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I had the opportunity to tour a good portion of the Georgia Pacific paper mill site in Kalamazoo this morning through a class at Western Michigan University. We were given a short explanation by one of the mechanical men from the demolition crew and allowed to walk in one of the oldest buildings on ...

I headed out this afternoon to try to catch B-17 again and ended up seeing all kinds of interesting stuff. First of all, I had just turned my scanner on in the car when I heard B-17 call a restricting signal at BO. I hurried over to the Gibson Switch to catch them coming south. Their usual departure...

LAKE SHORE LIMITED GETTING NEW EASTBOUND TIME SLOT Amtrak's Spring Timetable change will occur on April 2. One important change has already come to light. The eastbound Lake Shore Limited (train 48 ) will depart Chicago at 10:00pm. Select intermediate times include: South Bend 12:30am, Elkhart 12:5...

I tried to be up and out and about earlier than I actually was today, but no matter - I caught a good assortment of interesting trains! I was out of the house around 10:30 in the AM and looking around for an old-school green Taurus with telltale scanner antenna. I didn't find the Taurus or its railf...

Yes, I saw two of them on a westbound through Cleveland on the Water Level Route last week... one in former CR colors and the other NS black. Don't have the numbers but 1408 and 1416 sound familiar....

Wow Doc, thanks for the updates and news! D708 being a night job makes it harder for those of us with cameras to go after, but I suppose the real important thing here is that industries are served properly and if it's the middle of the night when that can happen, so be it! At least the west side wil...

I have not actually seen B-17 on the road yet, but they usually pipe up on the scanner around 1:30 or 2 so they are probably called for between noon and 1. They'll build their train in the yard and seem to depart in the mid afternoon, with lots of scanner chatter as they get Form D's from the Dearbo...

After a week in Cleveland, it's nice to be back watching some trains around Kalamazoo. This afternoon around 2PM, I drove by Botsford Yard and noted the following: B-1-G's normal power (3066 and 3065) were spliced by an empty centerbeam on one of the old roundhouse leads. They were just getting a cr...

Justin is right - it's a great spot. The great thing is the variety. On the CSX alone, you'll see grain, coal, coke, lime, autoracks, intermodal (going up or down the Lincoln Secondary) and a host of lengthy and not so lengthy mixed freights. Maybe a local or two as well (anyone know what CSX local ...

WOW! Charles! I saw that same train with the two CR leaders in Cleveland later either that day or the next day. I was bummed I didn't have my camera with me, too! Glad someone else got the photo

I'd guess the old C&O sees something like 25-30 trains a day, perhaps a few more. The ex PRR/CR Lincoln Line probably gets a half dozen (all CSX), and the I&O something like 6 or 8. It's a great place to go and spend the day. Mike had great luck, I've been there in the past and seen nearly as many t...

Wow Mike, AWESOME photos and report on the INER! Maybe you'd want to put some of this information on a seperate thread under Railfanning Information? Seems like you found out all kinds of good stuff. Looks like you were fortunate enough to catch just about their entire roster of vintage Geep motive ...

The 12th is great for me Anything before the 28th would be out, because that would be finals and classes still. See you all there!

Thanks Mike for finding the specifics of ITCS control. It should be noted that they have not achieved the 110mph goal yet, at least for revenue trains. Test trains have operated at 110mph along the line before. Currently the maximum speed is 95 miles per hour for this segment. When you are on board,...

It sounds like we have a new NS local job based out of Botsford Yard, and as a railfan, I am happy to have it! It is a B-17 job, which seems to be a Three Rivers turn job local. Sounds like they go on duty around the 12noon or 12:30 hour and are building their train in the early afternoon, then chat...

No question here, but just something which was pointed out to me earlier and I thought I'd share it. A very rare glimpse of the inside of the massive Michigan Central Station in Detroit in 1987, the last full year it was open. It includes historic photos, and a partial tour on a day in 1987, along w...

Article published Wednesday, February 28, 2007 Amtrak route is bedeviled by delays Freight train congestion clogs Toledo-Chicago run By DAVID PATCH BLADE STAFF WRITER Schedule-keeping on Amtrak's passenger trains between Toledo and Chicago, hardly exemplary during the best of times, has taken a beat...

I'll watch out as well. The last 3 or 4 times I've gone to Elkhart have coincidentally been sunny days, so I just have to switch through Elkhart on my way to SB and I'll bring the sunshine with me!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ogUmO65wxE There is the link to the movie I took of the first Amtrak 30/48 re-route, Saturday night's train which did not get to Kalamazoo until 5:50AM Sunday morning. Turn up the volume to hear the engineer call signals and the BO tower operater talk to the engineer...

Thanks to ScooterB for the headsup, I was able to catch today's westbound 29/49 screaming through Kalamazoo today and by BO Tower at 1:20. Yeah, I figured I could miss one day of Spanish class ;) This is the earliest any of the three re-routed westbounds has been through town. They did not stop at t...