Amtrak's P371 is northbound across the Grand River bridge in Grand Rapids, after a major incident (the nature of which now escapes me) west of town forced them to turn around and head back. Was very odd watching Amtrak come rolling in from the west in the morning! Heritage NPCU #406 leads the way. 6/13/2013
Lots of downed trees around Wells and Grand Junction. Amtrak unloaded the passengers at Holland and bussed to Chicago, sent Amtrak back east to GR. viewtopic.php?p=277337#p277337
Amtrak's P371 is northbound across the Grand River bridge in Grand Rapids, after a major incident (the nature of which now escapes me) west of town forced them to turn around and head back. Was very odd watching Amtrak come rolling in from the west in the morning! Heritage NPCU #406 leads the way. 6/13/2013
Lots of downed trees around Wells and Grand Junction. Amtrak unloaded the passengers at Holland and bussed to Chicago, sent Amtrak back east to GR. viewtopic.php?p=277337#p277337
Was that the same storm that caused the tornado damage we saw while biking the Kal-Haven trail from Bloomingdale west? If so hard to believe it has been that many years ago already.
interested in trains
Patiently waiting for LansingRailfan to antagonize me in his tagline
The two component roads that merged to make the BNSF are represented by a former BN GP38-2 and an ex ATSF SD40-2 on a nortbound local near Littleton, CO. 7/21/2010
One of CSX's AC6000CWs makes easy work of Q326 as the train clears the double track at Seymour and rounds the curve under the Alger St bridge. These 6,000 HP behemoths were never as reliable as CSX had wanted them to be, and after numerous modifications and engine swaps, the entire fleet was retired in 2018. 6/6/2008
Southbound MQT manifest hits the roller coaster stretch along M-37 north of Diamond Lake, the day before the 4th of July in 2013. This was back in the mismatch power days, led by less-than colorful SD40-2 3003 belying her Canadian upbringing, along with GP38-2s 2004 and GRE 3839. I would love to catch a matching set of orange and black power in this spot, but the timing has never worked out since! It was a fun chase south from Baldwin to White Cloud on this particular day.
It's three days before Christmas in 2009, and Marquette Rail's northbound Z151 is battling some fresh snow on the railhead at Half Moon Lake. All three of the railroad's leased SD40-2s, plus a GATX GP38-2, are working hard on the slight grade here. 12/21/2009
Q335 is creating a ground blizzard as it rolls west near milepost 9, known by the crews as "Niner". A BNSF Dash 9 and an NS SD70 provide the power on this cold but clear February day. 2/12/2011
D802 has just cut off the rear of N956 at Elmdale and is now heading back west towards its home base at West Olive. The helper power was added to the train at Grand Junction and stayed on all the way to Elmdale. When the Essexville coal trains ran via Grand Rapids, helpers were necessary not only for Saugatuck Hill but also the pair of stiff eastbound grades between Grand Rapids and Alto. 3/15/2013
Recently brought back from the dead, Lake State M420 #3504 burbles outside of the old Pere Marquette roundhouse in Saginaw. Brought out of storage for the grain season, 3504 and C425M-AC #1280 would run through the winter until early 2010. They would then be retired for good, putting the Alco era on the LSRC to bed for the last time. 10/16/2009
Grand Rapids-Toledo freight Q334 works its way east on the double track of the Grand Rapids Terminal sub behind a pair of C40-8Ws, the leader still wearing Conrail blue. 10/1/2010
Still wearing it’s “Labor-Management” decal to promote Conrail employees all working together toward the same goal, CSX B40-8 #5975 leads a C40-8 east on Q326 at Fox. 5975 was part of the group of B40-8s that were originally conveyed to Norfolk Southern after the 1999 Conrail split. CSX ended up purchasing them (I think there were around 15 or so) from NS in 2006, bringing all of the former Conrail B40-8s together again. Built for high speed intermodal trains, these engines were not that great in any other type of service, and were even worse on the local jobs that CSX used them for. They were all retired in 2016/2017 along with all of the CSX C40-8s.
