RAILFAN GUIDES of the U.S.
Todd's Railfan Guide to
NORTH BALTIMORE OH
In General
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North Baltimore is on CSX's E-W line known as the Willard Subdivision (Deshler to Willard). It is part of CSX's Great Lakes Division. The double track line runs between Cleveland and Chicago.
The towns hosts an ex B&O depot and a couple of signals to both the west and east of Main St.
From the north or south of town, the easiest way is to take exit 167 off of I75, and then head west on OH18 about a mile.
From the east, say, coming from Fostoria, take OH18 out of town and all the way into North Baltimore. From the west, again, it's OH18.
If you're into chasing the E-W line, OH18 is the only game in town, but it is not always that close.
4 CSX Intermodal Facility
CSX's new Intermodal Facility in Henry Township, between North Baltimore and Deshler (or more correctly, Hoytville), opened in February of 2011 - construction started in 2009.
One of the major roles of the facility is to act as a classification yard for stack trains.
An additional role is to take double stack trains from the west and convert them to single levels for their trip to points east like Baltimore because of the low tunnel clearances to get there.
More info at:
http://www.csx.com/index.cfm/media/press-releases/northwest-ohio-terminal-begins-service/
And a PDF fact sheet is at:
http://www.csx.com/share/wwwcsx_mura/assets/File/Media/Northwest_Ohio_Terminal_Fact_Sheet.pdf
Picture from CSX's PDF about the facility.
New track going in for the intermodal facility (photo by
Bonnie Knaggs)
Looking east towards North Baltimore, a WB freight
waits for a favorable indication.
There is a 90 degree curve in the road coming from N Baltimore, and you can
pull off here... this is looking west towards the facility, with
interlocking signals for going into and coming out of the yard.
After 2 days of clouds and rain, we finally get a clear sky appearing at
sunset.....
5 North Baltimore Depot
The B&O came through North Baltimore in 1873, when it was called Peters Crossroads. The first ticket office was set up in a store owned by B. L. Peters. Later in the year the B&O opened their first station. The town changed it's name to Baltimore in 1874, but soon changed it to North Baltimore to prevent confusion with a town of the same name. The original depot burned down in 1888, but the next one they built is the one you see today. In 1923, the town and the B&O celebrated the Golden Jubilee of the railroad coming to town.
In a little other local info.... The Toledo, Bowling Green & Southern Electric Interurban (streetcar) Line through North Baltimore was completed in 1902, but abandoned in 1930 due to competition from automobiles (and pressure from the Great Depression).
The Main Street grade crossing.
Looking east past the siding side of the depot.
1 EB
This and the next set are shot from the Main St grade crossing in North Baltimore.
There is a set of EB signals adjacent to the WB's in the lower set, but looking down the track to the east, you can see the next two sets of signals. The overpass is I-75. Beyond the interstate, you can just barely see the interlocking signals for the diamond with the N-S line. That diamond is fully signaled.
2 WB
NEW
10/15/2011
Last Modified
22-Dec-2012