GRE Grand Rapids Eastern (Lowell)

[run8ed]

by MQT1223 » Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:53 pm
"On an unrelated note… expect a lot of trackwork in Lowell soon. Sounds like the existing trackwork in town is going to be rebuild and expanded upon to accommodate the increase in traffic by the end of the year"

On what basis do you say this?

[run8ed]

Monday GRE pulled empties and filled out the King tracks and yet for some reason they were not unloading railcars yesterday or today. And again today (Tuesday) they dropped of a cut of 15+- cars at Segwun. Not sure if there were any empties to pull.

Didn't notice any obvious C113s for King on M326 today. Curious if the yard in Grand Rapids is currently empty

[pudgy]

Monday GRE pulled empties and filled out the King tracks and yet for some reason they were not unloading railcars yesterday or today. And again today (Tuesday) they dropped of a cut of 15+- cars at Segwun. Not sure if there were any empties to pull.

Didn't notice any obvious C113s for King on M326 today. Curious if the yard in Grand Rapids is currently empty

Got about 20 for GRE that should get sent to them Wednesday by Y297. Interchange tracks were full of empties to pull tonight.

[Plannerdad]

Ann St yard was almost empty it noon. I just heard 297 heading toward Ann St.

[Plannerdad]

297 (6538?) was working the GRE yard around 6:30, leaving more cars for King. I saw some IAIS hoppers.

[Plannerdad]

GRE WB into the yard around 1:00pm with maybe 15 empties. Still more loads in the yard. Light at Alpine and Ann St. was out.

[run8ed]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UgqQH7B-XI

GRE delivering 23 loads to King Friday September 23 2023. I just missed them pulling the empties, which someone earlier stated were 15. Still more loads at Fuller yard, and a track of loads at Segwun. It would be interesting to know why they didn't unload Monday or Tuesday. Interesting operation!

[MQT1223]

If they are expanding capacity at King, that would be interesting to see. They already have room to put 25+ cars north of M21 plus a few more on the siding (in addition to the 25+ capacity south of M-21). That crossing, like the one on Hudson street, is automated and their trackmobile can really zip along so it would seem feasible to me to simply put excess cars on those tracks. It will be neat to see what they decide to do!

They are expanding, heard it right from the horses mouth. King is expecting daily service starting this winter and their facility has grown tremendously. The track in Lowell isn't great and honestly a redesign would definitely maximize the space tremendously.

[MQT1223]

by MQT1223 » Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:53 pm
"On an unrelated note… expect a lot of trackwork in Lowell soon. Sounds like the existing trackwork in town is going to be rebuild and expanded upon to accommodate the increase in traffic by the end of the year"

On what basis do you say this?

Heard it straight from folks at King themselves. Although at this point the track work could wait until the beginning of next year now depending on how things go and what they plan to do.

[kd_1014]

GRE east at Grand river bridge in GR with 19 cars 08:14

[J T]

GRE delivering 23 loads to King Friday September 23 2023. I just missed them pulling the empties, which someone earlier stated were 15. Still more loads at Fuller yard, and a track of loads at Segwun. It would be interesting to know why they didn't unload Monday or Tuesday. Interesting operation!

My favorite part of that video is all the water in the foreground.

[Plannerdad]

GRE east at Grand river bridge in GR with 19 cars 08:14

I lost my post somewhere. GRE returned to Ann St around 12:45 today with 25 or so empties.

[Plannerdad]

Just heard WB back to Ann St around 1:30. No car count. Sorry

[Plannerdad]

GRE EB around 9:00 in GR. No good visual. One track south of Lowell was full on Sunday.

[Plannerdad]

GRE WB around 1:00pm waiting on the Grand River bridge with 25 or more empties.

[Plannerdad]

Two tracks full of loads at Ann St. Probably go east tomorrow again.

[Andy24]

About 18 more loaded grain cars on today’s M326, probably bound for GRE tonight or tomorrow?

[pudgy]

About 18 more loaded grain cars on today’s M326, probably bound for GRE tonight or tomorrow?

Wouldn't make the connection same day. They will likely sit for a couple days until GRE clears out the interchange.

[run8ed]

On Tuesday I caught the GRE pulling into Ada with 9 loaded cars, then returned light to Fuller to pull 16 more. Didn't realize they sometimes double the hill out of the Grand River valley!? Reassembled the train in Ada and proceeded to Lowell.

A couple hours later I caught the locomotive in Lowell stopped on the bridge over the Flat river. Would have made a great picture but I didn't have time to wait.

I still don't understand why unloading these railcars is intermittent. I highly doubt someone calling in sick. Maybe they are sometimes using the auguring/conveyor system to move a specific grain from one of the storage silos to the milling plant? No idea, just a guess...

[SD80MAC]

On Tuesday I caught the GRE pulling into Ada with 9 loaded cars, then returned light to Fuller to pull 16 more. Didn't realize they sometimes double the hill out of the Grand River valley!? Reassembled the train in Ada and proceeded to Lowell.

A couple hours later I caught the locomotive in Lowell stopped on the bridge over the Flat river. Would have made a great picture but I didn't have time to wait.

I still don't understand why unloading these railcars is intermittent. I highly doubt someone calling in sick. Maybe they are sometimes using the auguring/conveyor system to move a specific grain from one of the storage silos to the milling plant? No idea, just a guess...

A single GP38 can only take about 16-17 loads at one time up the hill out of Grand Rapids, on a dry day. Rain or snow will cause that number to shrink. If they have more cars than that to go east, they will double the train to Ada, then take them all east.

The cars are not unloaded constantly because they have to wait for room to be available in the silos. It also depends on how much flour they are currently producing.