Birthday Railfanning 1/23/16

Give us a run down of what you saw, post pictures if you'd like...any info is welcome.
ogauge47
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Birthday Railfanning 1/23/16

Unread post by ogauge47 »

I had a change of plans on my birthday this past Saturday so I went out for a few hours to watch trains

IC 3101 at CN Schaefer Yard

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GTW 4619 crossing over the Conrail Junction Runner at Schaefer Jct

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Crossing the drive at AK Steel

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Pulling into the Ford Rouge Plant

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NS BD07 under the Fort St. bridge, bring empty coke hoppers from Zug Island

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Detroit Salt

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Back at Schaefer Jet. 4619 over Schaefer Highway

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GTW and IC power

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The DT&I arches

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Yard job at Oakwood

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NS B70 running light to Milan, MI

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CP T27 with a matched set of ex-SOO SD60s

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NS 196 with an ex-SOO SD60

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GTW 5817

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Switching the Ford Rouge plant

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NS steel train (60K?) on the Conrail Junction Runner

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5817 crossing over Conrail

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CSX Y194 on the ex-Wabash Boat Line pulling empty coke hoppers off of Zug Island

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James Sofonia
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Re: Birthday Railfanning 1/23/16

Unread post by James Sofonia »

What is this strange arched pole for?

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M.D.Bentley
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Re: Birthday Railfanning 1/23/16

Unread post by M.D.Bentley »

Pixl wrote:What is this strange arched pole for?

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THAT, is an "End of the line"pole. Only used on engine tracks. The DT&I also had a ( one ) steel arch. Cost too much, that is why Henry made the concrete ones.

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AARR
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Re: Birthday Railfanning 1/23/16

Unread post by AARR »

Thanks for posting, OGuage. I enjoyed looking.

Is CN/IC a GP40-2 or straight 40? Did not know either was still on the roster.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

ConrailDetr​oit
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Re: Birthday Railfanning 1/23/16

Unread post by ConrailDetr​oit »

BD07 paced alongside of CP 241. Coke to Zug Island is moving by rail more than ship now with lakes frozen in winter.

ImageNs BD07 & CP 241 - Ecorse Jct by tcamp7837, on Flickr

NS 196 had CP 6239 leading.

ImageNS 196, CP 6239 - Oakwood Yd by tcamp7837, on Flickr

GTWwatcher
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Re: Birthday Railfanning 1/23/16

Unread post by GTWwatcher »

Nice! Enjoyed looking.

ogauge47
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Re: Birthday Railfanning 1/23/16

Unread post by ogauge47 »

AARR wrote:Thanks for posting, OGuage. I enjoyed looking.

Is CN/IC a GP40-2 or straight 40? Did not know either was still on the roster.
It is a GP40R, rebuilt in the late 80's

lakeshoredave
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Re: Birthday Railfanning 1/23/16

Unread post by lakeshoredave »

that gives a really good visual of what detroit railroading is all about.

GP30M4216
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Re: Birthday Railfanning 1/23/16

Unread post by GP30M4216 »

There used to be a spur which went under that "half" arch, where GTW would tie down their motive power sometimes. Other times they would just leave it on one of the tracks closer to the diamond and tower. I didn't realize how much track consolidation had happened there until I just looked at Google Maps. Three tracks used to cross the Conrail on the GTW side in the late 90s/early 00s. At some point, the entire spur under the arch was removed and a much shorter spur was installed, which exists today.

The Schaefer area used to be a great place to see a variety of GTW power sitting if you were satisfied with roster shots.

Here's some photos from 1998 to show the then-arrangement:
Attachments
GTW 4919 Schaefer Dearborn 12-23-1998 V.jpg
GTW 4919 Schaefer Dearborn 12-23-1998 B.jpg
GTW 5828 and 5857 Schaefer Dearborn ca 1998.jpg

GP30M4216
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Re: Birthday Railfanning 1/23/16

Unread post by GP30M4216 »

Otherwise Ogauge, great shots! A good chronicle of SW Detroit area railroading. I enjoyed the Schaefer photos as that's an area I used to regularly pass by (clearly), and the trains coming and going around the AK Steel gates right across Schaefer Road. Also good to see more coke traffic moving on the Boat Yard line this time of year, too. Probably no more lake boat traffic there until mid-late March.

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