Plymouth & GR sub-div Work

[pudgy]

The spray markings in Webberville are for when the tie gang goes thru there they know to remove the track leads before they do any work. Same for most crossings in the area.

Are you suggesting the recent rain and flooding will push their replacement of Trowbridge signals? They are already slated to be replaced, but for the limited number of trains running, they would likely get talk bys before they would emergency replace signals.

And if the water is high enough, they won't run at all anyways.

[TSS]

The Coast Guard has this item in the Local Notice to Mariners:

From July 8 through August 16, 2024, between the hours of 0600 and 1800, Monday through Saturday, a 50-foot by 80-foot barge will be performing maintenance to the CSX Railroad Bridge at mile 0.67 over the Saint Joseph River. The barge will move to accommodate vessel traffic if a 2-hour advance notice is provided directly to the barge on VHF-FM Marine Channel 16

The Harbor Master said in a Facebook update, “I still don’t have a firm date on when the bridge fendering work around the CSX Bridge will commence, but I will share when I do.”

So it would appear that the barge will be working on the pilings and fenders that protect the bridge.

[GP30M4216]

Anyone have any new updates on the track rehab and aggregate facilities reopening at Livingston on the GR Subdivision?

[pudgy]

Anyone have any new updates on the track rehab and aggregate facilities reopening at Livingston on the GR Subdivision?

Nothing of note lately. Ties were apparently replaced, all the track was uncovered from sand buildup over the years and nothing had happened since early spring on site.

[TSS]

Anyone have any new updates on the track rehab and aggregate facilities reopening at Livingston on the GR Subdivision?

As far as I can tell, all the ties that were delivered went into the mainline and Livingston siding. Aside from scraping back some of the sand, no work appears to have been done on the industry track.

They’ve put up a sign—Bridgman Terminal Services—and it appears someone is occupying the office/watchman’s house. Within the last few weeks, a large loader has appeared on site and it appears they’re starting to sell or move out the mountains of sand left by the previous occupant.

No changes have been made to the old sand drying, processing, storage, and loading structures. It’s anyone’s guess as to when they might commence other activities or start receiving cars.

Having listened to the archives of the crew-dispatcher conversation that first alerted us to this new business, I think it was a false conclusion to believe industry track reconstruction was imminent.

There is a reefer on the far end of the industry track. Must have been a bad order?

[GP30M4216]

Anyone have any new updates on the track rehab and aggregate facilities reopening at Livingston on the GR Subdivision?

Nothing of note lately. Ties were apparently replaced, all the track was uncovered from sand buildup over the years and nothing had happened since early spring on site.

Thank you both, Pudgy and TSS. Good news for Livingston siding, then, and we’ll all just wait around to see what happens with the former sand plant.

[TSS]

Barge work has commenced on the St. Joe Bridge. They appear to be rebuilding the skirt system that protects the bridge.

[TSS]

It’s kind of interesting—they’re not using a tug boat per se, just a work boat with a couple large outboards.

[Saturnalia]

Barge work has commenced on the St. Joe Bridge. They appear to be rebuilding the skirt system that protects the bridge.

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FWIW the technical term for the wooden structure around the bridge is fenders.

[amessmann]

(2/2) Just west of the diamond, orange glass instruments are attached to the south side of each rail. To me, they look like they are used for checking alignment.

Lastly, here is a "closeup" picture of the crossing they installed when work began on the new Trowbridge Rd. offramp.

I have not been down to the EE yet however when driving by on Mt. Hope Rd. I do not see any markings, new bases, flags, or anything else to suggest work will take place there.

Are you suggesting the recent rain and flooding will push their replacement of Trowbridge signals? They are already slated to be replaced, but for the limited number of trains running, they would likely get talk bys before they would emergency replace signals.

I had figured if any considerable damage was done that CSX would opt to replace them rather than repair them however it didn't seem like the flooding had reached the area at all.

[amessmann]

(1/2) As I promised weeks ago, I would update you all on the imminent changes at WE Trowbridge.
These pictures were taken on August 24th 2024 however as of September 17th nothing has changed.

It looks like CSX is getting ready to replace the old signals governing the diamond and the WE of the siding. New bases are in place however no new masts have been seen yet. In addition, no wires can be seen in the bases which extend maybe six feet into the ground. White paint and purple flags mark a rectangular area around the EAS (three headed signal governing eastbound movements). On CN's side of things, the Main 1 EAS has an orange rectangle painted around it, and orange flags to go with the markings, unsure why. I neglected to check the area under the Main 2 EAS.

