World's slowest freight train, the Napoleon Defiance and Western

[@edy21865]

These tracks may still need a lot of work but they’re a lot better than before. At least there’s actually ballast now. Before they were literally sinking into the swamps below. Pioneer Lines spent some good effort on repairing this old line.

[@marka5478]

@SagePerkins-le2ej There isn't enough traffic on this line to justify double track. This line was always single track.

[@barneypfeffer3032]

Between sealy texas and katy texas got these trains beat about being slow that's union pacific

[@GoodbyeKamala2024]

Yes, things are slowly getting better for the Pioneer Lines.

[@haroldreardon1407]

They don't make a profit on speed, profit comes from revenue plus NOT making a mess from unnecessary costly derailments.

[@anb7408]

Doesn't get really fun until the track goes down into 5mph FRA "excepted" status.

[@armandoperez7967]

The track is a hundred times better than when the line was the Maumee and Western. I don’t think that they would have any problem in running B40-8s and GP60s on it.

[@barneypfeffer3032]

Between sealytexas and katy texas up got this train beat.

[@kh-ro5su]

american infrastructure be like:

[@kenburbey]

That's ridiculously slow. Go see the trains in Iron Mountain Michigan..., hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha 😂

[@GrnArrow092]

It's nice to see the old Wabash Railroad restored back to the condition in which it should be. I've seen older videos of this railroad and it was a bit of a shock to see how trains could even run on it. Under the Maumee and Western, the tracks were crooked and even sinking into the ground. I'm surprised that they ran trains on the tracks even if they were running at 5 mph on a trip. Sinking and crooked tracks were what you get when you defer maintenance for 60 years.

[@cdavid8139]

THe line was bad under Norfolk Southern who owned it before it became a short line. NS got rid of the line just to avoid maintaining a line that was literally built over a swamp

[@Railmovercom]

wow they reaaly rebuilt the rail track since I last saw this. Search for older videos from 8 years ago

[@kenharbin3440]

Great to see so many GP20s in one place still doing real work at 60+ years old.

[@ScottTaipaleRail]

Good to see all the boxcars still moving!

[@shawnpowell5876]

Nice catch of the ND&W gathering some loaded boxcars. Its a shame they have to run so slow but i understand due to traxk conditions. Glad to hear they've replaced quite a bit of the rail along with ballast. Thanks for sharing this video with us RC along with your time and effort! Cheers from Laurel, Delaware USA.

[@chanwittwer4925]

Id like to say that these tracks are definitely better. I saw the old condition of the tracks and to tell you the truth, i wouldnt have run my toy trains over them let alone my real full size trains😊

[@dennisrichardville4988]

Wow what a improvement ! Im impressed....

[@GamingFanatic9952]

I think it’s worth noting that the part of the line between Cecil and Defiance was completely rebuilt last year and there is a 10 mile stretch with amazing rail on it. Where this video was filmed it’s still somewhat subpar, though better than before, so a slower speed is still warranted.

[@richardcarr9095]

Unfortunately, the part of the line from from Cecil to Defiance, is pretty in accessible, you can see it from route 24 , but there are few places to stop and film, and there were o trains that day as I went by. Hopefully I can catch themon the next trip.

[@chuckgilly]

The railroad has come a long way since the days of Napoleon Dynamite & Wobbling (ND&W)

[@frankarcher512]

I rode and drove The Mississippian, and the Mississippi Central and both were 10 mph roads.

[@kerryrock9248]

That's funny, the Wheeling and Lake Erie was worse than that and they still ran at 10 to 20 mph. Is it because the engine didn't have ditch lights?

[@ericposey1986]

I Patriot Rail bought out Pioneer Rail. I know they have been replacing power on a couple of lines here in Georgia.

[@thepozfromoz5166]

Looks like they've come along way since the beginning I tell ya that! I'd rather watch a slow moving train anyway...

[@46fd04]

I'm no train expert, but, it's pretty difficult to see cars running a crossing when you're facing the wrong way LOL

[@XBOXShawn12thman]

WOW ... That Pioneer looks like it rolled out of the show room floor yesterday!!! Very cool indeed .... Thumbs up

[@ericzerkle8486]

I caught them today in Antwep, of course i was in a hurry to get somewhere.

[@sernajrlouis]

Cool video and channel just subscribed. Cool Santa Fe locomotive

[@fogdan]

Awesome Video!!! Thanks for posting!!

[@JohnKowalski-n9x]

What’s the track speed - 5mph? 10 mph?

[@armandoperez7967]

If I was in the management of the ND&W, I would have a couple of the GP20s fully repainted into the Santa Fe paint scheme.

[@cdavid8139]

they can barely afford fuel much less a paint job

[@Coloribus2004]

From Worst Railroad In America to Shortline Of The Year. And Millions of Dollars made the difference!

[@cdavid8139]

Thanks to taxpayers

[@railfandepotproductions]

Pioneer rail got a new paint scheme

[@NormanJaquemotRebel]

Does the track run right into Fort Wayne?

[@johnspencer7291]

yes

[@richardcarr9095]

It does link up to Fort Wayne but the interchange point is just south of Woodburn. The Norfolk Southern local picksup and delivers the cars there and services the BF Goodrich plant nearby.

[@NormanJaquemotRebel]

@@richardcarr9095 : Thanks for the info. Do they intend to run down to Fort Wayne any time soon?

[@Thunder_6278]

Can't be profitable running this slow. Time to turn in the towel.

[@darrencatenacci2737]

Speed has nothing to do with profit. Reliability and efficiency do. If their customer is happy with their service is all that matters.

[@marka5478]

FYI the rule of thumb to determine the viability of a railroad is 100 carloads of freight per mile of road per year. therefore, ND&W has to handle about 5,000 carloads a year. Also, in case you missed it, the ND& W will be serving 2 new shippers. Refer to the Ohio Rail Development Commission's website.

[@Panda21F9N8VUSUCKACUCK09G0]

they upgraded some tracks to class I standards (10-15mph), yet they still drive like 5mph on the upgraded tracks, why?

[@cdavid8139]

sometimes slow and steady is better

[@onrr1726]

Video is nice but you really need to get into your channel settings and block adds from popping up at random intervals.

[@richardcarr9095]

Thanks for that, I'll take a look and see what I can do.

[@timothystrauss3838]

Hi Richard do you ever get up near Delta,Ohio and record trains going through or switching I have a question if you do if you give me your email or a way to contact you I will ask it thanks.