For our latest railfan trip, we’re making the trip to Bellevue in northern Ohio
The city is about halfway between Cleveland and Toledo.
It’s been a railroad town for more than 150 years.
The Nickel Plate Road (New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Company) ran through Bellevue from 1882 until 1964, when it merged with the Norfolk & Western Railway.
Five NS main lines converge here.
With all that rail history, it’s no surprise the town is home to the Mad River & Nickel Plate Road Museum.
The museum opened in 1976.
Make sure to plan some time to walk around.
Even if it’s closed due to a pandemic, there is plenty to look at and it’s all in very good condition.
Several of the cars and engines have placards with their history.
There’s a little covered area too but be careful, because the trains can sneak up on you.
Northeast of town, is Norfolk Southern's Moorman yard.
At 5.5 miles long, it’s the railroad’s largest yard, and second largest in North America, only behind Union Pacific’s North Platte Yard in Nebraska.
The company renamed it after former NS CEO and President Charles “Wick” Moorman.
The yard was originally opened by the Norfolk & Western Railway in 1966
NS spent $160 million to double the size of the yard in 2015.
It built 38 new tracks, bringing the number of classification tracks to 80.
The yard went from being able to handle 1,800 cars a day, to as many as 3,600.
It includes two hump tracks, and engine & car repair shops.
There’s just one problem, the yard was pretty much empty.
In June, NS announced it was stopping all hump operations at the yard and flat switching would take its place.
It also shifted some operations to other facilities.
I saw two Wheeling and Lake Erie trains in the distance.
I love the Rio Grande paint scheme.
Next to the tracks, you’ll find Kemper Rail Park.
The land was donated by Stephen Kemper, who owned Kemper Iron & Metal.
The viewing platform is part of the museum and is open 24 hours a day.
It’s across from the Bellevue tower.
The tower is closed, but NS still uses it for maintenance of way crews.
Bellevue is well worth the drive and spending a day in the area.
I hope to go back once the museum opens again.
For our next trip, we’re heading to Louisville, Kentucky.
We’ll see several bridges and another yard.
Until then, have a great day.
Here are some great resources and where I got most of my information for this video:
www.madrivermuseum.org/
www.nscorp.com/content/dam/nsc...
railfanlocations.weebly.com/be...
www.railfanguides.us/oh/belle...