Fort Wayne Area Railfanning Tips

 

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Overview

Railfans these days are finding themselves in a dilemma of finding safe and legal places to watch trains.  The purpose of this page is to give unfamiliar railfans an idea of where to go and where not to go in Fort Wayne and vicinity and to help them stay out of trouble.
 

Fort Wayne

Fort Wayne has some of the busiest rail traffic you will ever find in a single city. There is almost always a train someplace in town.  Unfortunately there is no "railfan park" here and there are really no places where one can sit and watch trains in the city without trespassing.  There are a few grade crossings in town where you can watch trains fairly safely, though.
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Auburn

There are only a couple of grade crossings here.  None of them have sidewalks.  The Auburn and CSX PD patrol this area frequently.
 

Butler

There is a public street (Erie St.) that runs along the west side of the crossing diamonds, but nearby residents sometimes will complain about railfans if you park on it or hang around the area.  I do not recommend parking at or near the crossing diamonds.  You can watch the NS Chicago Line traffic from the sidewalks on the Broadway St. crossing downtown and the Huntington District from the US 6 crossing.  There is a public parking lot on the west side of Broadway St. on the north side of the tracks, as well as a lot at the public library on the south side.
 

Garrett

DO NOT go anywhere in the CSX yard or the crew building area.  You can watch trains from the old Amtrak parking area next to Randolph St. or from the railroad museum and usually not be hassled.
 

Huntington

Downtown Huntington has many public spots to watch trains.  Just stay off the tracks.  Also, keep back when trains approach as speeds through town are as high as 60 mph.
 

St. Joe

My #1 rule here is: do not go to the NS/CSX diamonds.  There are a few grade crossings in St. Joe, itself where you can usually stay and be okay.
 

Waterloo

Stick to the Amtrak platform and you'll be okay here.  Just be sure to stay off of the platform when trains are approaching, especially those on #1 (north) track.  The grade crossings at Center and Wayne St. are nice sometimes for photos, too.
 
 

 

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© Original Content Copyright 1999-2007 David Safdy
© Design and Updates Copyright 2005-2007 Greg Lavoie
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