Durand Meet 9-10-05

[RailCanon]

Like Zack said earlier, Time To Revisit the Durand Meet. Now it's my turn for photos.

Okay, 9-10 for me was this:
Dad and I woke up at 7 and we had the car packed and were out the door by 8. Made a quick stop at the East Lansing Amtrak station to see if 365 had come in, they hadn't and we found out they were running an hour late, so we went over to Krispy Kreme to get the Donuts. Then we went over by Haslett to catch Amtrak. I decided to shoot from a different spot this time, and photograph the train from Above, on the Marsh Road Bridge.
Here's Amtrak's Blue Water with F40 Cabbage 90215 heading west under Marsh Road in Haslett:

followed shortly therafter by Train 149:

Train 480 was being held at Okemos (West end of Double track) to wait for The Blue Water and 149. It finally got permission to proceed east onto single track after 149 had cleared.
Illinois Central 6257 leads a most impressive (and NOISY) lashup of power, complete with a CSX CW40-8:

Some views of the power on this train:



Got to Durand around 9:50, just in time to see the same train swing around the wye onto the Holly Sub:

A good look at all the power, including the CSX unit...:

Next up is CP Rail X534:


Mike Tabone and I went across the tracks to Railroad Street to shoot Train 397.
SD75I 5687, and IC 6141 head the train west past Railroad Street, approaching the depot:

Dad and I went to Gaines to watch Train 281. I think it was Jeff L who said I wasn't going to make it, but we did with two minutes to spare. The shots I took at Gaines were not very good however . Fortunately they slowed down enough at Durand that we were able to catch them again at Pittsburg Road, just west of Durand on the Flint Sub. Saw some interesting (to me) political graffiti on a few cars that I can't metion here.
IC 6063 leads train 281 west on the Flint Subdivision at Pittsburg Road. *EDITOR'S PICK!*:

That's it for the morning lineup.

[CAT345C]

hey GP40 What part of Gaines were you at I take it you were near the south east end by the Station right?
I just happened to stumble upon the end of the Siding and seen the train coming

[RailCanon]

Okay, I have a little time to spare so I guess I'll continue the thread here:

CN 5511 leads Train 391 westbound past the depot. Patrick was just starting with the Grills when this one showed up:

Trailing unit on 391 was this NREX (Former CSX, Ex Conrail) SD50:


CN 2586, with Train M348 in tow, slams over the diamonds, and interrupts lunch:


With its final destination of Bristol Yard in Flint Just minutes away, Train E260 rolls past the Station with UP 4992 in the lead...

...And HLCX 6064 trailing:


After a break from the train traffic, the local from Flint arrived and picked up three gondolas north of town. Dad and I caught them crossing Main Street, east of the depot.



Right after taking the above pictures, I looked up into the cab to see the conductor holding a camera and taking my picture!! I really wish I'd gotten a shot of that!
Anyway, here they are again at the Main Street crossing behind Downtown:

A bit later, the 4926 pulls out of the yard with 50 cars in tow:

CN 5632 and 2506 pull through the Chicago Wye to make a set out in the yard. I took a bunch of other pictures of this train in Sepia and Black and White, but I accidentally left the ISO Setting at 400, which made the pictures EXTEREMELY Grainy. This is the best shot I have of this train, and it isn't very good either. When 396 finally left Durand, the crew threw some papers out at the depot. Jeff L and I both went for them at once. We both reached them at the same time, and I ended up stepping on his hand. Once again, I am very sorry about that, Jeff. We ended up splitting the papers up. Jeff got the list of car #s and dropoffs to be made along the run, and I got the Crew's instructions for the day.


The big highlight of the day for me was seeing the Central Michigan come into town. An A-B-A set of 1960s GEs... AWE-SOME!!!!
Central Michigan U23Bs 8903 and 8905 Bracket B30-7AB 4065, as they chug around the Port Huron Wye. I'll never forget this!


The train backs up into the Yard:

Santa Fe Warbonnet SD75M #8233 pulls Train 761 into the Chicago Wye to head West on the Flint Subdivision:

UP 4992 and the HLCX Rent-a-Wreck from train 260 make a return appearance as they roll over Ann Arbor Street on the High-Wye. At first, it was thought that they were going to make a pickup in the yard, but it turns out that they went all the way to Detroit as a lite power move:

GTW GP9R 4618 pulls across Ann Arbor Street with an Extra Yard job from Bristol Yard in Flint. All cars on this train were dropped off in the Yard:

Having deposited its train in the Yard, 4618 enters the Flint Sub, and runs light back to Bristol Yard:



Last Train of the day for me: CP Rail X535 heads west with AC44CW 9546 in the lead:

I've been running into the 6055 a lot recently. This was the THIRD time in the past month that I have seen this unit:

Final shot of the day: The low light of the setting sun glints off the rails and the last few cars of CP Rail X535 as they pass Durand Union Station:

Dad and I left for home shortly thereafter.
A HUGE thanks to Patrick and Dave Lang for putting together yet another fun meet.
Lets do it again soon guys!



-Gregg R. Pullano

[RailCanon]

hey GP40 What part of Gaines were you at I take it you were near the south east end by the Station right?
I just happened to stumble upon the end of the Siding and seen the train coming

South End of the Siding by the station. They were really moving at that point.

It was nice to finally meet you, Mike!

[Scooterb]

Great series GP.

[~Z~]

definately enjoyed the different views and angles of those same trains I had seen. Nice composition on a lot of them..glad you are enjoying the new camera.

[redside20]

Awesome pics man, i love it when the CN freights slam that diamond at full speed. It might not see as many trains as bellevue or fostoria but durand is all about quality and is worth the trip everytime