Railfanning the Cincinnati, Hamilton, & Dayton, Ohio Area

This was originally written on Jan. 19, 2021

I started out creating a Google Map to assist fellow railfans in railfanning the Hamilton, Ohio area. The 2 predominant railroads in this area are CSX #CSX and Norfolk Southern #NS. Trains travel out of Cincinnati from either Quensgate (CSX) or Gest (NS) to Winton Place. Norfolk Southern's Dayton District diverges here to go Northbound up to Dayton and then turns eastward all the way to Columbus.

Norfolk Southern also has their New Castle district that heads towards Muncie, Indiana. CSX has their Toledo district here. From Winton Place to Butler Street in Hamilton the two railroads practice bi-directional running (for the most part). Trains headed northbound utilize the CSX #CSX tracks and trains heading southbound utilize NS #NS tracks. However, their are times that CSX will use what the local railfans call the backdoor to Cincy, i.e. they use their own home rails all the way to Cincy.

Additionally, CSX's Indianapolis division joins the parade of trains just beyond the old B&O #BO Hamilton Station. Amtrak #Amtrak uses this trackage to head into Cincinnati's Union Station. CSX completed a project recently which now allows them to run auto racks over the Indianapolis line.

Like in so many areas Genesee and Wyoming is the predominant shortline operator in the area. These lines include the Central of Indiana as well as the Indiana and Ohio. They have many various lines including the Blue Ash line, the Midland line, the Oasis line, and the Greenfield subdivision.

Additionally, there is a shortline called the Cincinnati Eastern as well as the Indiana Eastern. Finally, there is a tourist railroad located in Lebanon called the Lebanon, Mason & Monroe Railroad.

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