Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Anything pertaining to railfanning in Ohio.
Joshua Niederkohr
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2016 3:43 pm
Location: Holland, Ohio

Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by Joshua Niederkohr »

On Saturday evenings at 6p.m. where and when do they run? Please give me a run down of Saturday evening operations. I'm going to Napoleon tonight at 6p.m. Any video made will be posted on my youtube channel DARAILROADKID. Please subscribe for great content media:)

User avatar
~Z~
Sofa King Admin
Posts: 12907
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 2:14 pm
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Contact:

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by ~Z~ »

I don't think they normally run on Saturdays, and not in the evening last I knew. Lolz, asking for info an hour before you arrive... When you get back, give us a rundown of what you saw moving and where, and more than likely, what you saw parked.
Webmaster
Railroad photos on Railroadfan.com

Joshua Niederkohr
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2016 3:43 pm
Location: Holland, Ohio

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by Joshua Niederkohr »

On any given day what is the usual schedule for all the locomotives across the whole line including the Cecil branch. I would like to railfan this for my youtube channel DARAILROADKID. Times, locations, and streets/roads are needed info. All replies are greatly appreciated. Thank You in advance. :D

jimnorthwood
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 414
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 8:05 am
Location: Northwood, OH

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by jimnorthwood »

Schedule? They run M-F. Follow US24 and you can't miss them, as the line is in full view from the highway in most places. Start in Napoleon and work your way west. Their yard and office is in Defiance. There is more activity on the section from Defiance to Woodburn now, as some of the interchange that used to take place with CSX in Defiance is now done with NS at Woodburn.

JoJames
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 733
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2010 10:21 pm
Location: Hamler Ohio

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by JoJames »

When customer service is number one. Operations vary every day.

jrgerber
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 518
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:03 am

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by jrgerber »

What is the status of current rehabilitation activities on the line? Are they done with all that they can do currently without additional grants? How is the on line traffic in terms of volume? Current locomotive roster on site?

jimnorthwood
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 414
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 8:05 am
Location: Northwood, OH

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by jimnorthwood »

I haven't been there since last fall, but I suspect maintenance is ongoing, grants or not. They have done a lot of work, and there is always more to do. In terms of traffic, I recall reading an annual report for Pioneer a couple of years ago that noted about 2,000 cars annually were shipped on the ND&W. When I was there last fall power was the three GP 16's, one GP20, and the still in Gettysburg paint GP9, which didn't seem to get used very often. The NW2 had been shipped elsewhere.

jrgerber
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 518
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:03 am

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by jrgerber »

Thanks!

Plannerdad
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 685
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 1:21 pm

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by Plannerdad »

On our annual railfaning trip to northern Ohio and Indiana, my brother and I caught an ND&W train in Napoleon around 4:00pm on Friday 8/4, WB I think. It had one locomotive and 10 boxcars, mostly reefer's. The track looked rough, like Penn Central in Michigan in the 70's, but it looked like they were making efforts to improve it.

jimnorthwood
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 414
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 8:05 am
Location: Northwood, OH

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by jimnorthwood »

ND&W serves two cold storage places (Cloverleaf and Interstate) that are in the industrial park in Napoleon, at the far east end of the line. One or both get tomato paste in hi-cube boxcars, as well as vegetables in the reefers you saw. All of this product is then trucked to Campbell's in Napoleon. There is also a place in the industrial park that makes drain tile, that receives plastic pellets. Also, the trans-load firm in Liberty Center that received or shipped refractory brick, relocated from there to Napoleon. They didn't do a lot of business with the railroad when they were located in LC.There is also one other customer in Napoleon that gets cars from time to time, but I don't know what they are or do.

MSchwiebert
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 1611
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 1:43 pm
Location: Perrysburg Ohio

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by MSchwiebert »

Oldcastle Enclosures also receives carloads of plastic pellets. They make enclosures/vaults that would be used for valving for lawn watering systems, cable TV junction boxes etc.

https://oldcastleenclosures.com/brand/carson/

Plannerdad
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 685
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 1:21 pm

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by Plannerdad »

Thanks. Sounds like a good traffic base for a smaller short-line.

jrgerber
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 518
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:03 am

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by jrgerber »

Any grain or farm related traffic on the line?

When I grew up here most of the farmers grew tomatoes for Campbell's and there was a large migrant worker population. It seems now most of the farmers in the area have switched to grain crops.

User avatar
AARR
Ann Arbor RR Nerd
Posts: 37900
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 7:39 pm
Location: Washington, MI

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by AARR »

Seems like there is at least one feed mill on the east end and maybe another on the west

When I grew up here most of the farmers grew tomatoes for Campbell's and there was a large migrant worker population. It seems now most of the farmers in the area have switched to grain crops.[/quote]
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

MSchwiebert
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 1611
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 1:43 pm
Location: Perrysburg Ohio

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by MSchwiebert »

A few smaller elevators on the line (Antwerp & Jewell for example) will get service. As for the crops for Campbell's there's a couple of farmers in the Napoleon area that continue to grow vegetables for Campbell's - but they went to mechanized harvesting years ago, as have almost all of the tomato growers in the immediate area.
jrgerber wrote:Any grain or farm related traffic on the line?

When I grew up here most of the farmers grew tomatoes for Campbell's and there was a large migrant worker population. It seems now most of the farmers in the area have switched to grain crops.

User avatar
wildcatsa1fan
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 77
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2013 4:01 pm

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by wildcatsa1fan »

Antwerp and Woodburn no longer use the rail. The expense to put in safety cages was to much, they both use trucks now. Antwerp is used for storage of excess rail cars now.

jhnmummert
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:03 pm

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by jhnmummert »

Is there still through service from the Ft. Wayne area to the Defiance area?

JoJames
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 733
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2010 10:21 pm
Location: Hamler Ohio

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by JoJames »

jrgerber wrote:Any grain or farm related traffic on the line?

When I grew up here most of the farmers grew tomatoes for Campbell's and there was a large migrant worker population. It seems now most of the farmers in the area have switched to grain crops.

Campbell's did away with all its contracted tomato growers in the mid eighties. Supposedly cheaper to ship tomato paste in from Mexico and California.

JoJames
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 733
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2010 10:21 pm
Location: Hamler Ohio

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by JoJames »

wildcatsa1fan wrote:Antwerp and Woodburn no longer use the rail. The expense to put in safety cages was to much, they both use trucks now. Antwerp is used for storage of excess rail cars now.

Both of these locations belong to a larger Co-Op that loads unit grain trains on the former Erie west of Lima. Also that area is heavy with livestock and most of the corn will be used for feed.

MSchwiebert
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 1611
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 1:43 pm
Location: Perrysburg Ohio

Re: Napoleon Defiance & Western railfanning

Unread post by MSchwiebert »

Makes sense, haven't been out that way in quite a while.
wildcatsa1fan wrote:Antwerp and Woodburn no longer use the rail. The expense to put in safety cages was to much, they both use trucks now. Antwerp is used for storage of excess rail cars now.

Post Reply