Marquette Rail

[cfriedri]

Alright, 8 rebuilds, with MUGC. Grand Rapids is a paint shop, we can paint if you like.

60,000 apiece for the GP35s
25,000 apiece for the rebuild
5,000 parts
90,000 each Grand Total. Delivered in Primer

The mechanical department will take this week and next to finalize plans and order/start working on parts. We'll pull 8 GP35s from Ensel, and start stripping them. Estimated Completion Date for all 8: Sept. 15th.

Each unit comes with a 2-year wear + tear warranty, 10 year powertrain, MUGC. Units will be just like new, and will lead a full service life of 40 years+ without major mechanical overhaul.

Sounds good! If you could build them as close to BN standards as possible, working with the MUGC, I'd appreciate that!

Our mechanical forces have gotten prints from BNSF. It will take a little extra work, but we can do it

Thanks a lot! Quite a few of our employees worked for BN from the late 1980s until it merged with ATSF and they appreciated the Rebuilt-EMD locomotives coming out of BN's shops in the early 1990s.

[Saturnalia]

Not much noteable happing around the MQT system during the last month. More track improvements, the CWR is up to East Tawas on the Huron Subdivision, and all motorized turnouts on the Grand Rapids sub are now rated at least 45 mph. Our agreement with IBR has been running smoothly, our shop crews' pockets getting lined with some extra overtime cash in time for the holidays. Those rebuilds are starting, and the target completion date is the 17th of September.

Planning for holiday-time Steam runs is ongoing...

[astrovanman1989]

samm rr #901 calling saginaw yard we have a 80 car loaded grain train destined for Cleveland ohio what track do you whant us to put it on and do you have any cars for us
what are those flasing lights over there in the dark i know just some foamer taking pictures of
the 3 sd9's on our train

[Saturnalia]

samm rr #901 calling saginaw yard we have a 80 car loaded grain train destined for Cleveland ohio what track do you whant us to put it on and do you have any cars for us
what are those flasing lights over there in the dark i know just some foamer taking pictures of
the 3 sd9's on our train

Park it on the main, we have a crew on power ready to go. You have 13 loads and 8 empties on 11 track, run through on 9.

We'll have just 5 for you tomorrow, come if you want, but no yardmaster on duty, contact Saginaw Sub Dispatch. Anything you bring will go in 27, and those outbounds will be on 6. Otherwise, nothing much going on tomorrow in Saginaw aside from maybe a coal train and a couple of stone trains, only a TOLSAG for manifest.

[astrovanman1989]

ok we might stop back wed we will have 8 cars for dow chem loaded & 3 empty also 5 empty gravel cars 1 for 1/4in 2 for 3/4 and 2 for 1- 1,1/2 crushed concrete could you fill those for me

also 3 empty ashpalt cars at greenville and 5 auto parts for the cadilac plant in lansing

[Saturnalia]

ok we might stop back wed we will have 8 cars for dow chem loaded & 3 empty also 5 empty gravel cars 1 for 1/4in 2 for 3/4 and 2 for 1- 1,1/2 crushed concrete could you fill those for me

also 3 empty ashpalt cars at greenville and 5 auto parts for the cadilac plant in lansing

Got it. They'll be northbound on M-SAGALP on Wednesday

[cfriedri]

The Ironwood Belt Railroad is quite impressed with the Rebuilt-EMD GP39E #2400 done by your shops. In fact, we're so impressed that we would like you to overhaul our Rebuilt-EMD GP35us #2450-2451 when you are finished with our other rebuilds. They are in pretty good condition, but we would like to have the locomotives equipped with the MUGC and they just need a little bit of a renewal. Would Marquette Rail be interested in doing such?

[Saturnalia]

The Ironwood Belt Railroad is quite impressed with the Rebuilt-EMD GP39E #2400 done by your shops. In fact, we're so impressed that we would like you to overhaul our Rebuilt-EMD GP35us #2450-2451 when you are finished with our other rebuilds. They are in pretty good condition, but we would like to have the locomotives equipped with the MUGC and they just need a little bit of a renewal. Would Marquette Rail be interested in doing such?

Absolutely. The last unit only needs a few more parts, then it will spend some testing time in Wyoming Yard, as the rest of the units have. We're hoping to ship them Sunday, even have a crew, W-GRRANN-15, called for 15:00.

[cfriedri]

We've had the Rebuilt-EMD GP35us #2450-2451 working between Owosso and Howell since they've been on the property. We'll have them on the interchange track at AnnPere by the end of the weekend. On another note, I just want to express my appreciation on behalf of my employees. The crews that have been running Rebuilt-EMD GP39E #2400 just love the locomotive. So far, we haven't encountered any problems with the locomotive at all. The extra work to make the locomotive built to BN standards has really paid off in terms of employee appreciation.

[Saturnalia]

We've had the Rebuilt-EMD GP35us #2450-2451 working between Owosso and Howell since they've been on the property. We'll have them on the interchange track at AnnPere by the end of the weekend. On another note, I just want to express my appreciation on behalf of my employees. The crews that have been running Rebuilt-EMD GP39E #2400 just love the locomotive. So far, we haven't encountered any problems with the locomotive at all. The extra work to make the locomotive built to BN standards has really paid off in terms of employee appreciation.

