Ann Arbor Railroad Trains

[Steve B]

Also, for your question about the old NYC branch at Saline now, I think it was during the Michigan Interstate days when they got the line, considering it was torn up in '76, I think.

The Ford plant opened in 1966. The AA acquired the Saline Branch from Penn Central in 1969, allowing the PC to abandon from Ypsilanti to Pittsfield Jct and thus the I-94 and US-23 grade crossings. A connecting track was reinstalled at Pittsfield Jct. after having been gone for many years. After 1969 PC was still able to get the Saline traffic via the interchanges in Ann Arbor and Toledo.

[cfriedri]

Is any interchange still happening between NS and AA at Milan?

Unless they started doing this again, they haven't run racks to Milan since 2020.

If not auto racks, what do AA & NS interchange in Milan?

I'm not sure what they're up to these days. When I was working there in early 2021, a lot of what we got from the NS was almost always destined for the GLC - lumber loads and used ties among other various commodities but never more than 5-6 cars at a time. In turn, we interchanged the same cars back to the NS when they came back from the GLC. Loads out of the Dundee Engine Plant also went to the NS.

[GP30M4216]

Unless they started doing this again, they haven't run racks to Milan since 2020.

If not auto racks, what do AA & NS interchange in Milan?

I'm not sure what they're up to these days. When I was working there in early 2021, a lot of what we got from the NS was almost always destined for the GLC - lumber loads and used ties among other various commodities but never more than 5-6 cars at a time. In turn, we interchanged the same cars back to the NS when they came back from the GLC. Loads out of the Dundee Engine Plant also went to the NS.

I'm not local anymore, unfortunately, but a quick review on Google and Bing maps shows various cars on the AA sidings south of the diamond - boxcars at the north end, tankcars on the west siding at the south end, and various other cars - covered hoppers, boxcars, gondolas, tanks. From the air, the boxcars look like 50' or 63' footers, definitely not the big 86'ers that Dundee or Saline used to ship out. Boxcars wouldn't be heading to the GLC in any big quantity, I don't think - so it must be traffic coming or going from the south....or does NS store/work cars at the north end of the Annie yard? Interesting! We need somebody to take a field trip!

[Thatmichrailfan]

If not auto racks, what do AA & NS interchange in Milan?

I'm not sure what they're up to these days. When I was working there in early 2021, a lot of what we got from the NS was almost always destined for the GLC - lumber loads and used ties among other various commodities but never more than 5-6 cars at a time. In turn, we interchanged the same cars back to the NS when they came back from the GLC. Loads out of the Dundee Engine Plant also went to the NS.

I'm not local anymore, unfortunately, but a quick review on Google and Bing maps shows various cars on the AA sidings south of the diamond - boxcars at the north end, tankcars on the west siding at the south end, and various other cars - covered hoppers, boxcars, gondolas, tanks. From the air, the boxcars look like 50' or 63' footers, definitely not the big 86'ers that Dundee or Saline used to ship out. Boxcars wouldn't be heading to the GLC in any big quantity, I don't think - so it must be traffic coming or going from the south....or does NS store/work cars at the north end of the Annie yard? Interesting! We need somebody to take a field trip!

I could go tomorrow and report my findings, I'll update you if I find anything or see any Annie traffic...

[AARR]

I'm not local anymore, unfortunately, but a quick review on Google and Bing maps shows various cars on the AA sidings south of the diamond - boxcars at the north end, tankcars on the west siding at the south end, and various other cars - covered hoppers, boxcars, gondolas, tanks. From the air, the boxcars look like 50' or 63' footers, definitely not the big 86'ers that Dundee or Saline used to ship out. Boxcars wouldn't be heading to the GLC in any big quantity, I don't think - so it must be traffic coming or going from the south....or does NS store/work cars at the north end of the Annie yard? Interesting! We need somebody to take a field trip!

NS was using AA's Milan Yard as staging for their own Milan Local customers. I don't know if they still do that.

[GTWTD3]

NS doesn't interchange with AA at MIlan anymore, all interchange is at Toledo

[LansingRailFan]

NS doesn't interchange with AA at MIlan anymore, all interchange is at Toledo

Is this recent change, say last couple of months?

I saw AARR work Milan this fall.

