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In August 2003, I
spent the better part of a day at the CSX - Norfolk Southern
railroad interlocking at Berea, Ohio, better known as the Berea
Interlocking or Berea Training Crossing. More than 100 freight
trains a day pass through here on the Norfolk Southern or CSX
railroads along with four Amtrak
trains.
Not too long after I arrived, a couple
of diesels, still painted in their previous owners colors of
Conrail, now owned Norfolk Southern, passed by on the very
distant track heading west with a load of intermodal
containers. (If the picture looks a little weird, keep in
mind I took it while standing about 750 feet away and shooting
through a 70:300 mm telephoto lens! Yes, I
practice safe railfanning! )
A few minutes later, I switched lenses
to get this shot where I'm about 50 feet from trackside as this CSX
triple-headed train comes by on its way
to Cleveland.
A lot of kids would probably gasp
if they knew their next Christmas toys are probably riding
in one of these intermodal trailers except for the third
trailer. Most toys are shipped in from overseas in containers
and sent east to distribution centers. That third
trailer, which looks like it's a darker grey color, belongs to
UPS and probably has parcels in it that were shipped "UPS
Ground".
In this photo, you see the NS (old
Conrail diesels on the point) heading westbound while a track
maintenance gang works on one of the tracks in the foreground.
If you were on site and looked through my telephoto lens, you'd
see a railroad signal further down blinking yellow to caution train
crews to slow down for some bridge maintenance about two miles west
of the Berea junction.
Here--take a look for yourself--you
don't see that sort of signal too often on mainlines!
Did you ever read "The Little Engine That Could" when you
were a child? Here's the updated version--have you ever seen a
sadder looking locomotive in active service -- needing a bath,
needing a paint job, wearing a previous owner's markings rather than
Norfolk Southern's, and carrying a road cone on it's front
deck? This ancient diesel came through the Berea Interlocking
like it owned the railroad, but it still needs some tender loving
care. Hello, Norfolk Southern locomotive
maintenance? Schedule this guy in for paint--soon! He's
earning his keep...
One of the Berea city commissioners
stopped by and handed out maps of the Berea Interlocking and
explained city plans to create a trainwatching platform and picnic
area like so many other towns have done to build tourism.
With over 100 trains coming through a
day, the tourism potential is there--for anyone who likes to see
trains! | 
