RailRoadFan.com

I was in Durand yesterday. According to some people I was talking to, there is suppose to be some track work in Indiana this summer and Norfolk Southern is suppose to be diverting rail traffic up thru Michigan past Durand. Might see increased rail traffic at Durand this summer if the rumor is true.

And while CN is in such a charitable mood they are giving CSX trackage rights over their Mt Clemens Sub which will now see a pair of CSX local freights from their PH&D Sub as well as coal extras.

pica wrote:I was in Durand yesterday. According to some people I was talking to, there is suppose to be some track work in Indiana this summer and Norfolk Southern is suppose to be diverting rail traffic up thru Michigan past Durand. Might see increased rail traffic at Durand this summer if the rumor is true.

Interesting rumor. I'll have to check it out with one of my contacts. OTOH, it seems like a long way around when they could cut a deal with CSX to use their routes through Ohio and Indiana.

Why would NS use CN-GTW when they can use the Nickel Plate? They can also use the B&O.

KenB wrote:Why would NS use CN-GTW when they can use the Nickel Plate? They can also use the B&O.

Don't know dude. Just telling what I heard.

I wonder if the big project in Indiana is the proposed triple tracking from Dunlap to Goshen. Some of their track equipment already seems to be pre-staging for it, and I could see that interrupting traffic on the busy line through Elkhart. That could make sense with traffic then being diverted to lighten the load....

Oddly enough, I heard the same rumor. NS is going to route traffic off their Chicago Line and instead over the CN-GTW to Durand, then down the GLC and Ann Arbor to Toledo, then back onto NS, and vice versa. Gonna make for an interesting summer!

NYCMan wrote:Oddly enough, I heard the same rumor. NS is going to route traffic iff their Chicago Line and instead over the CN-GTW to Durand, then down the GLC and Ann Arbor to Toledo, then back onto NS, and vice versa. Gonna make for an interesting summer!

At that rate, they should use the CSX GR, GRT, PLY & SAG Subs!

If said rumor is true, I'll eat my hat. ...if I had one!

This is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in some time, thanks for the laugh.

Yeah, right. Like Brent said, thanks for the laugh.

99.9% of everything said in Durand is just pixie dust

Even if this is true, the biggest hurdle would probably be these lines are mostly single track. Especially for GLC and AA. In order for it to work, going based on a talk with a friend - they'd want to reroute trains only one way, otherwise they'd most likely have problems.

AARR wrote:And while CN is in such a charitable mood they are giving CSX trackage rights over their Mt Clemens Sub which will now see a pair of CSX local freights from their PH&D Sub as well as coal extras.

Nonsense. CSX will be trading the PH&D to CN in return for some far-off, unknown to us line with potential equal to that of the PH&D. The transition has already begun- CN is throwing in some additional horsepower hours to sweeten the deal, using it's new second-hand units:

CharlieX90 wrote:99.9% of everything said in Durand is just pixie dust

If 50% of the rumors I have ever heard at Durand were true CN would be averaging about 3-4 trains per hour, 24 hours per day, through Durand including unit coal trains and intermodal traffic that would rival BNSF's

NYCMan wrote:Oddly enough, I heard the same rumor. NS is going to route traffic off their Chicago Line and instead over the CN-GTW to Durand, then down the GLC and Ann Arbor to Toledo, then back onto NS, and vice versa. Gonna make for an interesting summer!

Who said this and what were they smoking

No way in heck this will happen, The GLC and AA are not meant to handle a lot of trains... and why do that? Deal with 4 different railroad or whatever, and you would only be going between 10-30mph the whole time when on the GLC and AA..

A lot of long slow train in Ann Arbor does not sound like a good thing at all.. and you could not send trains in 2 directions effectively at all over that route..

This whole Rumor where trains are coming into Michigan on these super longs reroutes just does not sound legit to me at all. (now if we start talking trains on the Michigan line then ill start talking )

YpsiAmtrakBoy wrote: This whole Rumor where trains are coming into Michigan on these super longs reroutes just does not sound legit to me at all. (now if we start talking trains on the Michigan line then ill start talking )

Now THAT would be a ton more likely. Just be careful with the taller cars

MQT3001 wrote:

YpsiAmtrakBoy wrote: This whole Rumor where trains are coming into Michigan on these super longs reroutes just does not sound legit to me at all. (now if we start talking trains on the Michigan line then ill start talking )

Now THAT would be a ton more likely. Just be careful with the taller cars

Wouldn't a reroute over the Michigan Line still have them potentially using the AA line? Or would they just be better off at that point to go and get on the Detroit Line then? Just wondering.

They would never use the AA, they would use the Detroit Line like all the Michigan line trains used to.

MagnumForce wrote:They would never use the AA, they would use the Detroit Line like all the Michigan line trains used to.

Just what I thought, thanks.

iKJames wrote: Wouldn't a reroute over the Michigan Line still have them potentially using the AA line? Or would they just be better off at that point to go and get on the Detroit Line then? Just wondering.

They would not use the AA, they have rerouted over the Michigan line quite a few times, at least 4 since I can remember. It involves going up the Grand Elk to Kzoo, then over to Detroit to head to Toledo.

This is the lake shore from the last reroute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63wiDfu1Wxw

anyway, worked ok (in terms of routing trains someplace they aren't supposed to be I guess) when NS owned the line, but now its Amtrak's (the states line) and might be a little bit more difficult to arrange. But there are places to meet trains on the Michigan line, and you would not go all the way up to Durand, on the Ann Arbor, or GLC. To me sounds second most realistic route if this all happens, behind using the CSX lines across Indiana and Ohio.


Where is the track work supposed to take place anyway? What line? that could be a factor... because if you cannot access Elkhart you can not use the MI-line (Grand Elk to Amtrak)... which might be why the would consider routing over the CN..

there are even options on NS for reroutes in Indiana

http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/36760922.png