Fort Wayne - Hugo

Overview

Hugo interlocking (pronounced "Hue-Go") is the crossing of the NS Huntington District and the NS New Castle District. It is located in southwest Fort Wayne near Indian Village north of Engle Rd. and east of Ardmore Ave. In the above photo we are looking west at Hugo from Nuttman Ave. The track on the extreme left is the lead into the New Yard, which is a 3 track yard located between Brooklyn Ave. and Nuttman Ave. Just beyond the signals are the two crossovers.

Historical Aspects

Unlike most of the railroad junctions in Fort Wayne, Hugo is much busier in the modern era than it was in years past. Before the New Castle District was turned into a mainline railroad in the 1970's this crossing was hardly a substantial point. Today it is probably the busiest point for Norfolk Southern in Fort Wayne. The interlocking tower at Hugo was removed many decades ago. Hugo was the original location of the Triple Crown Roadrailer yard who used the small yard east of the diamond until increasing business finally demanded a bigger yard, which was constructed at the west end of Piqua Yd. The former Roadrailer yard is now called the "new yard." This section of the New Castle District is the beginning of a 20 mile straight stretch of track south to Bluffton.

Operations

If there was a public place to watch trains at Hugo it would be the best train watching spot Fort Wayne. Except for the few trains running on the Chicago District east of Hill, all NS trains through Fort Wayne run past here. The west end of the double track from NE ends at Hugo and meets here are common. Westbounds will usually wait at Brooklyn Ave. and the eastbounds at Ardmore Ave. On the New Castle District trains usually will not wait at the home signals on either side of the diamond, as this fouls many grade crossings. Instead they usually will wait up north on the Fort Wayne Line or south at Winters Rd. NS uses the "new yard" occasionally for through trains making set-offs or pick-ups.

Hugo interlocking is private property. If you haven't already, please review the Railfanning Tips page.

Pictures

Having just gone around the New Castle District wye from the south, NS LF10 returns to East Wayne Yard on March 24, 2004.

Daylight intermodal trains on the New Castle District are rare in Fort Wayne. This train is I-30 (an extra 230) and is passing the Engle Rd. crossing just a few hundred feet south of the Hugo diamond. The power is SD60 #6633 and SD50 #5406. This train will go north to Junction and then turn west onto the Fort Wayne Secondary (ex-PRR) to Sand interlocking. March 24, 2004.

One of the longest trains that used to run through Fort Wayne was NS 465, a Chicago-Cincinnati mixed freight. NS 6802, an ex-Conrail SD60M, leads the train through Hugo interlocking on the New Castle District on May 25, 2001. This train was discontinued in late 2001. Note the old Wabash style northbound signal which was replaced in January 2004.

Returning east from the GM plant in Roanoke, Indiana NS L95 crosses the New Castle District at Hugo on May 25, 2001 led by GP38-2 #5025. Note the plume of exhaust.

On January 7, 2001 NS 60T, a unit potash train, pulls south through Hugo interlocking led by an SD60 #6671.

You'll want to crank this one up! This was one heavy and underpowered train. The second unit is a C40-9 but it sounds like the SD60 is doing all the work. As he whistles for the Engle Rd. crossing, engine noise tries to compete with the horn! [MP3, 576K, 1 min 10 sec.]

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