Elkhart
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GP30M4216
- Saver of all History
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Re: Elkhart
Hi onjfan, Elkhart's a great spot! Question - will you be there on a weekday or a weekend? Either way you'll see plenty of trains and variety, but if you're there on a weekday, you'll see just a little bit more.
I would suggest a combination of the Elkhart depot/Amtrak station and, as Chapmaja suggested, the National NYC Railroad Museum, which is just across the tracks. I usually start my day on the depot side, as it's easier to see eastbounds coming in the yard and the lighting is good, plus the museum doesn't open until 10:00 I believe. Morning Amtrak westbounds are scheduled for 07:29 and 08:43. A small waiting room is open in the station building before the Amtraks arrive. If you want to just sit and watch trains roll by, there are a few picnic tables under the wide eaves of the station building a little further from the tracks on their new alignment (which will probably be in the sun by September), or I've seen some fans being their own folding chairs and set them out right on the platform. Everything that departs the yard eastbound passes the museum and depot. The three tracks directly in front of the depot are Main tracks 1, 2, 3 (numbered north to south). Just to the west of the depot, the two additional tracks on the museum side are "North Freight" and "South Freight," which are the tracks that lead into the east end of the yard.
There often seems to be a late morning or lunchtime lull in traffic. This is when I usually opt to head to the museum. It's an affordable entrance fee good for the whole day, plus they have a clean restroom and AC which in September is often still needed at mid-day! The museum seeks to do a double mission of documenting the history of the New York Central system and also discuss the importance of the railroad locally to Elkhart. There are lots of interesting exhibits inside their freight house building, including a very impressive O gauge layout. There's some interesting equipment in their yard, although much of it could use a coat of paint and some a lot more than that. Most days their E8 unit's cab is open and you can climb up to get a view from the engineer's seat. The rest of the grounds are open to explore, steam, diesel and electric locomotive, cabooses, freight cars, a wrecker train, and a few other things. This is a great place to occupy an hour or two during the lull, and, if something does come along, you're on the correct side for some creative photography through or above the fence.
If you're willing to be a little bit mobile, there are a few other nearby places to check out. US-33/Main Street heading south from the museum parallels the triple-track mainline for about 9 miles to Goshen along the west side of the tracks, and there are some interesting photo spots to be had, particularly for eastbounds during much of the morning and afternoon, and several crossings. You can also parallel much of this route on the far less busy County Road 45/Hammond Avenue along the east side of the tracks. Back in Elkhart, near the corner of Johnson Street and East Jackson is where shortline Elkhart & Western keeps their power and they switch cars and head around the northwest side of Elkhart many weekdays. Elkhart's massive classification yard on the west side of town can be easily seen from Lincolnway, which parallels it going west from IN-19/Nappanee Street. Sun angles make it tough to take photos in the yard through mid day but morning and late afternoon/evening can be nice. There's a crossing at the west end of the yard that has a wide gravel pull off on the south side of the crossing which is a good spot to park - note that last time I was there this crossing has gate and lights but no bells and sometimes people do dumb things sitting on the crossing waiting for red light while a gate comes down on top of their vehicle, with the expected panic ensuing, so just be careful.
The yard hump is switches by yard-slug sets which you can occasionally see. These are low-profile RPU6 units built from the bodies of PRR Alco RSD-12s. Occasionally they come further out from the middle of the yard and you can see them near Nappanee or Indiana Avenue underpasses. Among other yard switching power there are often 1 or 2 NS high hood SD40-2s still working here in the 1600 class. On weekdays, additional things you might see from the depot/museum include the two NS local turn jobs (B19 goes up the Kalamazoo Branch less than a mile to interchange cars with the aforementioned Elkhart & Western at Prairie Street, and B23 with a real honest to goodness caboose shoves all the way to Goshen to work local industries before coming back). B23 has a regular morning departure/afternoon return, B19 is a little more varied. Grand Elk operates most weekdays into Elkhart with their road turn from Kalamazoo, often into the yard in the morning (sometimes before sun up) and back east a few hours later. E&W operates most weekdays, as well, but never comes onto NS tracks. Every day of the week, traffic often picks up again in the late afternoon/evening and the depot is a great place to see westbounds hauling around the curve.
Turns out I've done September day-trips to Elkhart the past 2 years and did trip reports here with some photos to show some of the action. You can find them at these links if you want to take a look:
Elkhart 9-30-2022: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=38082
Elkhart and NYC Museum trip 9-16-2021: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=38867
If things get really slow, you can jump on youtube to the Elkhart Virtual Railfan camera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VLzhHPl6wU. Watch the chat, sometimes there are folks on there with ATCS open or who live elsewhere along the line chiming in with what might be coming. Have a great time, catch lots of trains, and let us know what you see!
