Woodburn Branch

Looking east on the Maumee and Western Railroad
at Woodburn, Indiana in August 2003.

Overview

The NS Woodburn Branch begins in New Haven and branches off the Fostoria District and runs towards Woodburn. At Woodburn the line becomes the Maumee and Western Railroad (MAW) east to Defiance, Ohio. The MAW operates the line between Woodburn and Cecil, Ohio. East of this point the track is no longer used. South of Cecil, the MAW operates on a small segment of the old Cincinnati Northern (ex-NYC) trackage to a gravel pit area about 1 mile to the south.

Historical Aspects

The Woodburn Branch was once the Wabash Railroad's mainline between New Haven, Indiana and Toledo, Ohio. Today the line exists in several disconnected segments. The Maumee & Western is the successor to the Indiana Hi-Rail who operated the line before. The removal of the diamonds across the CSX in Defiance, Ohio in December 2002 resulted in the track between Defiance and Cecil falling out of service. This also left the MAW with 2 non-continuous segments of railroad with no way to connect directly between them.

The former Wabash depot in Antwerp, Ohio resides on the west side of town alongside US 24.

Woodburn Branch map

Operations

Norfolk Southern L91 operates usually on weekdays on the Woodburn Branch, which is also known as the Fifth District. A caboose is a regular on this train. This local switches out the Goodrich Tire plant just northwest of Woodburn. They also drop off and pick up interchange traffic for the Maumee and Western. The changeover/interchange point is at Woodburn Rd. Yard Limit Authority is the operating rule on this line. The MAW operates as needed and has shippers in Woodburn, Antwerp, and south of Cecil. They keep their locomotive(s) stationed just about anywhere on the western half of the system. The MAW's central operations are in Defiance.

Frequencies

161.190 MHz - Norfolk Southern (yard channel)
160.695 MHz - Maumee & Western

Pictures

This is looking east towards the co-op elevator in Woodburn on the Maumee and Western on August 28, 2003.

On November 17, 2000 NS L91 is returning westbound to East Wayne Yard from Woodburn at the Doyle Rd. crossing led by GP38-2 #5119.

At Antwerp, Ohio the Maumee and Western delivers and picks up cars for the local co-op elevator in town.

The co-op elevator in Antwerp has their own "Trackmobile" in order to spot cars around the plant.

At Cecil, Ohio the track connects with the former Cincinnati Northern trackage that runs about a mile south to Hanson Aggregates and Lafarge. Between Cecil and Defiance the Woodburn Branch is not used and is currently out of service.

On August 28, 2003 one of MAW's Geeps sits on the Cincinnati Northern trackage near the Hanson Aggregates quarry.

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