Kalamazoo railfanning

[Dowagiac Train Dude]

Do CN and NS still run anything into Kzoo?

NS runs a rock train to Kalamazoo every now and then. CN might come down the tracks into Portage where they have a yard but they do not go all the way into Kalamazoo. Grand Elk goes to Elkhart to get everything from NS that will got to Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.

The stone trains are not run by NS, they are handled by Grand Elk. NS has not run further west than Augusta for a few years now.

CN has 2 jobs that work around Kalamazoo, one on days and the other on nights. The day job typically will handle all of the traffic to and from Battle Creek/Pavillion and the night job does all of the local switching. CN has a very healthy customer base in the Zoo.

Thank you very much for the info. I have never seen a CN locomotive in Kalamazoo since I have lived here. I have seen them out by Sprinkle Rd near their yard but never in Kalamazoo. Every time that I have seen the stone train come to Kalamazoo from Elkhart it has been led by NS locomotives. I haven’t seen them led by Grand Elk so do they interchange with them somewhere now? I have even seen the NS locomotives at Aggregate Resources sitting at the dead end while the businesses locomotive unloads the cars. I will have to do some more rail fanning around Kalamazoo to see if I can catch some of these CN locomotives in Kalamazoo. Again thank you for the info.

[GP30M4216]

Do CN and NS still run anything into Kzoo?

NS runs a rock train to Kalamazoo every now and then. CN might come down the tracks into Portage where they have a yard but they do not go all the way into Kalamazoo. Grand Elk goes to Elkhart to get everything from NS that will got to Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.

The stone trains are not run by NS, they are handled by Grand Elk. NS has not run further west than Augusta for a few years now.

CN has 2 jobs that work around Kalamazoo, one on days and the other on nights. The day job typically will handle all of the traffic to and from Battle Creek/Pavillion and the night job does all of the local switching. CN has a very healthy customer base in the Zoo.

This is a helpful update! The stone trains, much like the grain trains that go to and from Vistula near the state line, are operated with run through power but Grand Elk crews. They come from the NS via Elkhart, but are Grand Elk trains.

I wasn’t sure what the current CN Kalamazoo branch ops are, as it’s changed several times times over the last 20 years, sometimes based at Kilgore, sometimes based at Battle Creek, for a while, Kilgore yard was pretty much totally out of service. Kilgore is back to being CN’s active hub. Several customers are switched jointly with the Grand Elk on the southeast side of Kzoo and in the township.

My questions are: do either midlink or Arvco presently get service? For a long time, Arvco was the furthest north the CN would operate, at Gibson Street. But every current aerial image I see of Arvco shows their spur empty.

[SD80MAC]

NS runs a rock train to Kalamazoo every now and then. CN might come down the tracks into Portage where they have a yard but they do not go all the way into Kalamazoo. Grand Elk goes to Elkhart to get everything from NS that will got to Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.

The stone trains are not run by NS, they are handled by Grand Elk. NS has not run further west than Augusta for a few years now.

CN has 2 jobs that work around Kalamazoo, one on days and the other on nights. The day job typically will handle all of the traffic to and from Battle Creek/Pavillion and the night job does all of the local switching. CN has a very healthy customer base in the Zoo.

Thank you very much for the info. I have never seen a CN locomotive in Kalamazoo since I have lived here. I have seen them out by Sprinkle Rd near their yard but never in Kalamazoo. Every time that I have seen the stone train come to Kalamazoo from Elkhart it has been led by NS locomotives. I haven’t seen them led by Grand Elk so do they interchange with them somewhere now? I have even seen the NS locomotives at Aggregate Resources sitting at the dead end while the businesses locomotive unloads the cars. I will have to do some more rail fanning around Kalamazoo to see if I can catch some of these CN locomotives in Kalamazoo. Again thank you for the info.

CN's Kilgore yard is on the southeast side of Kzoo. They always have an engine there. Here is the night job, L549, coming around the wye at Kilgore getting ready to start their night (just east of Sprinkle Rd and N Ave):

L549 by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

Here's L549 shoving north at Covington Rd. As far as I'm aware, this is the only CN job in the state that still regularly uses a caboose:

Shoving North by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

Grand Elk interchanges with NS in Elkhart. When there are grain or stone trains for the GDLK to take north, a GDLK crew will board the train in Elkhart and run them to either White Pigeon or Kalamazoo. They almost always keep the NS locomotives on the trains.

[Dowagiac Train Dude]

The stone trains are not run by NS, they are handled by Grand Elk. NS has not run further west than Augusta for a few years now.

CN has 2 jobs that work around Kalamazoo, one on days and the other on nights. The day job typically will handle all of the traffic to and from Battle Creek/Pavillion and the night job does all of the local switching. CN has a very healthy customer base in the Zoo.

Thank you very much for the info. I have never seen a CN locomotive in Kalamazoo since I have lived here. I have seen them out by Sprinkle Rd near their yard but never in Kalamazoo. Every time that I have seen the stone train come to Kalamazoo from Elkhart it has been led by NS locomotives. I haven’t seen them led by Grand Elk so do they interchange with them somewhere now? I have even seen the NS locomotives at Aggregate Resources sitting at the dead end while the businesses locomotive unloads the cars. I will have to do some more rail fanning around Kalamazoo to see if I can catch some of these CN locomotives in Kalamazoo. Again thank you for the info.

