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Crews from A K materails have began removing the rails west of Snow Prairie Road

Notch 8 wrote:Crews from A K materails have began removing the rails west of Snow Prairie Road

Is this between Coldwater and Sturgis?

AARR wrote:

Notch 8 wrote:Crews from A K materails have began removing the rails west of Snow Prairie Road

Is this between Coldwater and Sturgis?

Here's the location:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=41.918373,- ... 1&t=m&z=13

From the west side of Snow Prairie Road to the east side of Sturgis Michigan over by Big Hill Road

Is it for track replacement or has INER lost its customers out there?

59caddy wrote:Is it for track replacement or has INER lost its customers out there?

No customers, the track is being removed and a trail will eventually take its place.

The INE never had any customers west of Coldwater. There are two other shortlines between Coldwater and any possible connection to the nearest Class I. The INE had held onto it for about 10 years but nothing ever happened to justify returning the line to service. The assets in place (track, real estate) are just too valuable to allow to just sit there doing nothing. Management decided it was time to cash in the value of an unused asset. There are many improvements that have been made on the INE in the last few years that demand the capital that the salvage and disposal of that section of the old road will free up. Be certain that no one at INE relishes seeing that rail being pulled up but that is business.

Here is a couple pics that I uploaded on Fort Wayne Railfan.

http://www.fwarailfan.net/community/vie ... f=2&t=3305

Never like seeing old rails going away but without service into Sturgis, there didn't seem to be any justification for INER to keep this in place.

I believe the only reason it lasted even into INER ownership was due to MSO using the line to get into the West side of Coldwater for years until INER got the business. With no access into Sturgis itself for interchange with MSO or the businesses there, and no remaining customers in Burr Oak and Branson under INER ownership,the track only served as a real estate place holder until INER decided to cash in. Hopefully they'll find some use for the lifted up 105lb track.

Didn't this rail belong to the St Joseph Rail Users Association and not INER?

jrgerber wrote:Didn't this rail belong to the St Joseph Rail Users Association and not INER?

The INER owned this section and had the last 10 years or so. The reason it lasted this long is I believe the INER had intended pulling this line and using on the north-south section that they operate in Indiana and that section was re-laid with new rail last year.
Some of the rail that was not included the sale to A&K will be used in Reading MI to rebuild and lengthen the sidings at the Anderson's Grain Facility,

My one and only photo from this stretch of track, near where the line is briefly paralleled by US-12:


Michigan Southern RS3M #7804 trundles along the former NYC "Old Road" near Bronson along a short stretch where the tracks are paralleled by US-12. They are returning from Coldwater with a cut of tankcars from local industries. This segment of the line is now unused and in very poor shape. MSO has cut back operations to Sturgis. This classic Alco went out of service on the MSO around 2004 and remained out of service at White Pigeon, MI until December 2011 when it and other Alco sisters were cut up for scrap. April 25, 2000.

Sad to hear the rail will be pulled, but glad the ROW will remain intact as a trail.

Notch 8, nice photos! That's a cool speed limit marker near Sturgis I never knew existed.

It's sad that I think even 10ish years ago there was still one or two customers along this stretch....the grain elevator in Burr Oak and maybe a fertilizer place, too?

If you go to Burr Oak to take photos of the track removal work, tip your hat and say hi to another ancient piece of history - at the corner of 3rd Street and West Front Street, flashing and guiding traffic in the sleepy town, is a 1920s Darley beacon signal - yellow on two sides, red on the other two. It's been there since the era of the Model T!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F3mpZV2nik

GP30M4216 wrote:It's sad that I think even 10ish years ago there was still one or two customers along this stretch....the grain elevator in Burr Oak and maybe a fertilizer place, too?

Fertilizer place (Terra) has been out of business for at least 10 years if not longer. The elevator shipped corn to an ethanol plant in IN. IIRC about 5 cars a month. Went to truck. I'll say around 5-6 years ago was last movement???

The trail is not a done deal. This whole process was fishy if you ask me.

Tom wrote:The trail is not a done deal. This whole process was fishy if you ask me.

Fishy? Explain? I would like to hear your point....

Notch 8 wrote:Here is a couple pics that I uploaded on Fort Wayne Railfan.

http://www.fwarailfan.net/community/vie ... f=2&t=3305

What's that "sled" for?

Tom wrote:The trail is not a done deal. This whole process was fishy if you ask me.

Bring on the trail! I'll probably head down there with my bike soon after they get it paved.

J T wrote:
What's that "sled" for?

.

The sled is pulled by the excavator and separates the rails from the ties.

From the photos on the other site, the track looked to be in pretty poor shape. INER hasn't been afraid to invest in their infrastructure but how much traffic would it have taken to justify that kind of investment? Plus, unless INER could have gotten into Sturgis, the only traffic on this line would have had to be locally generated. From what I could see, there was very little prospect of that happening.