RailRoadFan.com

Does C&M ever haul any freight anymore? If so, when? And do they bring the freight back to the Coopersville yard or do they bring it immediately to GRE?

IIRC they service the Standard Lumber yard in Walker. Maybe a car or so a month(?) Irregular service but often it is posted on this board when they are operating. I'm not aware that they take the car as far as Marne to run around but they might. Potential customers in Grand Rapids, Marne, and Coopersville(?). Com'n C&M guys, get out there are knock on doors and get some new business

If they actually had a couple solid customers, I could see G&W buying them out.

AARR wrote:IIRC they service the Standard Lumber yard in Walker. Maybe a car or so a month(?) Irregular service but often it is posted on this board when they are operating. I'm not aware that they take the car as far as Marne to run around but they might.

Don't need to take it to Marne. They have a way of getting around the car after pulling it out of Standard.

J T wrote:

AARR wrote:IIRC they service the Standard Lumber yard in Walker. Maybe a car or so a month(?) Irregular service but often it is posted on this board when they are operating. I'm not aware that they take the car as far as Marne to run around but they might.

Don't need to take it to Marne. They have a way of getting around the car after pulling it out of Standard.

IMO a more interesting maneuver than running around the car at a passing siding

We had 3 cars at one time once a few years ago which we took to Marne to run around from Standard. Otherwise, the freight has never gone west of Standard, no need to. We seem to get about a dozen cars a year, which come from GRE via CSX or Grand Elk.

G&W would have no interest in our passenger operations, I can assure you of that.

They need to bring back this freight service.

J T wrote:They need to bring back this freight service.

Haha, that wasn't a freight train! That I believe was a test run for 3049, those are our 2 boxcars that normally are stored in Coopersville. The CSX one is full of folding chairs

I hope those cars don't still carry those reporting marks! Hate for someone to get hurt and try to sue the carrier whose marks are on the car.

No reason to change the reporting marks since they aren't in common carrier interchange service...

BnOEngr wrote:I hope those cars don't still carry those reporting marks! Hate for someone to get hurt and try to sue the carrier whose marks are on the car.

That's the way they were delivered to the C&M I have a copy of the bill of sale from Asset Sales

TLE&W had a track inspector with her own personal hi-rail truck. She had a TLE&W sticker on the side of it and she ran a stop sign, causing an accident. The other party tried to collect from TLE&W because of the sticker she put on the side. So my point is, if there is an incident involving those cars, regardless of where they are, someone will try to collect from CSX or Conrail first, which won't make them very happy. Slap a little paint over the "CSX" and "Conrail" and put your reporting marks on it, remove all doubt as to ownership and you keep your "friendly" connection friendly.

SD80MAC wrote: Haha, that wasn't a freight train! That I believe was a test run for 3049, those are our 2 boxcars that normally are stored in Coopersville. The CSX one is full of folding chairs

Coolest little train ever.

J T wrote:

SD80MAC wrote: Haha, that wasn't a freight train! That I believe was a test run for 3049, those are our 2 boxcars that normally are stored in Coopersville. The CSX one is full of folding chairs

Coolest little train ever.

Thats the new passenger cars. Used for the unruly passengers

Whats with that baggage car, hopper car, and locomotive trucks behind the old Delphi plant? Im pretty sure that CSX carriage is right next to that baggage car. And, is that business in that old Delphi plant going to use the rail at all?

The Baggage Car is an Ex-C&O end door horse car. It is now in downtown Coopersville near the enginehouse. It is in very bad shape and will be parted out and scrapped after being used by local fire departments for training on railroad emergencies. It is missing a coupler, the journal brass is all gone and the roof and body are badly deteriorated. The hopper is an ex-Erie covered hopper converted to a ballast hopper. The trucks are off of the TSBY Alco that sits in Coopersville. It is on a pair of spare trucks currently. The Alco trucks are likely going to scrap as well at some point. The CSX storage boxcar normally sits with them, but is in Coopersville near the engine house currently. Expect it to return to the old Delphi plant area at some point.

Continental Dairy, which is in the plant now, has seriously dicussed using rail at some point, but there are no definite details on when and how much they would ship if they do begin to ship by rail.

Firemedic Mike wrote:The Baggage Car is an Ex-C&O end door horse car. It is now in downtown Coopersville near the enginehouse. It is in very bad shape and will be parted out and scrapped after being used by local fire departments for training on railroad emergencies. It is missing a coupler, the journal brass is all gone and the roof and body are badly deteriorated. The hopper is an ex-Erie covered hopper converted to a ballast hopper. The trucks are off of the TSBY Alco that sits in Coopersville. It is on a pair of spare trucks currently. The Alco trucks are likely going to scrap as well at some point. The CSX storage boxcar normally sits with them, but is in Coopersville near the engine house currently. Expect it to return to the old Delphi plant area at some point.

Continental Dairy, which is in the plant now, has seriously dicussed using rail at some point, but there are no definite details on when and how much they would ship if they do begin to ship by rail.

What type of carriages would they take if they did start shipping by rail? And, I have noticed the rail between the yard and Delphi is in very bad shape. ALL the ties are rotting. Would this have to be replaced in order for Continental to start shipping?

My guess would be boxcars of powdered milk as that is a "milk drying plant". As for the condition of the track, the railroad's MOW department prioritizes projects based on need. Most of the attention is currently put on areas of highest traffic, such as where the passenger consist runs. There are few runs that cross Main Street, and none of those are currently revenue runs. I would have to defer to the MOW department as to what the condition of the track actually is and what would need to be done with it should the plant start shipping as I have never personally done an inspection on that section of track. I can tell you as with most businesses, the most work would be put into areas that would make money, so if they became a large shipper, it would be likely that the C&M MOW Dept. would make sure the track could handle the traffic load.

If Continental started shipping, I would assume that they are going to be putting out many loads a day. Being that C&M doesnt actually have a paid crew, they would either have to hire a actual full time crew or get GRE to do all the switching.

Non -passenger operations can be conducted on excepted track. Passenger operations require Class 1 track. Therefore Continental can be served on under the existing tracks conditions west of Eastmanville Street .

Continental produces non-fat powered milk for the food industry. That market is not a typical rail car service market. To my knowledge Continental has not initiated any conversation concerning rail traffic.

The new plant under construction is going to produce their "Core Power" product with distribution by Coca-Cola. It is a fresh milk based protein drink that does not need refrigeration. However, this also is not a traditional rail car commodity.

IMHO, rail service to the plant is possible but not probable.