[Thatmichrailfan]

NS doesn't interchange with AA at MIlan anymore, all interchange is at Toledo

Is this recent change, say last couple of months?

I saw AARR work Milan this fall.

Out of curiosity, when do they work Milan? And that's strange, I don't know why they would stop the interchange at Milan, it seemed pretty set in stone, considering they've been doing interchange there for a very long time.

[LansingRailFan]

NS doesn't interchange with AA at MIlan anymore, all interchange is at Toledo

Is this recent change, say last couple of months?

I saw AARR work Milan this fall.

Out of curiosity, when do they work Milan? And that's strange, I don't know why they would stop the interchange at Milan, it seemed pretty set in stone, considering they've been doing interchange there for a very long time.

Usually it's on their way north to Osmer, as needed.

[chapmaja]

NS doesn't interchange with AA at MIlan anymore, all interchange is at Toledo

Is this recent change, say last couple of months?

I saw AARR work Milan this fall.

Out of curiosity, when do they work Milan? And that's strange, I don't know why they would stop the interchange at Milan, it seemed pretty set in stone, considering they've been doing interchange there for a very long time.

The Milan interchange is likely at the whim of NS.

What traffic would be interchanged to the AA at Milan that wouldn't be routed to Toledo for interchange? Maybe if there was something from CP it would be interchanged NS to CP in Detroit/Windsor (not sure where they interchange), then NS to AA in Milan via the Oakwood to Milan local. Other than that I think the more direct routing would be NS to Toledo for the interchange train to the AA.

Also, there was an agreement a couple years ago that was designed to have the AA streamline their blocking of cars for NS in Toledo. The AA was going to be blocking the cars for Elkhart and Bellevue in Toledo to streamline NS's work of the cars in Toledo.

Finally, what traffic on NS would benefit from the cars being interchanged in Milan over Toledo?

[LansingRailFan]

It's about 1-2x a week last year. Maybe they got rid of it as the dispatcher said, idk.

[chapmaja]

NS doesn't interchange with AA at MIlan anymore, all interchange is at Toledo

Is this recent change, say last couple of months?

I saw AARR work Milan this fall.

They still work Milan. They use part of the Milan yard for storage of cars. I don't know if it is still the case, but at one time they would get unit trains of inbound tank cars for the place in Dundee that loads on the engine plant spur. Part of the train would end up on the Saline branch while the rest would end up in Milan yard. They would pull the cars as needed to deliver.

I'm not sure how much traffic was interchanged after the Saline plant stopped shipping by rail. My understanding is that was the majority of the traffic (along with the autoracks) that the AA interchanged in Milan with NS.

[Thatmichrailfan]

It's about 1-2x a week last year. Maybe they got rid of it as the dispatcher said, idk.

Ah well that stinks.... It would still be a good place to railfan, considering you can catch a good amount of NS trains and some AA traffic. If only they ran their heritage unit on the grainers, from what I've heard it had MU issues, apparently.

[Erroneous Monk]

It's about 1-2x a week last year. Maybe they got rid of it as the dispatcher said, idk.

Ah well that stinks.... It would still be a good place to railfan, considering you can catch a good amount of NS trains and some AA traffic. If only they ran their heritage unit on the grainers, from what I've heard it had MU issues, apparently.

If I may ask, what is the focus on grainers? You can get regular AA trains in light at Milan too during the summer

[Thatmichrailfan]

It's about 1-2x a week last year. Maybe they got rid of it as the dispatcher said, idk.

Ah well that stinks.... It would still be a good place to railfan, considering you can catch a good amount of NS trains and some AA traffic. If only they ran their heritage unit on the grainers, from what I've heard it had MU issues, apparently.

If I may ask, what is the focus on grainers? You can get regular AA trains in light at Milan too during the summer

I really meant to say all AA trains lol. Plus the only AA stuff I've seen is grainers, as those interchange at Osmer.

[GTWTD3]

NS doesn't interchange with AA at MIlan anymore, all interchange is at Toledo

Is this recent change, say last couple of months?

I saw AARR work Milan this fall.

