My Son has a keen interest in the Bellevue to Toledo section of the former W&LE mainline and plans to one day make a layout of his own based on that route but in the 2010's to present day Norfolk Southern format.
Recently he wanted to scout out several locations along that route and take photos to record things for the future. Google maps and street view can be a great tool for modelers but sometimes you just gotta see it for yourself. So I agreed to take a excursion through western Ohio with him and tour the former W&LE mainline.
We arrived in Bellevue by 11am and started our morning at the Kemper Rail Park next to the NS control point called "Mini Plant" where the NKP's Chicago mainline, the exPRR Sandusky route and the old and new W&LE lines all come together. It wasn't long before we saw the first three trains of the day, 2 NS trains and a W&LE freight.
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| NS intermodal bound for the Oak Harbor NYC connection |
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| Two W&LE SD40T-2 tunnel motors heading into Moorman Yard. |
After railfanning for a hour, we stopped by the Mad River NKP Museum to check out the freshly repainted NKP Diner-Lounge #127 and pay homage to the NKP W&LE designed steel caboose #783 and the former NKP SD-9 #349 that toiled in the Adena area rails that I model.
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| NKP Diner Lounge #127 |
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| NKP Caboose 783 |
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| N&W SD-9 2349 (ex NKP 349) |
There aren't many actual W&LE or NKP artifacts and buildings remaining along this part of the Toledo line anymore but seeing the scenery and over a dozen trains during the drive made up for it.
After stopping by Clyde briefly we got to Fremont and the Sandusky River bridge just in time to catch another train.
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| NS train over the Sandusky River Bridge |
The 389 foot through plate girder Sandusky River bridge was built in 1911 and will made for a impressive model one day!
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| NS/W&LE Sandusky River Bridge in Fremont |
The rail served Fremont Michigan Sugar plant would be a must have for a layout so we paid it a visit but unfortunately from afar. There as a lot of boxcars and covered hoppers on the spurs at the plant.
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| Fremont Michigan Sugar |
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| LE&W Fremont Depot with NS (ex N&W) SD40-2 6118 |
From Fremont we travelled to Oak Harbor to see the bridge over the Portage River. You can tell by the elongated concrete pier in the middle that the bridge used to be a swing bridge a long time ago. No trains went through to photograph while we ate lunch at the gas station parking lot next to the river.
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| Oak Harbor Portage River Bridge |
A bit down the tracks in Oak Harbor stood a old Steelox style building the NKP used in many locations.
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| NKP steelox building in Oak Harbor |
In my Son's future layout, one of the primary scenes he wants to include is the sweeping curve and grade that takes the old W&LE mainline up and over the former NYC water level route just north of Oak Harbor. After Norfolk Southern acquired Conrail, NS built a connecting track between the ex W&LE and ex NYC mainlines. This allows westbound traffic from Bellevue to join the ex NYC mainline to Chicago and eastbound trains on the ex NYC to take the former W&LE tracks to Bellevue yard or other points east and south at the Mini Plant CP in Bellevue. Here's a link to a Google map view and a couple of photos we took.
Google Maps NS Oak Harbor Connection
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| Bridge over the NYC Chicago Mainline |
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| W&LE Oak Harbor Bridge over S. Railroad St. |
It'll be interesting to see how this scene can be recreated in HO scale, especially since my Son wants to include a live west side of the NYC main to replicate trains using the new connection.
From Oak Harbor west there really wasn't much more to see but to me probably one of the best things still remaining from the old W&LE/NKP days. At the Williston Siding near Curtice,OH you'll find original W&LE US&S searchlight signals still in use! Pretty darn cool if you ask me. We parked along Williston Rd. and got some nice photos without trespassing. Nearby to the west on S. Wynn Rd. there are also another set of searchlights.
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| W&LE Searchlight signals at Williston Siding |
We headed to Homestead Yard to take what photos he could and drove around the new giant Cleveland-Cliffs new Hot-briquetted iron plant that seems to be a big traffic producer for NS in Toledo. This is a pretty impressive place and can be seen for many miles while approaching Toledo due to it's tall tower structure. Since there really wasn't a lot to see around Homestead with easy access we started to head back to Bellevue.
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| Toledo Cleveland-Cliffs DR Plant |
On our way back to Bellevue for dinner and more train watching at Kemper Rail Park we stopped in Clyde to photograph the sharp curve through town that passes extremely close by to a few homes there!
If I recall correctly, the line was originally narrow gauged which explains some of these sharp curves.
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| A tight squeeze through Clyde |
Dinner at Bellevue was the tasty hot subs from the Pizza Wheel near the old NKP Roundhouse in town. We caught a few more trains then called it a great day of exploring the old W&LE to Toledo and headed home!
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| NS action at the Kemper Rail Park, Bellevue, OH 7-1-2024 |
