Delphos, Ohio

Overview

Delphos is located in northwest Ohio, situated in both Van Wert and Allen (OH) counties. RailAmerica's Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern Railroad (CFER) runs through on the south edge of town. Central Soya (left side above) is the primary shipper between Fort Wayne and Lima on this line. Also, a segment of the ex-NKP Clover Leaf Line is used from Delphos southwest to near Landeck, OH to serve a couple of local shippers. This is known as the Delphos Terminal Railway.

Delphos Area map
Delphos, Ohio area rails

Historical Aspects

The creator of the infamous Toledo to St. Louis Clover Leaf Line was from Delphos, Ohio. The line came into the city from the north, crossed the Pennsylvania Railroad, and made a sharp turn to the west and headed towards Willshire and Decatur, Indiana. In recent years the line was operated by Indiana Hi-Rail but could not be sustained and it was finally removed north of Delphos in 1998. The part of the line between Landeck, OH and Delphos was kept and reorganized as the Delphos Terminal Railroad. Conrail operated this trackage until May 31, 1999. At that time CSX began operating it until the CFER took over in August 2004. The crossing diamonds with the Fort Wayne Line were also removed in 1998 and interestingly the approach signals on all four sides of the interlocking are still standing. The AC&Y (Akron Canton & Youngstown) Railroad terminated in Delphos and even had a yard on the north side but just about all traces of it have been removed.
Here is a neat photo of Delphos tower from George Elwood's Fallen Flags website.

Pennsylvania Railroad Hotel

This is the former Pennsylvania Railroad Hotel in Delphos which is on Main St. on the north side of the tracks. It is now an antique store. Photo taken in October 2001. Special thanks to John Gallacher for this photo!

This is the eastward home signal (showing clear) on the Pennsy in Delphos for the ex-Clover Leaf diamond, which was removed in 1998.

Hotbox Detectors

There is a dragging equipment detector at West Elida, MP266, which is 8 miles east of Delphos. [WAV format, 41K, 7 sec]

Pictures

On October 7, 1997 the eastbound Conrail local from Fort Wayne, at that time WIFW30, bangs across the Clover Leaf diamond in Delphos led by a GP38-2, #8149. These diamonds were removed in 1998.

In Delphos the old interchange track is used on the west side of Central Soya to access the Clover Leaf trackage towards Landeck. Here the local is coming off the interchange track and one of the crewmen is aligning the switch back to the main.

Looking east down the Clover Leaf track with Central Soya in the background. Coming in from the left side of the picture is the track CFE uses to run on the Clover Leaf.

We are facing north looking down the Clover Leaf on the south side of the former crossing diamonds with the Fort Wayne Line. The signal is inoperative. This sharp curve in Delphos was one of the problems that plagued the Clover Leaf.

On a different day, the CSX east local is passing eastbound through downtown Delphos by Central Soya and the engineer waves. July 14, 1999.

On June 21, 2001 westbound NS 21A comes through downtown Delphos and in the second picture is passing the spot where the Clover Leaf used to cross. This routing is no longer used by NS.

The sun may have set on the Clover Leaf years ago but its memories will definitely remain here in Delphos.

INDEX