Within the past half year interchange was shifted to TOledo

[CSXBOY]

It is quite sad to see this railroad and the way it is. I lived on the old Annie for the first 7 years of my life just south of Dundee before my parents got a separation and my mom moved me and my brother to Livonia. I still went to my dads on the weekend and we would hear the Annie if the wind was right on a nice summer night while swimming in the pool. On the rare occasion we would get caught by them, it would have lots of auto racks and auto part cars. I know Saline closed sometime after 2015. But they still kept hauling auto racks shortly before NS got into PSR in the summer of 2019. What happened after that? I remember the auto racks would go to the local in Milan to take to Oakwood Yard. Grainers are often extras, though in my honest opinion, they have increased. I remember in the summer of 2020 where CP power hauled a Potash train up to the GLC as well. I still go to my dads quite often. I sometimes see from US 23 a long set of tankers in the yard in Milan. Heck, at one point they had them in Temperance.

[Thatmichrailfan]

It is quite sad to see this railroad and the way it is. I lived on the old Annie for the first 7 years of my life just south of Dundee before my parents got a separation and my mom moved me and my brother to Livonia. I still went to my dads on the weekend and we would hear the Annie if the wind was right on a nice summer night while swimming in the pool. On the rare occasion we would get caught by them, it would have lots of auto racks and auto part cars. I know Saline closed sometime after 2015. But they still kept hauling auto racks shortly before NS got into PSR in the summer of 2019. What happened after that? I remember the auto racks would go to the local in Milan to take to Oakwood Yard. Grainers are often extras, though in my honest opinion, they have increased. I remember in the summer of 2020 where CP power hauled a Potash train up to the GLC as well. I still go to my dads quite often. I sometimes see from US 23 a long set of tankers in the yard in Milan. Heck, at one point they had them in Temperance.

My best guess is it was more economical to interchange at Toledo as pretty much everything is already set up for them. Both NS and AA have bigger yards there, and they still switch out intermodal cars, so I'm sure they interchange somewhere in toledo.

[chapmaja]

So what traffic actually runs on the AA north of Toledo?

They have the customers in Dundee (Oil Transload and Engine Plant) Does the engine plant actually get service? The Dundee cement plant is long gone, but there is still a cement transload in Dundee. They also have the plastics place in Dundee. That is a limited amount of online traffic, meaning the majority of cars north of Toledo over the AA are interchange to the GLC.

As I understand it, the AA serves as the GLC's connection to NS, as well as the HESR's / Mid-Michigan connection to NS via the GLC. Additionally, the AA acts the connection for the HESR (and maybe Mid-Michigan) to the IORY system.

The only other carloads I know of brought north of Dundee would be car storage. They have stored cars in two locations, on the Saline Branch, and on the passing siding at the former Ferry Yard.

What traffic is GLC getting from NS via the AA? I know they get grain trains, and now it appears the scrap from Padnos in Howell has been going via the AA to NS, but how much else goes that routing?

[chapmaja]

It is quite sad to see this railroad and the way it is. I lived on the old Annie for the first 7 years of my life just south of Dundee before my parents got a separation and my mom moved me and my brother to Livonia. I still went to my dads on the weekend and we would hear the Annie if the wind was right on a nice summer night while swimming in the pool. On the rare occasion we would get caught by them, it would have lots of auto racks and auto part cars. I know Saline closed sometime after 2015. But they still kept hauling auto racks shortly before NS got into PSR in the summer of 2019. What happened after that? I remember the auto racks would go to the local in Milan to take to Oakwood Yard. Grainers are often extras, though in my honest opinion, they have increased. I remember in the summer of 2020 where CP power hauled a Potash train up to the GLC as well. I still go to my dads quite often. I sometimes see from US 23 a long set of tankers in the yard in Milan. Heck, at one point they had them in Temperance.

It's actually much better than it used to be. At one point, the line from Dundee north was struggling badly, with only the Saline plant and some interchange traffic with GLC keeping the line going. GLC's management has done a wonderful job bring traffic to their line, which has helped the AA due to the traffic going to NS. Remember, at one point, the line from Toledo to AA was the only thing that was going to be kept. Only the State of Michigan stepping in kept this line from being removed north of Ann Arbor.

What is missing is the autorack traffic that would go to Milan, as well as the previously run CN and NS trackage rights trains that used to run in the pre-Conrail Split era.

NS used to run a daily Toledo to Oakwood train at one time, but that got rerouted to the Detroit Line once NS took over. CN used to run a train from Flat Rock south as well, but that also disappeared as a result of changes within CN.