Growing up south of Bucyrus, I was exposed to trains at an early age since Norfolk Southern's Bellevue-Columbus Sandusky line is a couple miles east of my family's house. Once I was old enough, my parents would let me ride my bike over to the tracks, and I'd spend a couple hours over there at a time. As long as I got to see at least one train, I would be happy.

      Between Bucyrus and Marion, the route is perfectly level and straight on a well-raised roadbed. Usually, the trains that come through are really moving.

      During the summer of 1994, I decided to take a long bike ride that took me in a zigzagging route back and forth across the mainline. South of the little grain elevator town of Monnett, I caught a northbound coal train at the Morral Kirkpatrick Road crossing. I continued south to US 23. Deciding to turn back, I was approaching the Linn Hipsher Road crossing when I heard horns to the north. Knowing that I wouldn't make it to the crossing in time, I stopped to get out the camera to catch a southbound freight. Unfortunately, I'd missed the engines, and it was the last train I saw that day. Exhausted and sunburned, I headed home.

A long northbound coal train approaches the Morral Kirkpatrick Road crossing

A southbound freight crosses Linn Hipsher Road just north of US 23.

      On a weekday later that summer, I swore that I heard N&W class "J" #611 go through while at home. While I hadn't heard anything about any excursions scheduled, I knew the Ohio State Fair was open down in Columbus and thought that the "J" might be pulling weekend excursions from Bellevue down to Columbus.

      That Saturday morning, I got up early and headed over to the tracks at Caldwell Road, despite the rainy weather. I didn't see the 611, but I did catch a southbound mixed freight, a southbound empty hopper train, and a northbound freight with a Santa Fe unit within a couple hours' time.

      The following morning, I went over to the tracks again, still hoping to catch the 611 in action. While the "J" never came through, I did see a southbound empty hopper train, a southbound freight with what I believe to be the same Santa Fe unit as the day before, a northbound freight, and a southbound intermodal.

On a Saturday morning, a southbound mixed freight approaches the Caldwell Road crossing south of Bucyrus.	A southbound empty hopper train approaches Caldwell Road.	A northbound freight approaches the Caldwell Road crossing.	On the following Sunday morning, a southbound empty hopper train approaches the crossing.
A southbound freight approaches Caldwell Road with what I believe is the same Santa Fe unit that was seen on the northbound freight the day before.	A northbound freight approaches the crossing.	A southbound intermodal approaches the Caldwell Road crossing.

      In June 1995, I went over to the Caldwell Road crossing one evening and caught a southbound intermodal, a northbound coal train, and a northbound intermodal.

A southbound intermodal approaches Caldwell Road south of Bucyrus.	A northbound coal train approaches the crossing.	A northbound intermodal approaches the Caldwell Road crossing.

      A day or two later, I went over to the Mt. Zion Road crossing just south of Bucyrus in the morning and got to see new crossing signals under construction. While there, a northbound freight approached, and fearing that the backhoe at the crossing was on the tracks, the engineer hit the emergency brakes. Once the crew saw that the backhoe wasn't on the tracks, they eased the train through the crossing and continued north into Bucyrus. The next evening, I went back to the crossing, catching a southbound freight. I then looked over the signals, which were still under contruction but covered since they were under construction. I then caught a northbound coal drag that had stopped south of town as something was going through on Conrail. Once the Conrail train had cleared, the coal drag started up, the diesels making a beautiful sound as they lugged the long train into motion. On another evening about a month later, I went back. The signals had been completed, and I caught a northbound freight rushing through.

	A maintenance truck with a small crane hoists the masts of the new crossing signals into position as they're attached to their bases.	Two of the signal maintainers use a backhoe to lift the light assembly up to the masts where the one on the bucket wired them up and plugged the assembly into the side of the mast.	As the maintainers were working, a nothbound freight approached. The engineer, seeing the backhoe close to the tracks, stopped the train and then eased past to make sure the train wasn't going to hit it.
A couple days later, a southbound freight approaches the Mt. Zion Road crossing.	Old meets new. One of the new crossing signals under construction stands covered next to the crossbuck it's replacing.	A northbound coal train starts up south of the Mt. Zion crossing. It had stopped short of the crossing as the northbound signals north of the crossing were lit up "approach" for the "stop signal" at the Conrail interchange in Bucyrus. Typically, northbounds will stop south of Mt. Zion Road if they have an "approach" signal to avoid stopping in town and blocking several streets.	About a month later, I returned to the Mt. Zion Road crossing and saw that the signals had been completed.
A northbound freight approaches the crossing.

      On the morning of Saturday, December 30, 2000, a southbound Norfolk Southern grain train was coming through Bucyrus on the Sandusky line when a rail broke due to the cold weather under the middle of the train. Fifteen cars derailed. The sixth through fifteenth cars that derailed jacknifed across the mainline at the crossing with the branch going to the Spore stone quarry northwest of Bucyrus. The fourth and fifth cars that derailed continued on until they broke loose and plunged off the bridge over East Mansfield Street, landing on the street below. The third car then flipped onto its side across CSX's former Conrail line. When I was there shortly after the wreck, it was still coupled to the second car involved, which was still upright with it's rear truck pulled off by the car on it's side. The first car to derail then finally broke loose and flipped on it's side on the north side of the East Rensselaer Street crossing. The forward half of the train came to a stop with the rear just south of the crossing and locomotives on the curve just north of East Oakwood Avenue.

      Luckily, nobody was hurt, and the only vehicle on the street was a car stopped at the light across the intersection from the cars as they came off the bridge. Had it not been a Saturday morning and snowing, there might have been more traffic on the street below the tracks. Also, the city was lucky it was a grain train that derailed and not the train before it that had loaded tank cars in its consist.

      By late that evening, the wrecked cars were cleared, and the line was reopened. It was eventually determined that the cold weather had caused one of the rails to break under the weight of the passing train.

      Seeing the train cars lying on their sides like toys was a kind of eerie experience. Normally you see a train running smoothly, but seeing what happens when one little thing goes wrong brings home the warnings of not getting too close to a moving train.

Looking north from the East Rensselaer Street crossing, crews begin lifting the first of fifteen derailed cars back onto the tracks. In the background behind the machines, you can see the second car that derailed but remained upright.	Looking east down the former Conrail mainline, the third covered hopper to derail lays on its side on the CSX track. Fresh snow partly covers the mounds of spilled grain that came out of the top hatches of the car.	The fourth and fifth cars to derail lay on East Mansfield Street at the intersection with East Mary Street. Amazingly there was no traffic under the bridge thanks to it being a snowy Saturday morning.	The other ten covered hoppers involved in the wreck sit jacknifed across the Norfolk Southern mainline at the crossing with the Spore branch.
Another view across East Mansfield Street of the third car on it's side.	A wider view of the intersection and two cars lying in the street.	Article in the Bucyrus Telegraph Forum on the derailment.	In the fall of 2000, another wreck occurred on Norfolk Southern north of town as high winds blew some boxcars on a stopped train off the tracks.

Kevin L. Wagner

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