Grand Rapids questions

[TrainNut85]

a friend of mine recently moved to G.R. to go to college, and was wondering where to see the GR&E at the best time and place? Best place and times to see any CSX trains leaving? Best place and times to see any NS action out of Hughart yard?

Any responses to this will be appreciated!

[AdaTrainFan]

Anywhere in Ada is decent for GR&E, especially in the back of Ada Park or near the covered bridge. I don't know much for times though, but i have seen trains there anywhere from noon to mid afternoon.

Judd street is the best for viewing CSX and Wyoming yard.

I haven't had a chance to check out Hughart yard. Anyone else care to comment?

[SD80MAC]

GRE typically runs on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule, it seems, athough they sometimes run on Tuesday or Thursday. I believe the crew still preps Amtrak, so they're probably on duty between 6 and 7 a.m. As soon as Amtrak leaves they grab their cars and are out of their yard headed east (if they don't have to go west, which is often) between 8 and 9 a.m. Amway usually gets a switch, along with their 2 closer to town customers. King Milling in Lowell and American Wire Co. (?) in Lowell seem to make up a lot of the traffic these days. Times in Lowell vary, but I'd say anywhere between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sometimes they don't even go all the way to Lowell. Hardly ever any cars go to Ionia or Greenville anymore.

Judd St. is the best for CSX. I made a CSX railfanning guide from Wyoming yard to Lake O a while back, here it is: http://www.railroadfan.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1974

Really can't see much into Hugart yard. Best bet is to drive over 131 on Hall St. and see if anything's moving around in there. The 36E road train from Elkhart arrives in the afternoon, times seem to vary greatly. The B49 will go up CSX as Z379 and switch Padnos scrap and or GRE sometime in the afternoon, but not everyday.

As for CSX trains in GR? Someone else can give a more detailed analysis, but here are the regular trains in short:

Q326: Usually arrives in GR in the morning. Takes off east in the early afternoon.

Q327: Arrives in GR in the late afternoon/evening. Departs west out of GR at night.

Q335: Arrives in GR in the afternoon sometime, usually late afternoon. Doesn't always make it to GR, sometimes dying at Fox.

Q334: Usually departs east from GR at night, but once in a great while it will leave in the daylight hours of the morning.

X500: Is supposed to arrive in GR in the early morning and be eastbound again fairly quick, but can show up at anytime, it seems.

P371 (Amtrak): Is supposed to leave GR at 7:30 a.m., usually does.

P370 (Amtrak): Arrives usually by 9:45-10, making the station stop by 10:30 p.m. Then backs up north to GRE where it spends the night and leaves as 371 the next morning.

Y106: Heads up to switch Padnos and GRE in the morning, seems to be around 11 a.m.

Y320: Does industries east of GR to Alto. Night time.

Extra trains: Extras include coal, coke, grain and sometimes rerouted CSX trains from down south.

That's all I got.