Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

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Doktor No
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by Doktor No »

"Not gonna die on a hill about it"...GOOD ONE middlemich!!!
When I looked at my Ancestor.com history I found we had a relative that dug post holes gratis on a hill in Palestine a long long time ago. Never got much recognition for it either. He was called Golgotha Slim or some such thing. Liked olives too....
Curb Your Enthusiasm.

GP30M4216
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by GP30M4216 »

Time to jump start the rumor mill:

Just before Memorial Day, the Old Town spur was clear cut from the csx south to at least below the North St crossing. All those saplings and the tall grass are gone. Also, as part of a potential expansion of the North Lansing historic district, the LS&MS Land Line marker at Grand River/Cesar Chavez is being included as a historic object of significance.

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NS3322
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by NS3322 »

GP30M4216 wrote:Time to jump start the rumor mill:

Just before Memorial Day, the Old Town spur was clear cut from the csx south to at least below the North St crossing. All those saplings and the tall grass are gone. Also, as part of a potential expansion of the North Lansing historic district, the LS&MS Land Line marker at Grand River/Cesar Chavez is being included as a historic object of significance.

Did someone ever figure out who bought the Petoskey Trolley? :D Jk

Kidding aside, this is very interesting information. Thank you for sharing!

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DaveO
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by DaveO »

Having trees growing through your track would lend great weight to an adverse abandonment petition being granted.
That is of course should someone decide to file one with the Surface Transportation Board.
When I look at where the line runs, I can imagine that somebody probably dreams of being able to use the railroad land as their own.
But it's probably JAIL doing more or less routine maintenance.

MiddleMI
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by MiddleMI »

GP30M4216 wrote:Time to jump start the rumor mill:

Just before Memorial Day, the Old Town spur was clear cut from the csx south to at least below the North St crossing.
I can't really think this means anything until you see more work on the southern end of the spur, which is the most interesting part. This part you're talking about cuts through two large industrial parcels. I'll start getting more interested if I see them doing anything where the actual customer on this line will be. As far as I can tell from recent aerials, the part between Ensel and North Street only had 2 trees on the tracks. South of North to Beaver is maybe 4 trees. It's the part between Beaver and Clinton as you get deeper into Old Town that is really forested.

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LansingRailFan
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by LansingRailFan »

They mowed again. MAYBE THIS MEANS SOMETHING lol

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DaveO
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by DaveO »

LansingRailFan wrote:They mowed again. MAYBE THIS MEANS SOMETHING lol
It means there's no snow to plow :D

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SD80MAC
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by SD80MAC »

Last time I drove by Turner St. (in November) there was about 10 feet of rail missing from both rails just east of Turner.
"Remember, 4 mph is a couple, 5's a collision!"
http://flickriver.com/photos/conrail680 ... teresting/
Image

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LansingRailFan
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by LansingRailFan »

They fixed it the first week of December.

I heard the rail cars are for a mobile smoker unit for Meat BBQ...yum!

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kd_1014
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by kd_1014 »

LansingRailFan wrote:They fixed it the first week of December.

I heard the rail cars are for a mobile smoker unit for Meat BBQ...yum!
That place is gooooodddddd :D :D

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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by LansingRailFan »

Hi Rail was spotted last week in Old Town. Can still see the grooves in the mud on either side of the rails.

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J T
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by J T »

LansingRailFan wrote:Hi Rail was spotted last week in Old Town. Can still see the grooves in the mud on either side of the rails.
But what about the section of rails missing as posted above?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimthias/
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MQT1223
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by MQT1223 »

J T wrote:
LansingRailFan wrote:Hi Rail was spotted last week in Old Town. Can still see the grooves in the mud on either side of the rails.
But what about the section of rails missing as posted above?
LansingRailFan says they were fixed first week of December.
1223 OUT! President and Founder of the Buck Creek Central, the Rolling River Route! (2012-2017) President and Founder of the Lamberton Valley Railroad, The Tin Plate Road! Proudly railfanning with Asperger's since 1996. :)

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Atkinson_Railroad
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by Atkinson_Railroad »

This 1982 Conrail Maintenance Program and Track Chart (Western Region, Michigan Division)
features a map showing the railroad lines through Lansing with denoted locations for MA tower,
Track Supervisor's Office, and Train Master's Office.

http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/rail ... 201982.pdf

For those who enjoy railroad papers... and have not snooped around the Internet in a while,
you may be surprised at what can be found at the Multimodalways.org website.
The site is particularly impressive to me because what is offered are actual railroad documents,
and not rendered recreations or unreadable thumbnail shots. The files are LARGE on details.

URL reference: http://www.multimodalways.org/archives/rrs/rrs.html

And... a fun thread here looking back at Lansing.

John

Screenshot from PDF noted above.
Attachments
LANSING, MI 1982.JPG

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J T
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by J T »

That 1982 map is missing the connector between the C&O and the GTW (although I'm not sure it was actually C&O trackage south of the Kalamazoo Ave).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimthias/
GRHC - you know every night I can imagine he is in front of his computer screen sitting in his underwear swearing profusely and drinking Blatz beer combing the RailRoadFan website for grammatical errors.

Dan Cluley
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by Dan Cluley »

I didn't realize that the piece of the Lansing Branch between Kalamazoo st and the GTW lasted that long. That ROW was part of the river trail by the late '80s.

I think the track through the park into the Ottawa st power plant came up about 1990? The stretch between Saginaw and Oakland either went at the same time or a few years later.

Trying to remember about the old main line between North Lansing and the Meadows. I think the fertilizer plant closed about 1990 and Motor Wheel stopped shipping in the mid to late '90s?

When did CSX pull the second track between MA & North Lansing?

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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by jrgerber »

Dan
What parts of the Lansing River Trail are old
railroad right of way?
Thanks

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J T
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by J T »

jrgerber wrote:Dan
What parts of the Lansing River Trail are old
railroad right of way?
Thanks
The part along the river north of 496 and south of Michigan Ave.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimthias/
GRHC - you know every night I can imagine he is in front of his computer screen sitting in his underwear swearing profusely and drinking Blatz beer combing the RailRoadFan website for grammatical errors.

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J T
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by J T »

Dan Cluley wrote:I didn't realize that the piece of the Lansing Branch between Kalamazoo st and the GTW lasted that long. That ROW was part of the river trail by the late '80s.
Yeah, that was long gone by the late 70s, I believe. I'm not sure that map posted by Atkinson_Railroad showing that small section of track is accurate.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimthias/
GRHC - you know every night I can imagine he is in front of his computer screen sitting in his underwear swearing profusely and drinking Blatz beer combing the RailRoadFan website for grammatical errors.

Dan Cluley
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Re: Lansing's Old Town railroad spur to be reactivated

Unread post by Dan Cluley »

J T wrote:
jrgerber wrote:Dan
What parts of the Lansing River Trail are old
railroad right of way?
Thanks
The part along the river north of 496 and south of Michigan Ave.
Also a stretch either side of Shiawassee street.

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