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They are taking down the crossing SiSigns on MLK by the old Lindell Forge

jrgerber wrote:They are taking down the crossing SiSigns on MLK by the old Lindell Forge

I went over that crossing muliple times. My late aunt and uncle lived two blocks west of that crossing. My late dad used to worked at the Lansing Drop Forge on the east side of S. Logan Street (now MLK Blvd.) and south of the track, both in Lansing. The remaining rail customer on the old LS&MS line that went to Hillsdale ( later the old NYC South spur track) is the Quality Dairy plant on the west side of S. Washington Avenue, south of W. Mt. Hope Avenue and north of W. Holmes Road in Lansing. The trackage between south of Lansing and Albion was tore up in 1940. Lansing Drop Forge used to have two rail sidings, The lumber yard( what was the name of it?) was located on the west side of the track between W. Mt. Hope Avenue and S. MLK Blvd., And the Schaefer Bread building was located just north of the lumber yard. Quality Dairy only get two cover hoppers per month. Reid Machinery is located in the west side of MLK Blvd. and north side of the track.

I cant remember the last time i saw a train use that crossing There was a lumberyard Atlas Forge and Schaffer Bread building by the tracks

Does Reid Machinery no longer get rail service? Are they abandoning that portion of the branch line?

NS3322 wrote:Does Reid Machinery no longer get rail service? Are they abandoning that portion of the branch line?

That's correct!

Although retaining customers is the goal Reid only received a few cars a year

railrod1949 wrote:

NS3322 wrote:Does Reid Machinery no longer get rail service? Are they abandoning that portion of the branch line?

That's correct!

Quality dairy use to get about two cars a month. Reid hasnt hasnt gotten anything in awhile.

Wait, are they formally abandoning this section? From the end to how far up the track? I'd heard nothing of this, and had no idea Reid wasn't getting shipping anything, anymore. How long ago was this? We've talked about this here before; maybe it's just been longer than I thought. I've seen them using the track for storage fairly recently, though of course this is on the east side of the crossing.

Did QD stop rail service?

Waddy wrote:Quality dairy use to get about two cars a month. Reid hasnt hasnt gotten anything in awhile.

AARR wrote:Did QD stop rail service?

Waddy wrote:Quality dairy use to get about two cars a month. Reid hasnt hasnt gotten anything in awhile.

Not that I know of, but its on the north side of MLK so that crossing isn't need to reach them.

I was told over a decade ago that the track south of Logan/MLK is owned by Reid. Could be JAIL figured that maintaining the crossing protection wasn't worth the cost for the amount of revenue produced. Would imagine that it would still require some sort of regulatory permission to remove the protection thou.

It’s not a big deal but I was under the impression they receive 2 cars every other week.

Waddy wrote:

AARR wrote:Did QD stop rail service?

Waddy wrote:Quality dairy use to get about two cars a month. Reid hasnt hasnt gotten anything in awhile.

Not that I know of, but its on the north side of MLK so that crossing isn't need to reach them.

Was there or will there be a formal Abandonment of the Line? Wasnt this part of the lakeshore and michigan Southern that ran north from Jonesville to Lansing Cant remember when it was abandoned

jrgerber wrote:Was there or will there be a formal Abandonment of the Line? Wasnt this part of the lakeshore and michigan Southern that ran north from Jonesville to Lansing Cant remember when it was abandoned

That's correct! Please see my earlier story above!! It was abandoned in 1940 between Albion and Lansing.

Sorry thanks for the history

The ICC gave it's OK to abandon Springport to Lansing 12/15/1940 with the exception of some trackage in Eaton Rapids. A photo of the last train crew on duty at the Gier St roundhouse was dated as 12/15/1940. However several people have told me the rail was still in during WW-2 and a circus train came up the line during the war although I can't find that information at present. In 1968 there was still a double team track just north of Holmes Rd where the line ended.

So did JAIL abandon the track without STB permission? Is it possible the signal was knocked down by a drunk driver? Did JAIL pull up the track?

One crossing Signal is Down no Track Has been Pulled yet

jrberger,

I thought you'd have known this before posting. The only other thing I can think of is that this may have been a result of the manhunt they had earlier this month where they were using a bearcat along the corridor. They eventually caught the guy east of the tracks, but they'd cordoned off the whole corridor. Just a guess, because I've not seen or heard anything about a formal abandonment.