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On the subject of "Hughart", does anyone know the last time the turntable was used? And how long it is?

To reinforce what's already been said, "Hughart" is correct according to 1967 PRR employee timetable.

What did Conrail refer to this line as in the 90s? The Grand Rapids Secondary?

SD80MAC wrote:What did Conrail refer to this line as in the 90s? The Grand Rapids Secondary?

1999 Conrail Employee TT #1 referred to it as the Kalamazoo Secondary from CP Park MP33.0 to Burton MP100 (Begin End Block) Connects to Hughart Running Track Burton to Pleasent Street under control of YM at Hughart. Also Hastings Running Track MP 88.1 to Pleasent Street, also controlled by YM at Hughart. 88.1 I assume would have been the south end of the NYC line from Jackson down near 44th street. I believe the still did switching at Steelcase back then. I was too busy playing CSX to do much snooping then.
Kalamazoo Branch extended from CP421 to CP Park to get you into Elkhart.

SD80MAC wrote:On the subject of "Hughart", does anyone know the last time the turntable was used? And how long it is?

I had a thread a while back when I first joined on that subject. I believe the turntable is a fairly recent install (for a turntable, maybe 1950's) and is only 70 or 75 feet in length. My guess is it was for turning F units or for turning units that were to be serviced in the shop at Hughart. If it were ever removed and sold it could still be a valuable asset for a museum or smaller tourist operation if the bridge is in good shape and its repairable.

Anyone know what customers were serviced on the "Hastings Lead" by Conrail? I'm assuming they still went beyond Kzoo and 44th Street during their ownership of the line?

Conrail only very briefly operated beyond Kzoo and 44th, selling the line off to the state not long after Conrail's inception. It became the Kent Barry & Eaton and didn't last too long.

SD80MAC wrote:Conrail only very briefly operated beyond Kzoo and 44th, selling the line off to the state not long after Conrail's inception. It became the Kent Barry & Eaton and didn't last too long.

What about after that? I thought they once again regained the line after the KBEC folded. Didn't trackage to Caledonia or something stay intact for some time after? People tell me the crossing at Kzoo and 44th wasn't removed until like 10-15 years ago.

What was business like on the segment that's left in Conrail's day?

MQT1223 wrote:

SD80MAC wrote:Conrail only very briefly operated beyond Kzoo and 44th, selling the line off to the state not long after Conrail's inception. It became the Kent Barry & Eaton and didn't last too long.

What about after that? I thought they once again regained the line after the KBEC folded. Didn't trackage to Caledonia or something stay intact for some time after? People tell me the crossing at Kzoo and 44th wasn't removed until like 10-15 years ago.

What was business like on the segment that's left in Conrail's day?

My mom swears the trackage remained in Hastings into 85/86. Never been able to confirm

People tell me the crossing at Kzoo and 44th wasn't removed until like 10-15 years ago.

I can assure you, the track crossing 44th St has been out since well before 2002. I barely remember as a kid the monstrosity that used to be there that held the flashing lights for the crossing, and I was pretty vigilant as a kid when riding around town and looking at railroad stuff. Last I remember, they had removed a section or two of rail back towards the woods and placed an end of track barrier (railroad ties i think) and the rail was left in the road surface to be removed once they performed a resurfacing project, which probably didn't take too long after to get started on. I can't tell you if the signals were removed before or after the rail was removed from the road.

The signal bridge was salvaged by West Shore Services and the CPMY. I'd have to look in the Road Commission records to see when it was. It was before the road was boulevard-ed. The pieces are still on the RR. The Road Commission pulled out parts of the crossing before the road was rebuilt because that was the only way to make it smoother. The removal was done on a miserable day. Light snow, 1 degree above rain. I had my raincoat on and was completely soaked from the bottom of the coat to my toes.

Raildudes dad wrote:The signal bridge was salvaged by West Shore Services and the CPMY. I'd have to look in the Road Commission records to see when it was. It was before the road was boulevard-ed. The pieces are still on the RR. The Road Commission pulled out parts of the crossing before the road was rebuilt because that was the only way to make it smoother. The removal was done on a miserable day. Light snow, 1 degree above rain. I had my raincoat on and was completely soaked from the bottom of the coat to my toes.

Any pics? I've looked far and wide to see a photo of that crossing before it was removed.

I can remember years ago as a kid, probably sometime in the late 90s, there were still a few sections of track between crossings around Caledonia. I vividly recall one section had corn stalks growing in between the rails, as the track bisected a farmers field. Anyone else remember that, or am I crazy?