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I am holding a railfan meet in Carleton on Thursday March 28th weather providing. The meet will start around 10:30am. Bring snacks and drinks if you want any. Be respectful to everyone and try not to ruin peoples shots. Hope to see alot of people their!

NickThatRailfan wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2024 10:47 am

I am holding a railfan meet in Carleton on Thursday March 28th weather providing. The meet will start around 10:30am. Bring snacks and drinks if you want any. Be respectful to everyone and try not to ruin peoples shots. Hope to see alot of people their!

Lmfao where have I heard this before same story different location.
https://railroadfan.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=39275
I truly hope you have more people show up at your planned event than who showed up at the event that was supposedly held in Holland Michigan last year.

GRHC wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2024 11:51 am

NickThatRailfan wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2024 10:47 am

I am holding a railfan meet in Carleton on Thursday March 28th weather providing. The meet will start around 10:30am. Bring snacks and drinks if you want any. Be respectful to everyone and try not to ruin peoples shots. Hope to see alot of people their!

Lol where have I heard this before same story different location.

If youre being sarcastic idk, but there is another thread about a railfan meet in Holland, MI. Not mine though, I am doing mine in Carleton obviously lol.

Why start so late?

Whether 1 or 100 foamers show up, the host should arrive around sunrise.

With train counts being at an all time low, other activities other than sitting by the tracks to make time pass may also help with attendance with emphasis on food, drink, and tourism.

ConrailDetr​oit wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2024 2:36 pm

Why start so late?

Whether 1 or 100 foamers show up, the host should arrive around sunrise.

With train counts being at an all time low, other activities other than sitting by the tracks to make time pass may also help with attendance with emphasis on food, drink, and tourism.

I would arrive earlier lol. But to be there by sunrise I would have to wake up at like 5am.

NickThatRailfan wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2024 5:05 pm

ConrailDetr​oit wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2024 2:36 pm

Why start so late?

Whether 1 or 100 foamers show up, the host should arrive around sunrise.

With train counts being at an all time low, other activities other than sitting by the tracks to make time pass may also help with attendance with emphasis on food, drink, and tourism.

I would arrive earlier lol. But to be there by sunrise I would have to wake up at like 5am.

Yes, and?

Out of all places, why Carleton

kd_1014 wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2024 2:56 pm

Out of all places, why Carleton

This.

I don’t understand why you can’t do the chicagoline. What you (Nick) said in the snapchat gc that you and I are in that “the chicagoline gets boring” makes absolutely no sense. Carleton is the DEFINITION of boring.

I’d take Romulus or Plymouth even any day of the week. Best of luck to you.

David Collins wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2024 3:05 pm

kd_1014 wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2024 2:56 pm

Out of all places, why Carleton

This.

I don’t understand why you can’t do the chicagoline. What you (Nick) said in the snapchat gc that you and I are in that “the chicagoline gets boring” makes absolutely no sense. Carleton is the DEFINITION of boring.

I’d take Romulus or Plymouth even any day of the week. Best of luck to you.

Annnndddd the thread is dead.

I dont know about you but it doesnt take a non michigan resident to know that Carleton wouldve been a great hotspot maybe say 15-25 years ago even 30 when you had a least 15-25 trains on csx in addition to the conrail trains that came off the LIncoln Secondary. Then you had the grand trunk which hosted a respectable but shrinking traffic base of 6-15 from 1980 onward give a take the losses if suffered. On a truly busy day say in the year 1988 you can easily see 35-40 trains through carleton. today youd have to bring board games, cornhole, have pickleball tournaments, and even have a catered lunch before you see any kind of train.

NickThatRailfan wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2024 10:47 am

I am holding a railfan meet in Carleton on Thursday March 28th weather providing. The meet will start around 10:30am. Bring snacks and drinks if you want any. Be respectful to everyone and try not to ruin peoples shots. Hope to see alot of people their!

Hey NickThatRailfan a lot of people have posted asking you questions as well as commenting and you have not responded. That’s kind of rude some may say and if it is rude as some may say then how do you expect anybody to want to join you at your Railfan meeting.
I have some questions of my own here are some of them.
1 Where in Carleton are we supposed to meet exactly? What side of the tracks what street or landmark? You do not give any details in your original post or any of your following post.
2 What happens if I have to take a raging whiz? Is there a clean public restroom available to drain my spitting lizard or do I have to open my car door a quarter of the way stand behind it and take a whiz in the parking lot?
3 Is there safe and secure public parking available?
4 Can I sill bring snacks and drinks even if I do not want any?

There appears to be a circle k, a pizza place and a bar and grille down monroe street west of the crossing

GRHC wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2024 7:40 pm

1 Where in Carleton are we supposed to meet exactly? What side of the tracks what street or landmark? You do not give any details in your original post or any of your following post.

Just drive around for a while, you’ll find him

Hey theres a funeral home west of the diamond, maybe yall could meet there.

I just realized that the 28th is basically Easter weekend. Unfortunately I will not be attending the Carleton railfan meet instead on the 28th I will be preparing to go Easter egg hunting spending time with family attending religious services and eating a very large milk chocolate bunny. I always eat the eyes first that way it can’t see the rest of itself being eaten.

I wish you all the success on your railfan meeting and hope that everybody has a very good time.
Once again I will not be attending for the reasons stated in my previous post.

FWIW sometimes railfan meets are more about the camaraderie than about total train counts. Why did we ever meet in Durand (or any other place in Michigan) instead of just doing Fostoria or the Water Level Route? Granted, I don’t think Branch, Greenbush, or Thompsonville would make good gathering locations to see much, but it’s something to think about. Some days there are more scheduled trains through Mattawan than there are through Grand Rapids. Should we go there instead?


Nick if you go on the 28th and see the I&O you should report that back here since it’s a hard operation to nail down. Also, it’s been a long time but I’ve never had a bad meal at Tiffany’s and they have a bathroom right near the tracks. I won’t be attending since I live on the far west side of the state. Hope this helps.

I believe there is a good possibility of seeing IORY on a Thursday. IIRC they head to Flat Rock late morning and return south several hours later. I too would appreciate your observations if you saw them.

GP30M4216 wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 12, 2024 2:26 pm

Nick if you go on the 28th and see the I&O you should report that back here since it’s a hard operation to nail down.

I still think it was a missed opportunity to not number the 6 axles 400-404.

Well if the IORY runs through I will be sure to report it. The meet is gonna be at the diamond. To answer everybodys question "Why Carleton" well I had picked out a couple other options like Durand as one but most people wanted Carleton and because its a spot I want to check out. Oh and also David when I said the Chicago Line gets boring it gets boring after seeing the same thing for hours and going to the same spot almost every week. Kinda nice to mix up locations every now and then...