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Might be heading up to Romulus, MI this Saturday to record my 4,000th career train (over five years). I decided to try this place since I have never been there before. I am not super familiar with Michigan traffic, so if anyone could give me some information on how much traffic goes through Romulus on either the Detroit District or the Saginaw sub that would be great!

Traffic has been a bit sporadic as of late. Usually 30-40 on a good day, majority run at night or late evening. CP manifest and oil run primarily between 9am-2pm, but they can run later depending on how long the westbounds wait at Delray. CSX runs 2-3 auto rack trains south in late morning, you might get a coal or grain train, and also Q392 out of Toledo has been running later as well as Q399. Q335 also can't be ruled out. NS 289 usually is a daybreak train, NS 171 runs about 12-1pmish. And Also NS TripleCrowns 260 and 264 might show up.

Also, with the road work going on on Goddard, you are better off to park at Comerica Bank, as the usual dirt lot in the SW corner of the diamond is full of road work equipment and crap.

Might get a better response in the Michigan forum...

How many trains does the NS actually run over the Wabash...I'm always hard pressed to find actual NS trains on the line (besides locals)

NS should be close to 10, and then another 10 or so for CP.. I think 30-40 is about right for Romulus.. 30 at most would be my best on most days, about 20 on the NS/CP side and 10-12 or so on the CSX.

Off the top of my head here are 2 daily NS locals B70 and B73 that will pass, 4 scheduled roadrailers, 2 auto parts trains, and maybe a handful of mixes. CP runs some dedicated intermodal and autorack trains but those also will get general freight, the ethanol trains will run as solid ethanol and I think there are 4 (either that or just 2..) trains a day, as well as the mixes/ junk freights. CSX I swear runs more light power at Romulus then real trains as I will often see power or trains with a couple cars running up and down the Saginaw sub. Some of the traffic takes the Lincoln sub into the city if it's open.

This should be pretty close to how it looks on a daily basis, but you can get a decent amount durning the mid day hours, I have seen the trains flow between 11am and 1pm, and I have seen it be dead, just depends.

There are only 5 "scheduled" daily CP trains through Romulus. Oil and Ethanol and second sections vary. Some days 0, some days you can see 2 oil trains, second sections of 244 and ethanol

TrainWatcher wrote:Traffic has been a bit sporadic as of late. Usually 30-40 on a good day, majority run at night or late evening. CP manifest and oil run primarily between 9am-2pm, but they can run later depending on how long the westbounds wait at Delray. CSX runs 2-3 auto rack trains south in late morning, you might get a coal or grain train, and also Q392 out of Toledo has been running later as well as Q399. Q335 also can't be ruled out. NS 289 usually is a daybreak train, NS 171 runs about 12-1pmish. And Also NS TripleCrowns 260 and 264 might show up.

Also, with the road work going on on Goddard, you are better off to park at Comerica Bank, as the usual dirt lot in the SW corner of the diamond is full of road work equipment and crap.

Alight thanks. I know through Toledo Q150 comes through at about 4 and Q151 at about 5. I virtually know nothing about the Pacer Stack Trains however (Q131, Q132?) what's the chances they show up?

The Q150-Q151 and Q131-Q130 sometimes use the Lincoln Secondary at Carleton to get into Detroit so you may or may not see them at Romulus.

Nofoam4me wrote:The Q150-Q151 and Q131-Q130 sometimes use the Lincoln Secondary at Carleton to get into Detroit so you may or may not see them at Romulus.

Darn I didn't think of that. Maybe I'd just be better off going to Carleton. Is it possible Q150 or Q151 might head on the Saginaw Sub through Romulus, or do they always head down the Lincoln Secretary?

Yes I have seen both use it before running via Romulus, but it just depends. Seems as of late they have been able to use the secondary.

Depends on if there's anything else working on the Secondary, AFAIK there's not really anywhere to meet trains.

Detroit Edison trains from Trenton and CR SA local jobs also use the Lincoln. The coal empties go north on the Detroit Line to YD then head back south to Carleton.

Q131 typically departs from Livernois Yard in the evening, usually around 8:30pm.

I almost forgot, since yore going on Saturday heres a report that may help: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30785

That was last week and the wabash was very active from noon-6pm, add that to the CSX trains and you've got a decent day. The wabash had about 10+ trains I heard over the radio in that time which is pretty good for daylight