CSX 5281 Leads Manifest North | OH-274 Railroad Crossing, Botkins, OH

Thursday, January 1, 2026
On this New Years Day, I would plan to meet Henry around Botkins for a bit of railfanning. We wouldn't see anything for a good 3 hours until we see the signal at North Botkins upgrade to an approach limited for a northbound. We then make our way to this crossing and wait for another 2 hours until Henry spots the headlight of M506-01. We set up and catch M506-01 which would stop for over 2 hours getting a tanker car out of the Botkins siding with a CSX ES40DC up front and a CSX SD70AC as a mid DPU at the OH-274 railroad crossing in Botkins on the Toledo Sub.

This crossing has a nice pair of 1980s Chessie System gated signals with the original Safetran incandescents were replaced with Leotek EV Series LEDs, both diagonally striped gates with incandescent gate lights being replaced with vertically striped gates with NEG and RECO LEDs, and the WCH mechanical bell starts to sound rather flat.

Consist:
CSX M506-01 (Daily Manifest) [Queensgate Yard, Cincinnati, OH - Walbridge, OH]
CSX 5281 - GE ES40DC
CSX 4713 - EMD SD70AC - Mid DPU

Crossing Info
City/State: Botkins, Ohio
Train Line: CSX Toledo Subdivision
Bell Sequence: Rings till gates lower
Horn Zone: Horn

Right Signal
Base: Safetran
Gate Mechanism: Safetran
Counterweight Arms: Safetran
Lights: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with 2 pairs of 12 inch Leotek EV Series LEDs
Bracket: Safetran
Bell: Flat WCH Mechanical Bell
Gate Lights: 4 inch NEG LEDs

Left Signal
Base: Safetran
Gate Mechanism: Safetran
Counterweight Arms: Safetran
Lights: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with 2 pairs of 12 inch Leotek EV Series LEDs
Bracket: Safetran
Gate Lights: 4 inch RECO LEDs