AARR's Paper Railroads

[AARR]

Central Michigan 1993

Acquired CMGN, ne GTW, track from Owosso (M21) to Ionia (Prarie Center). Coming soon. Begin service in August, 1993 with ex-GTW SW1200 with flexicoil trucks

Customers include elevators in Ovid and St. Johns that ship 60-80 cars a year respectively. Agroculture Liquid Fertilizer west of St. Johns proceeds with plans to expand their plant into central production and distribute product to their 7 locations in the south and midwest. We expect around 400-450 in (2/3) and outbound (1/3) cars. And, small Royster-Clark fertilizer dealer near Fowler.

1994 we pick up elevator in Fowler that ships around 60 cars a year and lumber mill in Pewamo starts receiving saw-logs from team track (loaded in Kalkaska, TSBY to CMGN in Owosso) averaging a few cars a month.

1995 track from Pewamo to Prarie Center abandoned and removed.

Between 2005 and 2010 the following occurs
Elevators in Ovid (Ovid Farmers Elevator), St. Johns (Caladonia Farm Services is now Hicks Farm Services), and Fowler expand shipments by 10-20 %.
Hicks discontinues dry and liquid fertilizer delivery amounting to 12-15 cars annually.
Royster-Clark is acquired by Crop Production Services and discontinues rail service
We acquire ex-CN, ne-GTW GP9r and sell SW1200
2010 Great Lakes Hybrid is opening a dry fertilizer center in Shepardsville (between Ovid and St. Johns) that will receive 1-2 15-car blocks of dry fertilizer per month
There's talk about Vita Plus Grain (which acquired and expanded the elevator in Fowler) building an elevator in Pewamo that would ship around 75ish cars per year in 15-car blocks. Expansion in Fowler is prohibitive because there's no more room.

Revised 8/16/10

[Ben Higdon]

Don, what about Johnston Boilerworks in Spring Lake for a GR&W customer? They're even still in operation today. My dad has a picture of me in front of a six axle drop center flat there around 1983. I don't know how long they had rail service after then, but I think they stopped shipping by rail in the mid or late 80s. They even had a weird little machine there to move cars, it looked like a mini plug in track mobile. It was switched by Chessie then, but their sidings came off the old GTW just west of the Spring Lake swing bridge.

[AARR]

Don, what about Johnston Boilerworks in Spring Lake for a GR&W customer? They're even still in operation today. My dad has a picture of me in front of a six axle drop center flat there around 1983. I don't know how long they had rail service after then, but I think they stopped shipping by rail in the mid or late 80s. They even had a weird little machine there to move cars, it looked like a mini plug in track mobile. It was switched by Chessie then, but their sidings came off the old GTW just west of the Spring Lake swing bridge.

Thanks for the suggestion, Ben. Start up of the GR&W was 1984. The track from Springfield to Ferrysburg was severed at the bridge (not the one that Chessie used, But the one that GTW used on the west side of Springfield) long before 1984. Unfortunately, Chessie gets the business.

There's a couple furniture manufacturers in Springfield that are potential customers. Neither wants to ship finished product by rail for all the reasons we already know. One gets it's sheet metal from Magic Steel and they don't want to spend the extra money to ship it the final 30ish miles over our line and would rather have it trucked. They get their particle board from Vans and don't want direct delivery for the same reason.

I'm still researching the other furniture company to see if there's any raw materials I could deliver to them economically.

[Ben Higdon]

maybe a state funded grant could put that swing bridge back in service I wonder when it was actually removed? It probly didn't last long once GTW stopped using it. I'd like to know what customers GTW had in Ferrysburg and Grand Haven. There was a siding through the Construcion Aggregates dock with a connection to the C&O. The siding was on the GTW's original main line alignment, so I've wondered if it was a GTW spur switched off the C&O.

[AARR]

maybe a state funded grant could put that swing bridge back in service I wonder when it was actually removed? It probly didn't last long once GTW stopped using it. I'd like to know what customers GTW had in Ferrysburg and Grand Haven. There was a siding through the Construcion Aggregates dock with a connection to the C&O. The siding was on the GTW's original main line alignment, so I've wondered if it was a GTW spur switched off the C&O.

I value any input you or anyone can offer since I've never physically been to Springfield.

[AARR]

Pontiac Beltline 2010

Acquired CN, ne GTW, track from Pontiac, Johnson Yard to Orion. Coming soon. We will serve the GM Orion Assembly and Battery Plant, and a few other customers. CRMike will be lines GM

[AARR]

Updates in color
My Pontiac Beltline paper railroad is complete and will post later. I got the Volt business as well as some other auto related business that CN lost