Crestline, Ohio - a photo on Flickriver

Crestline, Ohio

            The town of Crestline has been synonymous with Conrail ever since the railroad’s inception on April 1st, 1976. Originally a division point on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Pittsburgh to Chicago route, Crestline boasted a massive classification yard with a 30 stall roundhouse, encompassing a 110’ turntable to accommodate the Pennsy’s largest steam locomotives. The Pennsy’s line also crossed the New York Central’s Big Four main to Cleveland just east of the yard. In later years, Crestline still remained an important intersection between the two routes, but both were now under the control of Conrail. Every day, dozens of trains traveling between Indianapolis, Columbus, Cleveland, and other areas of the midwest would change crews in Crestline while en route to their respective destinations. The railroad even repurposed part of the since abandoned Pennsy Yard to serve as a ramp for their Triple Crown Service.

When Conrail was split between CSX and Norfolk Southern, CSX took control of the former NYC line and the former PRR to the west, while Norfolk Southern gained control to the east with trackage rights west of Crestline to connect to the Sandusky District. Shortly after the split, NS chose to move their crew base to Mansfield, where I began my railroad career about a year and a half ago and was blessed with the privilege of seeing this hidden gem of a mainline from the cab.

Today, both the town of Crestline and its significance to the railroad are hardly a spec on the map. Much of the huge yard is now abandoned, utilized only by a Centerra grain elevator complex which CSX periodically uses to load trains. The mainline and a passing siding run the length of the yard and are protected by two control points, one at each end. CP Crest encompasses the east end of the passing siding and the crossing of the NYC while CP West Yard as its name indicates, protects the west end of the passing siding. Both CP’s feature large triple track signal bridges with Conrail type G signal heads. In this image, none other than the Conrail Heritage unit leads westbound coal train No. 578 under the signal bridge at CP Crest, paying homage to a fan favorite fallen flag, incorporated 44 years ago today.

Taken on: July 31, 2019

Tags:

578

NS 8098

Southern

ES44AC

Conrail

Crest

Crestline

Ohio

Fort

Wayne

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Sets appears in: • NS Heritage • NS Fort Wayne Line (Pittsburgh-Bucyrus)

Groups appears in: • Railroads • I Love Trains more » • North American Railfanning • Norfolk Southern fans • GEVO • Your Very Best Railroad Photos • Midwest Railroads • Norfolk Southern Railroad • Class 1 Railroads • U.S. Railfan Pictures • General Electric [GE] • Your Best Railroad Photos • PRR Lines West • Pennsy Position Light Signals • Classic Railroad Signals • Railroad Traffic • Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit Gallery • Norfolk Southern Heritage Paint • Norfolk Southern Heritage Units • Rural Railfanning • Eastern Railroads • Midwest Railfanning • Former Conrail Routes • Railway Signals • Railroad Photography Junction • High headlight locomotives • Ohio, And Surrounding States Railfans « less

Camera: Canon EOS 6D Mark II, f/7.1, 1/800 sec, 176mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 6D Mark II
Lens:	EF70-200mm f/4L USM
Aperture:	f/7.1
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/800)
Focal Length:	176mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.14 (Macintosh)
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