"Must See" Railfan Locations

[TonytheTiger]

As an afterthought in one of my posts in another topic I thought that I would start a list of all the great railfan locations between here and Disney World. It will probably not be for a couple of years before I go since our youngest is not quite up to the rigors of all the walking and waiting in line, but, you can ask my wife, I like to plan and plan and plan. I can snake an optimized route from here to there that will surpass the most gerrymandered Congressional district.

For clarity, I will define what a "Great" railfan location is to me:
    1. Lots of action - at least one to two trains an hour
    2. Plenty of accessibility from public locations with clear views
    3. Good light for most of the day
    4. Lots of other things to do for those who don't want to watch trains (why, I don't know!!)

Chattanooga is already on my list. I love that place! Stone Mountain, Georgia, may be a stop. I know that Atlanta is a busy place, but is it accessible (safely), and how's the light?

I'm still in the process of creating a list for around here (lighting is the hardest criteria to meet). Please add your "best" sites to this thread.

[Hoydie17]

The C&O's Alleghany Grade (Now CSXT) running between Clifton Forge, VA an Hinton, WV is some of the nicest RR you'll ever see.  

Not necessarily busy, but you can get 10 - 12 trains per day there.  The scenery is breathtaking however.  

On the NS side, I love the Southern Tier Line through NY, another scenic gem, but it doesn't see nearly the volume for the mainstream railfan.  Another of those spots that you go to simply because you like the scenery and don't care what the train looks like.  

Sean

[E.M. Bell]

We have been thinking about starting a NS guide to the good spots..or something along those lines, here at Jreb. Yall think this would be a good idea and would folks be willing to provide info for different areas?

[cmherndon]

This sounds like a great idea, once we get a few guidelines set up. It would probably be best to make said guides as part of the site, rather than the forums.  That way, they would be accessible to everyone, rather than just members of the forum.

[Hoydie17]

In the interest of keeping anyone from duplicating efforts.

www.frograil.com

or specifically:

http://www.frograil.com/tours/tourGuide.htm

This site is still actively maintained, in fact I'm working on a tour for the CSX Montreal Line.  

Perhaps maybe JREB and Frograil could work out a partnership?   Just me thinking out loud of course.

Sean

[E.M. Bell]

The hoydster said "Perhaps maybe JREB and Frograil could work out a partnership?"

Please...you really gotta stop that kind of humor! I cant vouch for everything on that site, but a lot of the NS stuff is rather...well...wrong, at least the areas I know well. You cant take a person that visits a area once or twice and let them produce a detailed guide to it.  What we would like to do is simular, but with much more detail and heavy on the best photo locations, operations ect, and only for the NS.

[stillbre]

The hoydster said "Perhaps maybe JREB and Frograil could work out a partnership?"

Please...you really gotta stop that kind of humor! I cant vouch for everything on that site, but a lot of the NS stuff is rather...well...wrong, at least the areas I know well.

Its more than just the areas that you know well that are wrong.  Even the areas Tony Hill visits regularly are wrong.  The tours tell you to turn left when you should go right, go east when you should go north, etc, etc, etc, etc.  If you're looking for a good way to get lost, follow his tours.