The old signal system was still going going strong at this time, as evidenced by the code line on the right. The spur for this business at the end of Kraft Ave was still in place as well, the switch for which would be removed around 2010 (I think). 12/13/2006
On November 4, 2009, I was lucky enough to catch the daylight passage of NS train 955, the Office Car Special, southbound on its journey from Detroit (Oakwood Yard) to Toledo. I snapped some photos of their train passing over Ecorse Creek coming into Wyandotte, MI, on the old Conrail Detroit Division mainline. The sun had just peaked out behind what had otherwise been an overcast day. Their consist was the A-B-B-A set of Executive NS F9 locomotives behind F9A #4271, with 9 passenger cars:
Rainbow Train by The Railroad Empire, on Flickr
Rainbow train lash up on the NS Chicago line heading east. NS 4108 + BNSF 4356 + UP 8038. Picture taken at Vickers Jct. on 4/2/22.
CSX Under Over by The Railroad Empire, on Flickr
CSX under over on the CSX Toledo Subdivision heading north. CSX 112 + CSX 594. Picture Taken at Vickers Jct. on 4/2/22.
Fort Madison, Iowa is very proud of their tracks that run through their turn, Which is former Santa Fe. So naturally they have a caboose and a 2-10-4 steam locomotive on display, but when I saw a somewhat common Ex Santa Fe warbonnet Dash 8 which was serving as one of the rear DPU's on this eastbound manifest rounding the curve, I couldn't pass this opportunity up to get a picture of two true Santa Fe workhorses next to each other.
Amtrak P42DC #68 and P40DC #817 is stopped at the Fort Madison, Iowa station leading Amtrak southwest chief #3. #68's paint has DEFINITELY seen better days, but these engines are still Amtrak's mainstay for the next few years.
Fort Madison, Iowa is very proud of their tracks that run through their turn, Which is former Santa Fe. So naturally they have a caboose and a 2-10-4 steam locomotive on display, but when I saw a somewhat common Ex Santa Fe warbonnet Dash 8 which was serving as one of the rear DPU's on this eastbound manifest rounding the curve, I couldn't pass this opportunity up to get a picture of two true Santa Fe workhorses next to each other.
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...
Amtrak's Pere Marquette celebrated it's 25th Anniversary in 2009. Amtrak and state of Michigan officials rode the train, and a Sightseer Lounge was added for the occasion. Fresh out of the station in Grand Rapids, the westbound P371 has just met X500 at Godfrey, seen from the old interurban overpass. 8/5/2009
There's still a little bit of twilight as a westbound BNSF intermodal overtakes another at the crossovers at West Pica. The control point is just west of Seligman, AZ on BNSF's Seligman Subdivision. 4/14/2018
GTW #6401, an EMD GP40 built originally for the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton, switches the yard in Durand on a cloudy fall day. The sole straight GP40 still rostered by CN, today it is based at CN's Engineer School in Winnipeg. 10/22/2005
An eastbound Norfolk Southern freight lead by an ex Conrail SD60M meets a westbound at the busy South Bend interlocking. The junction here is where CN's former GTW Chicago-Port Huron main blends with the NS's Chicago District through South Bend before splitting again about a 1/2 mile east. 11/1/2008
Steam Railroading Institute's Howell Melon Festival train rolls north on the CN at Durand after a wet day of excursions. 4 Great Lakes Central Geeps provide the power (there's another one on the rear). 9/11/2010
The morning silence is interrupted by the roar of EMDs as the Indiana Railroad's HWSZT rolls along with seven locomotives. Taken just west of Sullivan, IN, about 10 minutes after sunrise. 4/3/2022
Former Rio Grande GP30 #3011 is undergoing a slow but steady cosmetic restoration at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. Since my visit in October 2021, the nose-mounted Gyra light has been reinstalled. 10/20/2021
Indiana Railroad's HWSZT has plenty of horsepower as the train rumbles into Linton. The two lead SD40-2s will be dropped off here by the crew for a rock train on Monday. The diamond here was once the crossing of the Milwaukee Road and the Illinois Central, I believe. 4/3/2022
After running west across the Wabash River to Palestine, IL, the Indiana Railroad's HWSZT is now headed east on the old IC "High Line". The lead pair of SD40-2s will be dropped off at Linton for a stone train the next day. 4/3/2022