RailRoadFan.com

After being told by a friend that the Washington Street Curve in downtown Grand Haven can't support 6 axle locomotives, I went and saw the curve myself. Although there were a few buildings that were a bit close to the ROW, It looks like that angle of curvature can take an SD40-2 any day. Not really sure if my friend, who has been a GH resident his entire life, meant the buildings were too close to the ROW, or the angle of curvature was too sharp. I'd imagine in the PM and C&O days, steam engines were much longer than the standard GP38 and they obviously took the curve fine, because if they didn't, we'd see a different track layout at Washington Street.

CSX didn’t do it often, but they ran SD40-2s and even a C30-7 or two to Muskegon a few times. The biggest PM/C&O engine on the line would’ve been a 2-8-2.

There was at least one 2-8-4 through that curve. Hasn't left town since.

One of my customers was telling me last week that there used to be a very small restaurant called the Waffle Shop on the NW corner on Washington & 7th between the tracks and Verduin building. Take a look on google earth at that little pie slice and picture how tight clearances were.

I'm pretty sure that the curve in front of the depot is tighter than the one by Washington.

It's because the car loading from the Shore can't justify having more than four axle power. CSX ran six axles on the Cannonball. To my knowledge, the mainline is able to handle a six. Next question you might ask, why have two four axle and not one SD? Safety for switching customers long hood/ vs shorthood, its best with two units. The Shore ran with a single Geep (2019 when 2057 went to MQT), but for switching and maintenance on the locomotives, two GP's is a sweet spot for now. If the Shore generates more traffic, you might see a six axle in town once again. The other factor that plays a part- what kind of SD's are for sale and what's the price compared to a GP? What sister G&W roads have units stored? (use EMD, because a GE in lower MI on a G&W property is not going to happen anytime soon).

Michigan Division Timetable #3 effective 12:01 AM Saturday September 1 1984 shows no six axle restrictions what-so-ever. ETT #157 April 26, 1964 also shows no six axle restrictions. Only restriction is Derrick DK7 and DK8 must not operate on Ferrysburg Bridge.

Thanks everyone for the info