CSX appears to have forgone the "engineer's side" rule and opted to place signals on the outside of the tracks. You can barely see the orange-painted base which will replace the dwarf. Dark purple spray paint, IIRC marked areas where wiring was present.

[kd_1014]

Wonder if they’ll continue to use dwarfs on the sidings or if they’ll install a full size mast?

[amessmann]

Wonder if they’ll continue to use dwarfs on the sidings or if they’ll install a full size mast?

I doubt they will continue. IIRC Plymouth may have a few, however it seems that CSX likes to use full masts. I have seen masts with two fixed reds on top, the only color-changing head being on the bottom. Some would say that is a waste of resources, however the reasoning is purely to keep the pattern intact. I expect both sides will have two headed signals given that around Trowbridge, they receive medium-speed signals out of the siding. The siding should have a fixed red on top, a color-changing head in the middle, and no head in the bottom/third position.

On the dwarfs in the territory, a green is a "slow clear," a yellow over red is a "slow approach," and a flashing yellow is a "medium approach." I only know the latter as I saw it for the first time when watching L305 drop cars there the other day. They received a flashing yellow and called it as a "medium approach" as is agreed upon in the unofficial aspects chart.

Elsewhere, like in Brighton, the dwarfs don't show medium speed aspects, only slow speed aspects, at least as far as I have observed. Perhaps someone can elaborate further on this given that it appears the switch lengths at Brighton and Trowbridge are the same.

[SD80MAC]

Trowbridge and South Lyon are the only sidings on the Plymouth Sub with bigger switches and speeds greater than 10 mph, from what I can remember (20 mph for both sidings), thus the "Medium" indications. Everything else is a smaller switch and will only give "Slow" indications. Fox, Elmdale, Lake Odessa, Grand Ledge, Williamston, Webberville, Howell, and Brighton are all "Slow" sidings. The double track in Lansing has "Medium" speed switches.

[Pie39]

Very slightly off-topic, but are there any 'searchlight dwarfs' on the Plymouth (or Lansing) Sub, or is it all like pictured above, semi-modern replacements? I am not super knowledgeable about these signals, but I remember seeing all the neat old dwarfs around Plymouth growing up, and I wondered if any were left, anywhere!

[kd_1014]

Very slightly off-topic, but are there any 'searchlight dwarfs' on the Plymouth (or Lansing) Sub, or is it all like pictured above, semi-modern replacements? I am not super knowledgeable about these signals, but I remember seeing all the neat old dwarfs around Plymouth growing up, and I wondered if any were left, anywhere!

Not that I know of. I believe there’s some on Lake State north of Plymouth.

[amessmann]

...are there any 'searchlight dwarfs' on the Plymouth (or Lansing) Sub..?

I take it you are asking about the low-mounted searchlights, and no, there are not any at least on the Plymouth-Grand Rapids line. No low-mounted searchlights, and no low-mounted searchlight mechanisms (without the target) either. All of the dwarfs have individual lights for each color.

Fox, Elmdale, Lake Odessa, Grand Ledge, Williamston, Webberville, Howell, and Brighton are all "Slow" sidings.

Are you sure about Howell? I had thought trains receive a medium aspect out of both ends of the siding. In digging through my videos, I had found a clip of L305 calling a "medium clear" out of the siding at Ann Pere (the EE of Howell for those not familiar with the territory). That is a R/G/- with the bottom head being unlit. Thank you for the information in your reply.

[SD80MAC]

It’s been a while since I’ve been over there, you might be right about Howell.

[SD80MAC]

Apologies, I have been corrected. Trowbridge is 25, not 20, and Howell is medium speed signals because the bridge only has 2 heads (still a 10 mph siding though). Been a long time since I went east!

[GP30M4216]

Very slightly off-topic, but are there any 'searchlight dwarfs' on the Plymouth (or Lansing) Sub, or is it all like pictured above, semi-modern replacements? I am not super knowledgeable about these signals, but I remember seeing all the neat old dwarfs around Plymouth growing up, and I wondered if any were left, anywhere!

It always struck me as interesting how there were two head searchlight dwarfs on the mains at Plymouth for the SE wye on each side. Unique! I also really enjoyed the “Apple Block,” that’s what we called the single head searchlight at the south end of the long lead next to Bodes. The color just seemed so intense, just like an apple.

The GR sub had a number of searchlight dwarfs on passing sidings, including a few that were on pedestals. These were all replaced by about 2012 and the signal project was heavily documented on this message board.