Going to be driving to Toronto via the Niagara border crossing. Day 2's route will take me through Columbus Oh to Cleveland Oh to Erie PA to Buffalo NY to Niagara Falls NY. Not a railfan trip so other than the GE plant in Erie, are there any reasonably good and quick places to drive by for a possible rail encounter? Thanks Wouldn't mind a tip or two on shops as well but please PM those if you happen to have one and if allowed.
There is a great old depot in Westfield NY, it is now an art gallery. On the old NYC (now CSX) line. I took some photos of it a few years ago http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?media/albums/westfield-ny-station.1467/ Unfortunately, all the photo links in the thread I created on the visit were broken during the board's software upgrade a couple years ago. But, here is commentary on the photos (one can pretty easily figure out the photos). http://www.trainboard.com/highball/...tfield-ny-train-station-now-art-studio.78059/ Westfield has a long railroad history, and was on the main line of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern as well as the Nickle Plate Road lines. The NY Central and now CSX continued the use of the original LSMS line, and over 80 trains a day pass through the town, on the shores of Lake Erie.
Berea, OH is just southwest of Cleveland and is a nice spot. We were last there 20+ years ago and it was busy and safe. Probably still that way today. I'm thinking that it's an NS/CSX crossing in the post-CR era.
You absolutely positively MUST stop at the Lake Shore Railway Historical Society at North East. I can type for a couple hours or just post the link. This is the most railfan-friendly spot now with lots of traffic between Buffalo and Cleveland. https://lakeshorerailway.com/ Designated as a TRAINS hotspot, you are beside both CSX and NS at track speed, a depot museum, lots of preserved GE on display, and a friendly crew.
All great suggestions. Thank you very much. A couple have been incorporated into the route and if time permits, all.
Again, thanks for the tips guys. It rained almost this entire day of the trip. Figures, right. Rain and running behind marked the depot at Westfield NY off the list. Berea Ohio was a stop but not much more than a drive by as that was the absolute hardest rain of the trip. Once parked, pulled up the weather to see it was only going to get worse so it was back on the road. Did make the stop at the Lake Shore Railway Historical Society at North East PA and managed some pics in the drizzle before the down pour caught up with us. Will put some pics in a separate thread in the Railfan Photos section.
Always like to think a bad day railfanning is still better than a good day at the office. And, yes, some great memories.
Conneaut. You can get alongside a pretty active NS yard that has loads of switching of big 60' boxcars, as well as the busy Norfolk Southern and CSX main lines, the Conneaut Railroad Museum and their displayed Nickel Plate Berkshire, and you can even see Bessemer & Lake Erie in action, both just south of town AND down on the ore docks! Conneaut is a nifty place for a day of railfanning! Just south you can go to Greenville, where another big steam loco (I want to say a 0-10-0, been years since i have been there) is on display in a town full of yet more railfanning spots!