Glad your crews are happy. Shop manager calling for a party Sunday afternoon to watch the race projected inside the roundhouse

[cfriedri]

The Ironwood Belt Railroad crew of the NB road train just finished setting out Rebuilt-EMD GP35us #2450-2451 at the AnnPere interchange. We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused by getting them there two days late. We had a couple of grain extras come through this weekend and we wouldn't have gotten them through without the Rebuilt-EMD GP35us.

[Saturnalia]

The Ironwood Belt Railroad crew of the NB road train just finished setting out Rebuilt-EMD GP35us #2450-2451 at the AnnPere interchange. We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused by getting them there two days late. We had a couple of grain extras come through this weekend and we wouldn't have gotten them through without the Rebuilt-EMD GP35us.

No big deal. Your trainmaster called to let us know, so we just did some other overhaul projects...

[Saturnalia]

The Ironwood Belt Railroad crew of the NB road train just finished setting out Rebuilt-EMD GP35us #2450-2451 at the AnnPere interchange. We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused by getting them there two days late. We had a couple of grain extras come through this weekend and we wouldn't have gotten them through without the Rebuilt-EMD GP35us.

No big deal. Your trainmaster called to let us know, so we just did some other overhaul projects...

The overhauled units were delivered to Ann Pere at 13:01 as lite power.

[Saturnalia]

A investment firm has begun to plan a new potash mine near MQT's Evart terminus. We have entered talks to get the new traffic if the plant is built. No word on the setup just yet, but it sounds promising.

[Saturnalia]

The Holiday Pere Marquette 1223/1225 schedule will be released tomorrow

[Saturnalia]

First up, the Thanksgiving Day schedule for the 1223, 1225 & 3. There will be trains behind geeps coming from Alpena and Gaylord to Bay City on the 27th, and there will be a train south from Fremont on the 28th meeting the 1223 in Holland.

Nov. 28th Thanksgiving
PM 1225:
730: Arrive Bay City
830: Arrive Saginaw
900: Arrive Flint
945: Arrive Holly
1030: Arrive Plymouth
1100: Depart Plymouth
1200: Arrive Howell
1230: Arrive Fowlerville
1330: Arrive Lansing
1400: Depart Lansing
1430: Arrive Grand Ledge
1530: Arrive Lake Odessa
1630: Arrive Fox
1800: Arrive Wyoming Roundhouse

PM 1223:
1030: Depart Chicago Union Station
1200: Arrive Porter
1245: Arrive Michigan City
1315: Arrive New Buffalo
1400: Arrive St. Joseph
1430: Depart St. Joseph
1500: Arrive Watervliet
1530: Arrive Bangor
1600: Arrive Fennville
1645: Arrive Holland
1700: Depart Holland
1725: Arrive Hudsonville
1800: Arrive Wyoming Yard

MQT 3:
800: Depart Manistee
930: Arrive Ludington
1000: Arrive Scottville
1030: Arrive Walhala
1130: Arrive Baldwin
1230: Arrive Bitely
1315: Arrive White Cloud
1400: Arrive Newaygo
1440: Arrive Grant
1500: Arrive Kent City
1540: Arrive Sparta
1600: Depart Sparta
1630: Arrive Comstock Park
1700: Depart Comstock Park
17:30 Arrive Wyoming Yard

[Saturnalia]

"Baldwin Blazer north, clear Cornstalk Park on a pair, M-GRRBAL-ten is otta' here!"

MQT 3004 leading 3001 with the 2036 trailing. They have 66 mixed.

[Saturnalia]

Several B30-7s are headed to Wyoming for contract conversions to an Mother-Slug-Mother Slug set. There are two A units and a B-unit to be converted. Along with the conversion, all three will recieve numerous upgrades and refurbishents. Expected release date: Dec. 20th. They are routed to us via the Grand Elkk.

[Saturnalia]

The B30-7s rebuilds are done, but staying in the shop for now until we can get them out without all the ice.

The Marquette System is running pretty slow right now due to all the snow and ice. Taxis not working due to the ice, so we've called several crew trains consisting of a geep and a caboose or two to go along the busier subdivision and change crews. Not very efficient but we need to run trains and our sidings were all clogged with dead trains. For now the Huron Sub is shut down due to weather, the two scheduled trains will simply run tomorrow. The Baldwin Division will run the turn job until its crew runs out, then no recrew called for it.

Train W-GRRPTR is handling recrew duties on the GR sub, W-GRRPLY on the Plymouth and W-PLYTOL on the Saginaw Sub. What a mess.

Only three broken trains: Zeeland (fixed), Ensel main two and the biggest one is at the diamond in Holly. MQT and CN crews working on that mess. Trying to get a new diamond shipped now, but they're battling a frozen switch after meeting M-TOLGRR2-21 at Elmdale.

Marquette is prepping to take over the Pere Marquette trains effective Jan 1. For now, the trains will use Amtrak equipment, but we're looking to buy new equipment for the end of the year.

[Saturnalia]

The freshly published 2014 capital budget includes finally putting in a new swing bridge in St. Joseph, completing double-track from Porter to Riverside, finishing up Welded Rail on the entire Huron Sub (transition to 6-axles allowances!) and CTCing Lake Odessa to Ensel.