Hello everyone. Today's video is a compilation of railfanning action from my two railfanning trips at Canal Ridge Road in Cincinnati, Ohio, during the month of January. Much like my previous railfanning trips in Fostoria and Marion, these two days of railfanning down in Cincinnati were quite fortuitous, as I managed to catch not one but three heritage units at the same location.
The first heritage unit was CSX 1850, the Louisville and Nashville heritage unit, leading autorack train M216 from Louisville to Philadelphia. I must say, the L&N heritage unit is one of the best heritage units I have ever seen based on its accuracy to the original paint scheme. For those who do not know, this gray paint scheme with yellow lettering was the paint scheme for freight locomotives. The L&N is certainly one of my favorite heritage units I have seen and I hope to see it again sooner than later. A couple weeks later, I caught what some railfans called the "Foamer Express," which the same M216 train with the Monon (CSX 1897) and New York Central (CSX 1853) heritage units. This was my first-ever time catching two heritage units on the same train, and interestingly enough, this was the maiden voyage (first revenue service) for both the Monon and New York Central. Throughout the State of Ohio, a number of KZread Railfans chased in pursuit of this amazing duo and I was of course no different. The Monon is a great-looking unit, though I cannot exactly say the same for the New York Central. While it does not look bad per say, the NYC could look better. At least it does not look as bad as other heritage units I suppose.
In addition to the three heritage units, I also managed to catch two ex-BNSF working down at the hill. The first ex-BNSF unit is a Dash 9 now owned and operated by the Indiana and Ohio (I&O) shortline of Cincinnati. Since the beginning of the year, the I&O has gradually acquired older six-axle GE power, namely Dash 8s from CSX and Dash 9s from BNSF, to take over as the main power for the important trains. The shortline intends to keep the older power (SD40-2s) to local trains and yard jobs but will designate the "newer" GE power to run the mainline trains and transfer trains. The second ex-BNSF unit was one of the "Warren Buffett" SD70MACs. As some of you may have heard, BNSF sold off a good portion of their SD70MACs to Wells Fargo Holdings as part of downsizing the older fleet, and some of these former BNSF units that are not in storage are running on Norfolk Southern trains. This WFRX locomotive (ex-BNSF 8912) was the first "Warren Buffett unit" I have seen since my trip to Pennsylvania.
Aside from the heritage units and the ex-BNSF locomotives, the action at the hill was rather typical. That said, I did manage to catch a couple rare Boston and Maine covered hoppers on NS manifest 188 and a couple of NS Dash 9s. Not too shabby for a couple Mondays down in Cincinnati.
Thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoy the video!
-N&W475.