CN's Kilgore yard is on the southeast side of Kzoo. They always have an engine there. Here is the night job, L549, coming around the wye at Kilgore getting ready to start their night (just east of Sprinkle Rd and N Ave):

L549 by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

Here's L549 shoving north at Covington Rd. As far as I'm aware, this is the only CN job in the state that still regularly uses a caboose:

Shoving North by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

Grand Elk interchanges with NS in Elkhart. When there are grain or stone trains for the GDLK to take north, a GDLK crew will board the train in Elkhart and run them to either White Pigeon or Kalamazoo. They almost always keep the NS locomotives on the trains.

Thank you so much for the info, it’s very helpful . I didn’t realize that a Grand Elk crew took over for those grain and stone trains.

[NSSD70ACe]

The stone trains are not run by NS, they are handled by Grand Elk. NS has not run further west than Augusta for a few years now.

CN has 2 jobs that work around Kalamazoo, one on days and the other on nights. The day job typically will handle all of the traffic to and from Battle Creek/Pavillion and the night job does all of the local switching. CN has a very healthy customer base in the Zoo.

The irony of that is when you think of Kzoo, one doesn’t normally think of the CN, it’s NS/Amtrak/the Elk. Doesn’t help they’re a fly-by-night operation too, secluded back in the trees on an unassuming piece of land where they wouldn’t be noticed unless you’re looking for them.

I will say it’s an odd choice of power, their usual SD60. Maybe business has picked up some since I watched them last, but they were using your normal (at least, normal then) widecab SD40-2 when I last saw them. With the release of the Iron Range captive SD40s, might see that power get swapped out for something a little more notable in the future.

This is a helpful update! The stone trains, much like the grain trains that go to and from Vistula near the state line, are operated with run through power but Grand Elk crews. They come from the NS via Elkhart, but are Grand Elk trains.

I wasn’t sure what the current CN Kalamazoo branch ops are, as it’s changed several times times over the last 20 years, sometimes based at Kilgore, sometimes based at Battle Creek, for a while, Kilgore yard was pretty much totally out of service. Kilgore is back to being CN’s active hub. Several customers are switched jointly with the Grand Elk on the southeast side of Kzoo and in the township.

My questions are: do either midlink or Arvco presently get service? For a long time, Arvco was the furthest north the CN would operate, at Gibson Street. But every current aerial image I see of Arvco shows their spur empty.

Kilgore is the interchange location between the Elk and the CN. I wouldn’t expect them to move the job back to BC unless they’re ok with giving the Elk rights all the way down to Pavilion, which would make for an interesting chase. Wouldn’t make much sense though, as the local would still need to get into Kzoo anyway to switch, so it would just be a needless backhaul of the traffic.

Midlink doesn’t get service, as least not since I was there last. I believe the spur is still in place though.

Don’t rely on airborne images for seeing if a customer is still in service, as they can sometimes be years old and they’re only a quick snapshot in time. Best I can give you is that I believe Arvco did still receive cars when I left town a few years ago.

I do recall the CN putting in some fairly notable maintenance work on the branch line about a decade ago. Caught a ballast train with a pair of SD70M-2s for power running north into town one evening, just crawling over the Covington Road crossing. At that point the local job was still using that Canadian wide cab SD40-2 mentioned above, so seeing the big road motors was quite the shock.

[LansingRailFan]

The stone trains are not run by NS, they are handled by Grand Elk. NS has not run further west than Augusta for a few years now.

CN has 2 jobs that work around Kalamazoo, one on days and the other on nights. The day job typically will handle all of the traffic to and from Battle Creek/Pavillion and the night job does all of the local switching. CN has a very healthy customer base in the Zoo.

Thank you very much for the info. I have never seen a CN locomotive in Kalamazoo since I have lived here. I have seen them out by Sprinkle Rd near their yard but never in Kalamazoo. Every time that I have seen the stone train come to Kalamazoo from Elkhart it has been led by NS locomotives. I haven’t seen them led by Grand Elk so do they interchange with them somewhere now? I have even seen the NS locomotives at Aggregate Resources sitting at the dead end while the businesses locomotive unloads the cars. I will have to do some more rail fanning around Kalamazoo to see if I can catch some of these CN locomotives in Kalamazoo. Again thank you for the info.

CN's Kilgore yard is on the southeast side of Kzoo. They always have an engine there. Here is the night job, L549, coming around the wye at Kilgore getting ready to start their night (just east of Sprinkle Rd and N Ave):

L549 by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

Here's L549 shoving north at Covington Rd. As far as I'm aware, this is the only CN job in the state that still regularly uses a caboose:

Shoving North by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

Grand Elk interchanges with NS in Elkhart. When there are grain or stone trains for the GDLK to take north, a GDLK crew will board the train in Elkhart and run them to either White Pigeon or Kalamazoo. They almost always keep the NS locomotives on the trains.

For the last several years, L506 (Flat Rock-Toledo-Flat Rock turn) uses a caboose as a shoving platform into and out of Flat Rock yard instead of running around the train each time.

[Jim_c]

Midlink doesn’t get service, as least not since I was there last. I believe the spur is still in place though.

As of a couple months ago the spur was still there. I looked intently for rolling stock as I drove by, but alas, none to be seen.

[1TrackMind]

Arvco gets cars once or twice a week. Midlink doesn't get cars, but on occasion center beams loaded with aluminum billets are unloaded at LC Howard on kilgore which could be delivered to kaiser aluminum.

[penn central]

Back in January of 2016 my wife and I took a weekend trip to K-Zoo and went to get a motel room but there was some kind of function going on and all motels where booked solid so her and I spent the night in our van in the motel parking lot and got up first thing and started roaming around this was on a Saturday and didn't see anything but there is a parking lot right across from the Grand Elk engine terminal we sat there for several hours and headed home just another Railfan adventure but I did get shots of the tower and old signals so it wasn't a total wash.