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Waddy wrote:

SD80MAC wrote:So I have no idea how true or not true this is, but I'm hearing that NS will be running unit trains to and from the new ethanol plant in Albion. Hearing they would come out of Elkhart with a GDLK crew, and an NS crew would jump on in Kalamazoo and take them east. Anyone else heard this?

Heard about it, just been talk so far.

Something new for the NIMBY crew in Kalamazoo to scream about when they hear the rumor. Certainly would be cool to see.

Forgot to ask: Where would these trains be going from Albion? Back into Kalamazoo or east to Detroit?

502 hit a truck at Shaver and Melody Lane yesterday at 1100 am approx. 4017 was engine involved. Truck destroyed but luckily the driver wasn't.

So whats the plan on these ethanol trains being hauled on an Amtrak line as far as speed and infastructure. Does the power have to have ITCS radios like the Burns Hatbor units?, does speed play into it if units aren't PTC equipped, is the Michigan line east of Kazoo have the problems solved they were having getting PTC working? Depending on direction is the Jackson power now have anything special now to run on this segment? Just curious as this changes the playing field a little bit. Also does the Kalamazoo branch need any updating for this business?

Super Chief wrote:So whats the plan on these ethanol trains being hauled on an Amtrak line as far as speed and infastructure. Does the power have to have ITCS radios like the Burns Hatbor units?, does speed play into it if units aren't PTC equipped, is the Michigan line east of Kazoo have the problems solved they were having getting PTC working? Depending on direction is the Jackson power now have anything special now to run on this segment? Just curious as this changes the playing field a little bit. Also does the Kalamazoo branch need any updating for this business?

AFAIK ITCS is NOT yet operable east of Kalamazoo, and NS' systems will be able to inter-operate with ITCS once they bring on PTC, but as of now they're stuck as to who's gonna support it right now, since it would require extra effort from NS right now to keep PTC-capable units on the MI Line.

GAP wrote:Any more word about the stone trains to Kalamazoo? They were the talk of last summer but nothing seemed to materialize.

There is some conveying equipment, rail and what looks like a fabrication to bridge a small unload pit staged on the property.

This past saturday there were two woodchip(?) hoppers on the spur off the North Pass in Kalamazoo. Judging by the wheels they were spotted within the previous couple days. No indication of why they were there. The siding runs into a building but I didn't think to check if the rails were polished leading to the building's door. This was a James River facility, and later I heard LC Howard (warehousing) was using it. The parking lot is full of LC Howard trailers. Anyone know what they're there for?



Also noticed a few gondolas at the "junk yard" downtown.

Looks like more clearing has been done at the east end of the old Georgia Pacific property. There was a good amount of some kind of equipment or materials staged but couldn't tell what it was from the distance.

IIRC they are loading them on MSO

Ben Higdon wrote:This past saturday there were two woodchip(?) hoppers on the spur off the North Pass in Kalamazoo.

Ben Higdon wrote:This past saturday there were two woodchip(?) hoppers on the spur off the North Pass in Kalamazoo. Judging by the wheels they were spotted within the previous couple days. No indication of why they were there. The siding runs into a building but I didn't think to check if the rails were polished leading to the building's door. This was a James River facility, and later I heard LC Howard (warehousing) was using it. The parking lot is full of LC Howard trailers. Anyone know what they're there for?

Cotton seed for animal feed.

b34 delivers them, as pat said cotton seed

Is It pulpwood loaded on MSO that I’m thinking of?

Waddy wrote:b34 delivers them, as pat said cotton seed

PatAzo wrote:

Ben Higdon wrote:This past saturday there were two woodchip(?) hoppers on the spur off the North Pass in Kalamazoo. Judging by the wheels they were spotted within the previous couple days. No indication of why they were there. The siding runs into a building but I didn't think to check if the rails were polished leading to the building's door. This was a James River facility, and later I heard LC Howard (warehousing) was using it. The parking lot is full of LC Howard trailers. Anyone know what they're there for?

Cotton seed for animal feed.

Interesting. Wonder if this is basically a team track operation, or is LC Howard handling it?
And how is the cotton seed unloaded?

On a related note, any theories why MDOT decided to keep (a shorter version of) the North Pass? Only incentive I can think of is MOW. Unless NS requested/required a sidetrack for their exclusive use if a train crew died on hours or something odd like that.

They are, as said, cotton seed for animal feed..dairy cows. Increases the butterfat content in the milk. The unload by either using an overhead backhoe type thingy or just open the end doors and use a Bobcat to do it. Lake Odessa used to get a lot of them and a customer at Wyoming Yard gets/gots them also.

Middleton used to get them in box cars. They built a little ramp (barely enough room for the bobcat). The cottonseed was loaded into the boxcars bulk...no packaging or containers. The bobcats would just drive through the boxcar door and shovel the stuff out then turn on the ramp and dump it into trucks.

Doktor No wrote:They are, as said, cotton seed for animal feed..dairy cows. Increases the butterfat content in the milk. The unload by either using an overhead backhoe type thingy or just open the end doors and use a Bobcat to do it. Lake Odessa used to get a lot of them and a customer at Wyoming Yard gets/gots them also.

GDLK with 3 center beams loaded with ties north of the diamond in Kalamazoo. They stopped a few blocks north, but south of Paterson St. MOW crew looked to be preparing to unload the ties. Forklift and other equipment around there as well. My wife made me pay attention to driving, so my details are a bit sketchy.

CP Park got new switch points installed, but signals are still unlit northbound. Have been that way for a couple of weeks. Signals at Cowling have been lit.

Super Chief wrote:CP Park got new switch points installed, but signals are still unlit northbound. Have been that way for a couple of weeks. Signals at Cowling have been lit.

Maybe changed over to approach-lit?

Can anyone confirm a new engine at the shop in GR? Was rolling by there on the way to work and saw what I thought to be a olive engine with a yellow stripe like the ADBF but didn't have a good view.
Also looks like 3531 has been taken off yard duties at least for now. 4125 is handling the yard solo.

tsinoms wrote:Can anyone confirm a new engine at the shop in GR? Was rolling by there on the way to work and saw what I thought to be a olive engine with a yellow stripe like the ADBF but didn't have a good view.
Also looks like 3531 has been taken off yard duties at least for now. 4125 is handling the yard solo.

its just the 4225

I went to the engine house on Friday and saw no sign of any new or odd power on the Elk
in Grand Rapids.