Railfanning NS and CN in Valparaiso IN?

[mikekmac]

Hi. In the not too distant future I'm going to find myself in Valpo for the day with several midday hours free, and I was hoping someone could give me some tips on good legal (no trespassing, public) viewing spots for the NS and CN lines. My base of operations will be the university, though I will have wheels. I understand the NS line runs past the south end of campus, and CN is a couple of miles north (but still in town).

[Saturnalia]

Go north to Chesterton. SE corner of the crossing with 15th Street. Porter Junction. 100 trains per day.

[SD80MAC]

He asked specifically about Valpo, and no, Porter does not see 100 trains per day.

I've only been to Valpo once, and it can either be fairly busy or totally dead. There's virtually no chance you'll see the CF&E through Valpo in the daylight. The Nickel Plate and the CN see about the same number of trains, but the CN might be slightly busier. When I was there I parked near the diamonds on the southwest? side of town and saw 2 CN trains and 1 NS in about an hour. The eastbound CN trains are usually working pretty hard through there trying to get up Valpo hill.

[redside20]

This is the place west of Valpo that you could technically call a "hotspot"
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=41.4878231&lo ... 18&l=0&m=h

Referred to as Spriggsboro on NS and Fort Wayne Junction on CN

[railblazer]

Here's a spot you can park at along the NS in Valpo. I've had no problems parking there. http://wikimapia.org/#lat=41.4601581&lo ... 19&l=0&m=h
As far as the CN I park here http://wikimapia.org/#lat=41.475851&lon ... 19&l=0&m=h and here http://wikimapia.org/#lat=41.475857&lon ... 18&l=0&m=h

[Typhoon]

Anyways.....

Spriggsboro is a nice spot. NS, CN, and CF&E all come through.
http://dhke.com/CRJ/fwjct.html

If you are looking for just a CN spot, this one is not bad. It is at the west end double track, in the middle of the pull up Valpo hill. Eastbounds of any real tonnage will be really pulling past this spot.

http://binged.it/TBVe7h

[MP173]

Ed from Valpo here.

If you have a couple of hours in the middle of the day, then your best bet will be the NS 323 which is a Ft Wayne to Van Loon turn handling steel coil cars. It passes thru WB around 1-2pm and returns about 2 hours later.

I counted 22 regularly scheduled freights on the NS daily. Your best best for mid day would be the above mentioned 323 WB, 177 EB, and 13J (auto racks). The 13J is usually held at South Wanatah or Spriggsboro for IHB to take the train. Often 114 will be running midday also. Coal trains run frequently, usually a couple each way daily which pushes the count to 25 per day. They run just about anytime. A good location to view and photograph the trains is just southwest of the campus along Nickel Plate Avenue. There are signals there and the indications will announce train movements.

CN runs about 20 per day. They have really tightened up their scheduling and typically you can see their WB intermodal 149 around noon - 2pm. Things start to pickup in early afternoon with the 116 heading east up the hill around 3pm and 332 about an hour later. 332 often exceeds 150 cars. A great spot to observe CN trains is the depot on north Calumet Avenue. Northsides Bar is across the street and you can pickup a great burger there.

If you have a little more time in the mid afternoon timeframe, head north about 7 miles to the CSX line which parallels US and crosses under it just east of State Route 49 about 2 miles. Around 2pm CSX turns loose it's EB intermodal fleet and one can expect to see Q116, Q112,Q130, and Q146. WB intermodals in mid afternoon include Q147, and Q163. CSX runs it's daily Q395 around 2pm and around 4pm (nearly dark now) the Q501 is an eastbound manifest train. It is not uncommon for there to be 6 - 10 trains in a 2 hour window in mid afternoon.

Ed

[MP173]

Now, regarding the NS in Porter.

NS schedules 15 WB and 15 EB intermodals daily. There are 10 EB and 13 WB general freights, plus about 6 local freights running out of Burns Harbor (out and in). Throw in 5 EB and 5 WB Canadian Pacific trains, plus the Q326/327 for CSX and one has about 75 regular freight trains. Amtrak adds another 14 per day. CSX usually has a couple of coal trains and then NS has who knows how many coal and coke trains. Ethanol and oil trains are also seen on the line plus extra general freights.

These add up to close to 100 per day...every day.

