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!