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Over Easter weekend April 22-25 I will be making a trip hoping to railfan the southern half of Michigan. I've gotten caboose lists,depot lists and steam engine lists. Is there anything of interest (grain elevator switchers etc.) that I may not have found online that you folks have info on?

Tell us what you already have planned and we can make suggestions.

I'll be coming from Chicago and plan on traveling to Muskegon the first day catching Grand Rapids and depots along the way. Day 2 I'll travel across the state to Saginaw and down to Durand. Day 3 I'll cover Lansing,Blissfield etc. I've got all the depots mapped out. I'm basically looking for information that the locals know. Where should I absolutely go/not go etc.

A concrete coaling tower stands over the NS mainline in Augusta. Amtrak runs under it 8 times a day (4 east. 4 west) but NS hardly never. It's readily visible from M-96 heading east between Galesburg and Augusta.

Since you'll be doing most of your railfanning on the weekend, I wouldn't bother going to some of the spots that you mentioned. Especially with it being a holiday weekend, many of the shortlines will be shut down.

If you're looking for trains in Muskegon, they will have power sitting in North Yard over the weekend, but is it worth driving all the way up for parked power?

Make sure to check out CSX's Wyoming Yard near Grand Rapids.

Judd St. is the best spot for the east side of the yard.



Or, you can park behind the Admiral station on the west side.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 744&nseq=4

Here, you'll see all the yard jobs working and the road freights that you can chase will all go through/terminate/originate at the yard.

If you have a long lens, you might be able to grab some GDLK power that's sitting out.




The Kalamazoo is also a great place to catch trains. You have BO Tower,



multiple bridges,



There will usually be some GDLK power at Bosford Yard, too. And like GAP said, you can explore the line away from town and find all sorts of relics, such as signals, a coaling tower, etc.

My personal opinion is that you should drop the Bay City/Saginaw portion. It'll be a weekend and you might only get one train running on Easter weekend, the 701/702 on Saturday morning. Stick with Durand, and stop by the GLC in Owosso to get some parked power.

Plus, I wouldn't recommend doing much in Saginaw without a guide if you've never been there. Some areas are decent, other are terrible, but there are patches of both. If you're not using your head, you'll end up lost in the not-so-good area.

But if your heart is set on getting the trains of Bay City/Saginaw, says so and we'll get you the info on where all the power is parked.

Any other questions?

bootstate wrote:I'll be coming from Chicago and plan on traveling to Muskegon the first day catching Grand Rapids and depots along the way. Day 2 I'll travel across the state to Saginaw and down to Durand. Day 3 I'll cover Lansing,Blissfield etc. I've got all the depots mapped out. I'm basically looking for information that the locals know. Where should I absolutely go/not go etc.

Is the goal of your trip to photograph trains or just to explore? As LSRC stated, that weekend might be pretty dead due to the holiday.

I'm just as happy to see abdanoned right of way or depots in the woods or parked power as I am moving trains(weird I know) I'm a railroader so I get my fill of moving trains at work. I grew up In New Orleans which I'm sure is as tough or more than Saginaw. I know the signs of a bad area and how to stay out of them. I appreciate the heads up and will be on the look out. I appreciate all the info so far and will take any you can give. Are the Alco's still in Saginaw?

bootstate wrote:Are the Alco's still in Saginaw?

Yes, and if you go the office and ask permission they may let you near them for photo's.

AARR wrote:

bootstate wrote:Are the Alco's still in Saginaw?

Yes, and if you go the office and ask permission they may let you near them for photo's.

Not anymore, LSRC/SBS is off limits thanks to a certain moron who ruined it for everyone last year.

^Plus it will be a weekend, and there will be nobody around to ask.

For parked power, you can shoot the Huron and Eastern's Wenona Yard off of Euclid Ave in Bay City.

The LSRC power in Saginaw (including all the Alcos) is inaccessible without trespassing.

The LSRC power in North Bay City yard is pretty much inaccessible without trespassing.

The HESR 800 job will most likely be tied up at Towerline Road on the east side of Saginaw if it's during a weekend:




If you're in the Kalamazoo/GR/Lansing area, you could always check out Battle Creek.

There's usually power in NS's Hinman Yard:



And there's plenty action to be seen on the Emmett St. overpass that spans the CN yard.

And if you're in the Kalamazoo area and want to see Alcos, you can simply head south to White Pigeon and photograph the Michigan Southern. They'll have a bunch of junk sitting out.

What about semaphores? Distant,train order board or operating.

No "real" operational signals per se in Michigan, but there are some approach-restricting "advance" blades out there. There are two in Kalamazoo, one "Real" and one pretend. Fortunately, the real one is easily photographed from a crossing on each side. Check out the corner of Vine and Portage in Kalamazoo. Now, getting a train to pass it may be a challenge. The 501 departs Kalamazoo southbound past the blade early-mid morning weekdays, but they don't run during the weekend to my knowledge. Here's a photo of it back during NS days:



The pretend one is just a mast signal with a "blade" bolted to it at the approach angle.

Are you purposely skipping greater Detroit for some reason?

There's also a blade on 6th St. in Saginaw and one by the depot in White Pigeon.

Hey LSRC, when did you take that MSO photo in White Pigeon?

Just after sunrise on March 30th. Were you in the Ford Taurus that was parked by the depot?

Are you purposely skipping greater Detroit for some reason?[/quote]


Basically I figure that's somewhere you should only go with someone who knows the area. Plus I'm not a huge fan of big city railfanning.

Bootstate,

I live in Durand, and can honestly say traffic can be hit or miss. Mostly, traffic is in the early morning and mid to late afternoon. Durand has the largest depot ever built in a small town in the U.S. and a photo of it from Main St. would be rewarding now that all the code line has been removed. It is indeed an impressive depot for a town of 4,000. In it's heyday it was a very busy depot. My mom shipped me through there on a passenger train in the late forties and early fifties to get me to my uncle's farm in Ovid so she could have a few weeks of peace and quiet. That was behind steam, and I still remember time spent at the depot waiting for the train from Port Huron so a car could be changed.

Some days, the number of trains can be impressive and on other days the lack of them can result in boredom. The trains coming and going to Detroit now mostly work the yard before daylight, but some do when there is an opportunity to watch and photograph.

Three railroads pass through here. CN, GLC (formerly TSBY) and HESR. Their schedules vary, and the latter two may not always work on the weekends.

I hope this tidbit helps.

Just after sunrise on March 30th. Were you in the Ford Taurus that was parked by the depot?

I do drive a Taurus, but that was not me. I was in the area on March 7. I ask because I see they've moved the RS2 #977 back out of the shop again, now it's tied onto that 7804. It was no where to be found earlier in the month. Huh. Did you take any other photos from the area that day?

Bootstate, you may be trying to avoid big-city railfanning, but there are plenty of diamonds in the metro detroit area that are not big-city but may still offer some action: Holly, Plymouth, Wayne, Romulus, and Carleton. All are in small towns/suburbs, and the diamonds are very accessible at a few of them (and visible at a distance from public crossings at the others).

I do drive a Taurus, but that was not me. I was in the area on March 7. I ask because I see they've moved the RS2 #977 back out of the shop again, now it's tied onto that 7804. It was no where to be found earlier in the month. Huh. Did you take any other photos from the area that day?

I didn't take too many more, as nothing was moving, but the other ones that I did take can be viewed on my flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40722547@N08/

It's weird that they keep moving the two Alcos around. Maybe they're getting ready to use one of them?