Ed

[MP173]

Not sure if you are monitoring this, but here is a short term lineup:

11am Nov 14th:
NS Train 233 is at Claypool (66 miles east)
NS Train M3J is following 233. M3J is an extra section of 13J - auto racks.

Typical running time for 233 from Claypool to Valpo is around 1:20, unless there are slow orders.

Ed

[tadman]

I'm with MQT3001. Unless you have a serious travel restriction (IE on foot), Porter is 20 minutes away and far more exciting in terms of frequency and variety. You also have the South Shore about five minutes north of Porter, which adds significantly to an already high frequency and variety.

I personally prefer the stretch of US 12 from Miller Beach to the east gate of ArcelorMittal (Bethlehem Steel). You add in CSX(B&O), you still get NS(NYC) with Amtrak and CP trackage rights, and you get CSS parallel. You also have IHB movements into the port, LM&I switching the mill, and the NS mill yard. It's maybe a thirty minute drive from Valpo. Well worth it in my book.

Valpo is a nice town but a bit of a snoozer when it comes to NW Indiana railfanning.

[redside20]

Ed, do you happen to know what train takes 307's traffic now that 307 is terminating in Fort Wayne now?

[Y@]

Ed, do you happen to know what train takes 307's traffic now that 307 is terminating in Fort Wayne now?

That's the first I've heard of 307 terminating in Fort Wayne.

But, if it's true, my guess would be 323.

[MP173]

Just a guess as I am not that intimately familiar with NS's internal ops, but I know it is not 323 as they are the Van Loon turn. I havent seen 323 lately, but my guess is they are also handling CN Kirk Yard stuff in addition to the coil cars.

My guess is that 307 handles only the Bellevue - Ft Wayne traffic plus freight moving to Muncie, Lafayette, etc. Years ago when I saw 307 I was not impressed, almost always a small train.

Looking at the NS trains, they run a 15Q (via Elkhart) from Bellevue to the BRC in Chicago. Also in the mix is a 13Q to Elkhart and a 17K to Decatur. A run thru 15E to the UP at Sidney, Il.

So, Bellevue is covering BRC with 15Q, Elkhart (and other Chicago points) with 13Q, Ft Wayne and beyond with 307, and Decatur, St. Louis, and KC with the 17K.

That is my guess....and only a guess.
Ed

[Chris7092]

That's probably a pretty good guess. Seeing how 365 now makes a quick run to Elkhart, routing traffic from Ft. Wayne to western points via Elkhart and the 365 seems like the way to go.

Chris

[redside20]

There are a few trains I've been curious about that I've been hearing about, and they are 114 and 13J. Does 186 still ply the rails through the area?

[Y@]

186, as mentioned before, runs the Chicago Line.

[redside20]

186, as mentioned before, runs the Chicago Line.

tough to keep up with all the schedule changes I suppose

[MP173]

NS114 is a Knoxville - Chicago general freight which shows a CP destination. Not sure if that is a run thru or destined to Bensenville. It is thru Valpo anywhere from 7am to early afternoon.

It should also be noted that Elkhart runs a CP train ... 17V. So the 114 sweeps up the southern freight for CP while Elkhart classifies the East/Northeast freight.

13J is the autorack train destined for IHB in Hammond. It typically arrives around South Wanatah in early afternoon and often sits in the siding, often several hours awaiting a slot at Gibson Yard. South Wanatah siding is long enough to handle a long 13J (often needs that long siding). If shorter it might run to Spriggsboro or Hobart. Sometimes it is held at Wheeler on the CFE line.

Up until a couple of years ago I lived within 1/2 mile of the Nickel Plate and CN tracks and would often watch their trains and note the cars handled, but I havent done that since moving about 4 miles from the tracks.

CSX is now closer to my house and I sort of have an idea of what they run and why.

Ed

[mikekmac]

Thanks to everyone for the tips. I ended up having a lot less time than I'd anticipated, and it was a cold drizzly day. I only saw one train, and didn't even bother photographing it because the light was so bad.

Life has pulled me away from the tracks--I don't think I'd even looked in here since Lac-Mégantic. But I'm starting to get a craving for a big day, a 50-train day maybe. Never had one on that scale, and I never will here in Michigan. But maybe I need to plan a spring trip across the border to Ohio or Indiana.