I would suggest a combination of the Elkhart depot/Amtrak station and, as Chapmaja suggested, the National NYC Railroad Museum, which is just across the tracks. I usually start my day on the depot side, as it's easier to see eastbounds coming in the yard and the lighting is good, plus the museum doesn't open until 10:00 I believe. Morning Amtrak westbounds are scheduled for 07:29 and 08:43. A small waiting room is open in the station building before the Amtraks arrive. If you want to just sit and watch trains roll by, there are a few picnic tables under the wide eaves of the station building a little further from the tracks on their new alignment (which will probably be in the sun by September), or I've seen some fans being their own folding chairs and set them out right on the platform. Everything that departs the yard eastbound passes the museum and depot. The three tracks directly in front of the depot are Main tracks 1, 2, 3 (numbered north to south). Just to the west of the depot, the two additional tracks on the museum side are "North Freight" and "South Freight," which are the tracks that lead into the east end of the yard.
There often seems to be a late morning or lunchtime lull in traffic. This is when I usually opt to head to the museum. It's an affordable entrance fee good for the whole day, plus they have a clean restroom and AC which in September is often still needed at mid-day! The museum seeks to do a double mission of documenting the history of the New York Central system and also discuss the importance of the railroad locally to Elkhart. There are lots of interesting exhibits inside their freight house building, including a very impressive O gauge layout. There's some interesting equipment in their yard, although much of it could use a coat of paint and some a lot more than that. Most days their E8 unit's cab is open and you can climb up to get a view from the engineer's seat. The rest of the grounds are open to explore, steam, diesel and electric locomotive, cabooses, freight cars, a wrecker train, and a few other things. This is a great place to occupy an hour or two during the lull, and, if something does come along, you're on the correct side for some creative photography through or above the fence.
If you're willing to be a little bit mobile, there are a few other nearby places to check out. US-33/Main Street heading south from the museum parallels the triple-track mainline for about 9 miles to Goshen along the west side of the tracks, and there are some interesting photo spots to be had, particularly for eastbounds during much of the morning and afternoon, and several crossings. You can also parallel much of this route on the far less busy County Road 45/Hammond Avenue along the east side of the tracks. Back in Elkhart, near the corner of Johnson Street and East Jackson is where shortline Elkhart & Western keeps their power and they switch cars and head around the northwest side of Elkhart many weekdays. Elkhart's massive classification yard on the west side of town can be easily seen from Lincolnway, which parallels it going west from IN-19/Nappanee Street. Sun angles make it tough to take photos in the yard through mid day but morning and late afternoon/evening can be nice. There's a crossing at the west end of the yard that has a wide gravel pull off on the south side of the crossing which is a good spot to park - note that last time I was there this crossing has gate and lights but no bells and sometimes people do dumb things sitting on the crossing waiting for red light while a gate comes down on top of their vehicle, with the expected panic ensuing, so just be careful.
The yard hump is switches by yard-slug sets which you can occasionally see. These are low-profile RPU6 units built from the bodies of PRR Alco RSD-12s. Occasionally they come further out from the middle of the yard and you can see them near Nappanee or Indiana Avenue underpasses. Among other yard switching power there are often 1 or 2 NS high hood SD40-2s still working here in the 1600 class. On weekdays, additional things you might see from the depot/museum include the two NS local turn jobs (B19 goes up the Kalamazoo Branch less than a mile to interchange cars with the aforementioned Elkhart & Western at Prairie Street, and B23 with a real honest to goodness caboose shoves all the way to Goshen to work local industries before coming back). B23 has a regular morning departure/afternoon return, B19 is a little more varied. Grand Elk operates most weekdays into Elkhart with their road turn from Kalamazoo, often into the yard in the morning (sometimes before sun up) and back east a few hours later. E&W operates most weekdays, as well, but never comes onto NS tracks. Every day of the week, traffic often picks up again in the late afternoon/evening and the depot is a great place to see westbounds hauling around the curve.
Turns out I've done September day-trips to Elkhart the past 2 years and did trip reports here with some photos to show some of the action. You can find them at these links if you want to take a look:
Elkhart 9-30-2022: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=38082
Elkhart and NYC Museum trip 9-16-2021: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=38867
If things get really slow, you can jump on youtube to the Elkhart Virtual Railfan camera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VLzhHPl6wU. Watch the chat, sometimes there are folks on there with ATCS open or who live elsewhere along the line chiming in with what might be coming. Have a great time, catch lots of trains, and let us know what you see!
Re: Elkhart
Thanks for all the info. I will going on a weekday. Tuesday or Wednesday? September 19th or 20th. Usually go to Fostoria, Ohio that weekend for the train show, but wanted to do something different. Still going to go there on Saturday for the show.