way, floobydust is a term I picked up 30-40 years ago from a National Semiconductor data book, and means miscellaneous
and/or other stuff.
Pictures and additional information is always needed if anyone feels inclined to take 'em, send 'em, and share 'em, or if you have something to add or correct.... credit
is always given! Please be NICE!!! Contact info is here
Beware: If used as a source, ANYTHING from Wikipedia must be treated as being possibly being inaccurate, wrong, or not true.