CSX's Grand Rapids, Lansing and Plymouth Sub -Closer to Home

[Mr. Tops]

Right after I started working on my Garrett Sub page a few weeks ago, I figured I should have a similar page for the area I'm more familiar with. Here's CSX's Grand Rapids, Lansing and Plymouth Subdivisions. Oh, btw, my CSX timetable is from 1998, before the Plymouth Sub was split up, creating the Lansing Sub. I'm sure someone knows where the exact split is, but until someone corrects me, I just listed it as Ensel.

As with the Garrett Sub page, I will be adding and tweaking this page. I will be creating more of these pages as I get more railfanning done...

Here it is:
http://www.midwestrailfan.com/grr

[Hogger1225]

East end Trowbridge is the split.

[chessiefan1980]

Hey Mr. Tops, i notice on the page you have of the New Buffalo coaling tower, is a sign that says "Safety Today" with what looks like to me, a Chessie Cat..is it THE cat? do you havea blow up/closeup of this sign??

[Mr. Tops]

That is indeed the Chessie Kitten. It's an old sign from the Chessie Era, which reads" Safety Today, Your Investment for Tomorrow"

[GP30M4216]

The Chessie System was a major proponent of rail safety, with safety special trains running for years around the system. They also had a ton of different safety slogans. One of which is still on the New Buffalo Coal Tower. Two more I recall are:

"Take a SAFETY SECOND and THINK!"
"Today is the first day of the rest of your life, live is SAFELY."

During the Chessie Years when the caboose was still a common sight on the rear of the passing freight train, they had 23 cabooses painted in specail safety colors which roamed the system. These each had a slogan painted on the side too. These included:

"Lead, Follow, Or Clear The Way For SAFETY"
"Near-Miss Program, Are YOU Doing Your Part?"
"Work By YOUR Safety Rules"
"Safety, Is It FIRST In YOUR Mind?"
"Be Alert, Don't Get Hurt"
"Long Chances Shorten Lives"
"Safety Is A Full Time Job"
"Safety & Service, We Work For Both"
"Your Family Needs You, Stay Safe For Them"
"Safe Today - Here Tomorrow"
"Keep SAFETY In Mind All Of The Time"
"Safety Is Of First Importance"
"Safety's Dividends Are Priceless"
"Last In The Train, But First In Safety"
"Weekly Safety Slogan - What's This Week's?"
"Make This Year A Safer Year"
"Near Miss Program, X Out Accidents"
"Safety Is Free, USE IT"
"Safety Is Good For Life"
"Chessie Has Nine Lives, You Have One - Be Safe"
"Safety Is No Accident"
"Safety Is Not A Part-Time Job"
"Safety Is No Mystery, Just Common Sense"

My favorites are definitely
"Last In The Train, But First In Safety" and
"Chessie Has Nine Lives, You Have One - Be Safe"

A full roster of these Safety Cabooses, with road numbers, slogans, and paint colors is available at the Chessie Chapter here:
http://groups.msn.com/chessiechapter/ch ... ooses.msnw

[chessiefan1980]

Sigh.... I miss those good old Chessie days....nice colors, the ferry, the cat...

[~Z~]

While I see that you have the MMRR turn from muskegon,

Z627 - [MMRR Waverly Turn] - Sun-Fri

you may want to add the Marquette Rail operation from northern country onto CSX trackage here in GR heading to Wyoming Yard and back north. Just a minor addition....

[Mr. Tops]

Yeah, I was thinking about that. But nobody really knows the schedule. Do they run Sat, Sun or both? Whenever they need to? Symbol is Z151, right?

[~Z~]

Yeah, I was thinking about that. But nobody really knows the schedule. Do they run Sat, Sun or both? Whenever they need to? Symbol is Z151, right?

symbom has been Z151 the only time I had the scanner on and caught them... I very rarely hear them talking from my apartment though, so hard to say what they use. I've seen them on saturdays, even heard them on sundays. They've been running at odd hours lately too...heard them around 5pm heading south this past saturday, when i usually hear them around 2am or so...

[RailCanon]

I just saw a picture of them leaving Wyoming yard on rrpicturearchives, and the caption says Z151. Sounds like that's the official symbol

[RailCanon]

Z151 MQT

Z151 is almost to home rails: