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Somewhere in my basement, I have the original AFE on the purchase of these locomotives. I obtained it with many other boxes of AFE's and accident files before the Wyoming Storehouse was torn down. Long ago, I gave him a copy of the file to Bill Berkompas to take back to Owosso. Bill was shocked by t...

Donald Van Reken wrote a book with lots of photos of this line about 30 years ago. I have it at home. You can still see where the tracks ran many years ago in Wyoming, Grandville, Jamestown, Holland, and Laketown Township. Sure wish we had it now to ride.

What you might see is warehouse restocking on 53' Amazon containers coming from Los Angeles on the BNSF to CSX North Baltimore. This train runs on a 127 hour schedule 6 days per week. It is actually a large block of cars off the LA to Logistics Park train that BNSF hires CSX to run as a BNSF dedicat...

Saturnalia and Redcrumbox nailed it. Take it off the train in Chicago and deliver in about 6 hours. Or rubber tire it across Chicago to an eastern railroad for a slow train to Detroit and a rubber tire delivery to Amazon. The slower plan actually costs more than the faster plan. I have been selling ...

For awhile, all finished product was moved to a warehouse in Grand Rapids due to the shortage of trucks in Grawn. From there, it was trucked to their customers. Not sure who has the warehouse contract currently. They ran daily trucks with packaging/manufacturing items north and applesauce south. Che...

They assembly trucks for Isuzu at the Charlotte plant. Many of the parts come in on 40' containers over the BNSF and UP ramps near Chicago. All leave via OTR. They also make motor home chassis.

I've been selling intermodal out of Western Michigan for 30 years. The only ramp I can recall was the C&O ramp on the east end of their yard which was long out of service by then. Amway never had a ramp to my knowledge. Amway invited me to a meeting about 25 years ago as they looked at building one....

Late 80's and/or early 90's. Frequency was 2 to 3 trains per day in each direction. They had a wide variety of SOO or CP locomotives. Most has a CP caboose. Seems to me it lasted for several years.

Did Miller Zylstra Lumber on Michigan Ave have a spur at one time off the GTW? Near the Houseman Ave NE grade crossing?

E&LS knows where they stored each block of cars for a customer. The block of cars could be behind several hundred other stored cars. Store them in the order you receive them since you never know which customer will want their cars first. Dig them out when the customer wants them. No real technology ...

Was the train northbound or southbound?

Can I drink the Kool-Aid too?

Tracks crossed US-31 in Grand Haven to the east until the 80's if my memory is correct. The 1972 USGS map shows the tracks going to the leather company. Also, tracks also crossed Lakeshore Dr south of Grand Haven to serve the sand mine near Rosey Mound. I use to see covered hoppers at the sand mine ...

Bay Logistics is north of Pontaluma Rd. in the big warehouse buildings along tracks. Closer to Norton Shores than Spring Lake.

I recently relocated a family of gophers I caught to the old ROW near Nunica so the boring could begin under I-96.

Rode the South Shore last weekend into Chicago from Michigan City. Got off two blocks from my hotel on Michigan Avenue. $41 round trip for two people. Free parking. Lots of departures to choose from. I can't see myself ever riding Amtrak from Holland again.

Apples will be sourced locally unless Michigan has a bad crop. Then they will come from NY or WA. I move apples from WA to Michigan when there is a bad crop here on 53' intermodal containers. But only between October and April when it is cold. Since the natural decomposition of apples generates heat...

Does anyone have a track diagram for Reynolds Metal? I can't image it is much different with what is still on the ground around the plant. Thanks for your help.

Go to the pre-aution inspection and sign up as a buyer. Then you will have total freedom to walk around the property and take photos.

EJIR trucks scrap in 8 axle trailers north from Sunfield, MI and then reloads finished product back south to Sunfield. Because of the difficulty of getting trucks to move finished product from Northern Michigan, this process should remain in place.