Grand Rapids Chase to West Olive 03/26/06

Give us a run down of what you saw, post pictures if you'd like...any info is welcome.
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~Z~
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Grand Rapids Chase to West Olive 03/26/06

Unread post by ~Z~ »

Ah, what a good day Sunday was. Took a look at the clouds Sunday morning, saw Lansing wasn't going to quite clear up as I hoped to meet Scooter and see if Gregg was around. Decided to stick around the apartment... Saw that Nathan was heading up to GR, and decided I'd head out early afternoon. Mr Tops chimed in around 12:45 and said he'd be going too...hmm.... then Gregg said Q335 was passing Lake Odessa around 12:30 or so, and should be to GR quick...Packed up my stuff fast and headed on the road. Got downtown as I heard Q335 clearing Eastern Ave. Called Nathan to check to see if he was in town, and gave him that quick heads up. First took a pic of the signal at Godfrey for Gregg:
http://www.railroadfan.com/images/godfrey.jpg

Went down to Oakland Ave downtown and caught Q335 rolling around the corner. (Click thumbnails for full size pictures)

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Jogged on down to Judd St...had been sunny most of the day, and was sunny almost all day after this too.... Mr Tops rolled in with da Jeep just a few seconds too late.

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Chatted around for a while, watched Q335's power head back to the house.

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During the next hour, we are greeted by John Noonan, who took off quick with hearing not much was going on, then Brad came by... Here we see D801 heading by to pick up it's load of one empty bad order.

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Say our quick goodbye to Nathan, and Mr Tops and I drive down to the west end.

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Drove down to Ivanrest...was thinking of heading further, but they had mentioned on the radio that they'd be limited to 30 mph for the trip due to a bad EOT.

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After heading away from Ivanrest, quick jump on I-196, and off at Jenison...they cleared Jenison and well, weren't going 30....must have fixed their EOT. Here's them down at Vriesland:

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Mr Tops bailed out a little bit of distance earlier than this to get a shot coming into Zeeland, while I settle these two from Centennial St.

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D801 kept ahead of us throughout most of Zeeland and Holland, but we managed to get ahead as it slowly went through Waverly. Caught him up on E Lakewood Blvd down near Wesco. The line to the right leads down to TLC's warehouse and a lumber yard.

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Near Van Buren and 136th Ave, we ducked behind a storage area, and got this wedgie/broadside

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From there, we also see Mr Tops on his "portable ladder"....out of focus pointed at the trees.....

http://www.railroadfan.com/images/mrtopsladder.jpg

Next up is Pigeon Creek... didn't know where we were taking the photo from, but oh well, it's a railfanning learning experience.

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Great spot Mr Tops found for me here... Saw a lady and her dog walking along, then this gentleman stepped out as they were passing by. Two photos here:

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Said my goodbyes to Mr Tops...awesome meeting you sir, fun chasing D801 all the way out there. Headed down to Lake Shore Dr to see D801 just as they are pulling to a stop in their yard for JH Campbell Power Plant at West Olive.. Fun day for 2 trains and about 4-5 hours :)

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Last edited by ~Z~ on Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:34 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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RailCanon
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Unread post by RailCanon »

First took a pic of the signal at Godfrey for Gregg:
http://www.railroadfan.com/images/godfrey.jpg
Thanks Zack. I spoke with a signal maintainer at Harrison Road recently and he told me that the signal replacement that they are working on in Lake Odessa will eventually (By the end of the year) have the entire line up to Wyoming Yard upgraded. I asked him about Godfrey and he said that he didn't exactly know, but he indicated that they probably will, and he hopes they do because it is a
Pain in the ass to work on
Just incase they do get rid of it, people should get pictures of it soon.
Lots of Railfans out around the state Sunday. Nice pics sir!

GP30M4216
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Unread post by GP30M4216 »

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Another View! Thanksgiving 2004 is this photo. That a high green, and I waited for over an hour and nothing came. It would be too bad if it were replaced, but I can understand why. It's a Pere Marquette design and may date from he late PM era. When they did the signaling project on the south end of the Saginaw Sub from Carleton north, they left the big Cantilever at Romulus intact just the way it was. Of course, that was a Chessie era installation, whereas Godfrey is much older. Guess on my future trips to GR (and yes, there will be more, Sunday convinced me), I shall have to get a photo of something under it. So I'll be looking forward to more Q335 reports!

http://indiana.railfan.net/bb2/Attachments/CP9550_B.jpg
And another view of X500 going east the morning of November 12, 2005, the last day of operations on the CSX Baldwin Subdivision. (Sorry for the large size)

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~Z~
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Unread post by ~Z~ »

Here's a video from the Mr Tops collection on the D801... strangest flashing ditch light on this one.... Taken at 160th Ave near West Olive
http://www.dailymotion.com/mr_tops/video/98829
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