GLC headin' to TC on tuesday

[MIGN-Todd]

Was at Amerhart out in Williamsburg today picking up some stuff and talking to my buddies who work there. They said that they recieved a call from GLC giving them a heads up for tomorrow as they have three (3) cars of lumber coming in. KC and the rest of you shutterbugs have a good heads up to get those good shots now. Three cars is a big train for TC as of late- hopefully, two GP38's will be a towin' them. Later!

[Standard Railfan]

Thanks for the heads up Todd. Sorry I can't make the run this week.

[KC]

KC and the rest of you shutterbugs have a good heads up to get those good shots now.

MIGN-Todd, thanks for the heads up, me working tomorrow.......

[MIGN-Todd]

You're breakin' the trust KC! If anyone gets the shots- it's you! They probably came up using the PM1225 for power and YOU missed it! I may never recover from this....... (sorry you had to work- I missed the train by like two minutes so, FAIL for me as well)

[AANscaleRunner]

The two locomotives rolled into Cadillac around 4 PM. Saw them cross Boon Rd on the North end but wasn't close enough to catch the numbers clearly (398 and 399 maybe). No cars with them, just the locos. There was a tank car and at least one plastics hopper in Selma Yard with the centerbeams Monday night. Could they have done both Williamsburg and Petoskey today or is something waiting at Walton Junction for a later trip?

[AARR]

The two locomotives rolled into Cadillac around 4 PM. Saw them cross Boon Rd on the North end but wasn't close enough to catch the numbers clearly (398 and 399 maybe). No cars with them, just the locos. There was a tank car and at least one plastics hopper in Selma Yard with the centerbeams Monday night. Could they have done both Williamsburg and Petoskey today or is something waiting at Walton Junction for a later trip?

They can make decent track speed on the Petoskey line but IIRC all Traverse City Track is 10mph or less

[Ribbon Rail]

Does a Cadillac crew still make the south turn toward Alma at night these days, or does a crew come all the way up from Owosso or whatever?

[AARR]

Does a Cadillac crew still make the south turn toward Alma at night these days, or does a crew come all the way up from Owosso or whatever?

Cadillac crew makes a Clare (or Rosebush-Alma depending on work and time) 4-5x per week. Owosso based crew works north to Clare.

[Ribbon Rail]

Does a Cadillac crew still make the south turn toward Alma at night these days, or does a crew come all the way up from Owosso or whatever?

Cadillac crew makes a Clare (or Rosebush-Alma depending on work and time) 4-5x per week. Owosso based crew works north to Clare.

Do they meet & swap, or just drop each other’s cars on a siding & retrieve them when possible? Is it still a night train, since they work the branches during the day?

[AANscaleRunner]

Lately they have been heading south from Cadillac before 9 AM. Return time could be anytime in the afternoon, usually after 2 PM. It has been a long time since they ran at night up this way. Sometime they have late afternoon/early atfernoon runs to Yuma to pick up sand.

[AARR]

Does a Cadillac crew still make the south turn toward Alma at night these days, or does a crew come all the way up from Owosso or whatever?

Cadillac crew makes a Clare (or Rosebush-Alma depending on work and time) 4-5x per week. Owosso based crew works north to Clare.

Do they meet & swap, or just drop each other’s cars on a siding & retrieve them when possible? Is it still a night train, since they work the branches during the day?

Clare Turns (out of Owosso and Cadillac respectively) currently runs days but sometimes the Owosso job will run to Ann Arbor during the day and Clare at night.

Normally the trains will meet, swap trains, and return to their home terminals. Sometimes they will leave their cars on a siding for the next train if the branches are being worked.

Grain extras have made weekend operations more frequent than what I recall in the past.

Sand is very heavy as both casting and frac sand is shipped from Yuma. There are weeks more frac sand is shipped than casting sand. GLC has run weekend frac sand trains to meet demand. There is also frac sand being shipped into Cadillac (different grade than what Yuma makes I hear) from Ottawa ILL IIRC.

The transload place in Clare generates some nice traffic averaging around 25 cars a week (not bad for a rural transload operation!).

Agro-Culture's liquid fertilizer plant in Ashley recently increased capacity and siding length to accomodate more and longer cuts of cars (inbound raw materials and outbound liquid fertilizer feed stock).

Now if they can just get business on the Petoskey and Traverse City branches going again and add a 2nd trick to Cadillac it will be like the good ole' days (rumor is keep an eye on natural gas refinery in Kalkaska...just a rumor right now).

[KC]

(rumor is keep an eye on natural gas refinery in Kalkaska...just a rumor right now).

AARR, did you just let the cat out-of-the bag.................

Kelly

[GP-35]

The rumor is true!!

[AARR]

The rumor is true!!

I would not bet on any railroad rumor until you see the cars rolling GP35. I have lived long enough to hear almost every imaginable railroad rumor and maybe 1% come true as planned.

But as I have always said, it is more fun speculating on what railroads might do than what they actually do. That is why paper railroads are so much fun

[KVERBERK]

Well I guess the rumor is some what true. Here is the GLC with an unusual train for the Petosky branch. Two lumber loads,(actually going to Traverse City) and one Tank car that was to be spotted at the gas place near kalkaska:



Here they are running around the train in Kalkaska. (the gas place has a facing point switch if you are northbound)



Here they are back southbound in Fife lake. They will continue to Walton junction and use the wye to head to Traverse City to drop the lumber loads.
I saw KC out chasing as well so I am looking forward to his pictures as I think he chased them a little farther than I did. Enjoy.

[AARR]

Nice pics and report. IIRC the plant can load up to 8-10 cars at a time (something like that). Even when they were at their busiest I don't think they shipped that much per day but the capability was there.

If this turns into steady traffic I wonder if it will tie into the rumors about AA picking up refinery type traffic

[Standard Railfan]

I do not think the photo shows a tank car that is destined to load natural gas liquids (NGL). As I recall, there is an oilfield service company located in Kalkaska that recieves tanks of product that is used in oil & gas production.

The gas plant is about two miles south of Kalkaska east of US131 and north of Thomas Road. I do not think there is a siding into the plant any longer but I could be mistaken.

Clearly, additional investigation is needed.

[KVERBERK]

Actually the tank car was spotted at the place about 2 miles south of Kalkaska. No this was not the usual tank car traffic that we see being spotted in Kalkaska. Yes the siding into the facility is still in place. Sorry I was unable to get better pictures, but i think KC did. Also the car was labeled "liquid petroleum gas"(*I think). Hope this clears up any confusion.

Kyle

[AARR]

I do not think the photo shows a tank car that is destined to load natural gas liquids (NGL). As I recall, there is an oilfield service company located in Kalkaska that recieves tanks of product that is used in oil & gas production.

The gas plant is about two miles south of Kalkaska east of US131 and north of Thomas Road. I do not think there is a siding into the plant any longer but I could be mistaken.

Clearly, additional investigation is needed.

That is a large tank car used for ammonia, liquid petroleum gas, natural gas, propane, and other light weight bulk liquids. The oil field materials arrive in standard length (54') tank cars.

The spur and loading facilities are still intact although not used in many years. This can be verified through one of the mapping websites.

[GP-35]

Mr. AARR you better jump in your car & check out the new ties & gage rodes that were put in the gas track!!!!!!! COLD HARD FACTS.