Ann Arbor as a "hot spot"
Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 6:16 pm
On Saturday evening Ann Arbor was once again a hot spot for a couple hours. From 9:00pm-12:30am (or so) there were 6 trains in the city, making it viable to hang around and not get bored watching trains.
At about 8:30pm we got word that Amtrak 355 would be held at CP Ypsi for a possible car on the tracks, and shortly after we also heard the Dearborn Distpatcher talking to a 963 which would be a westbound power move. We headed to Ypsi in hopes of seeing the two together. When we arrived 355 was stopped with great lighting, and 963 was at MP20. We headed to Willow Run Yard to get an extra shot of 963, and of course after this 355 got the clearance quicker than anticipated to head west. In the mean time we shot 963, then heard that the Ann Arbor Railroad was departing from Milan north. So we headed to Pittsfield Junction to catch them. While heading that way we heard 963 would be held at Ypsi for 358. That puts train number one into Ann Arbor at around 9:00pm in the form of Amtrak 355.
After arrival at Pittsfield around 9:45, the wait was not long for the AA who cleared under US 12 and hit the diamond at 10:00pm. The chase was on and we headed north. As we were chasing Amtrak 358 made an on time stop at 10:16pm in Ann Arbor. We shot The AA once in AA then head to the Amtrak station for the power move again under the bright LED lights at the Amtrak Station. The Amtrak made train two in Ann Arbor, and the AA road freight was the third. After a short time the 30mph power move headed west at the station with a solo SD70M. Train 4 while anticlimactic was neat.
We headed to Osmer to watch switching, then headed home, but not before checking that 354 would be around 12:30. This would also be about when the AA would head south making there be a total of 6 trains in Ann Arbor in a decently short amount of time. It is always good to have a hot night in a classic railroad town. THe videos from this night are probably a month or more out so I wanted to relay this experience to you guys before those are out.
At about 8:30pm we got word that Amtrak 355 would be held at CP Ypsi for a possible car on the tracks, and shortly after we also heard the Dearborn Distpatcher talking to a 963 which would be a westbound power move. We headed to Ypsi in hopes of seeing the two together. When we arrived 355 was stopped with great lighting, and 963 was at MP20. We headed to Willow Run Yard to get an extra shot of 963, and of course after this 355 got the clearance quicker than anticipated to head west. In the mean time we shot 963, then heard that the Ann Arbor Railroad was departing from Milan north. So we headed to Pittsfield Junction to catch them. While heading that way we heard 963 would be held at Ypsi for 358. That puts train number one into Ann Arbor at around 9:00pm in the form of Amtrak 355.
After arrival at Pittsfield around 9:45, the wait was not long for the AA who cleared under US 12 and hit the diamond at 10:00pm. The chase was on and we headed north. As we were chasing Amtrak 358 made an on time stop at 10:16pm in Ann Arbor. We shot The AA once in AA then head to the Amtrak station for the power move again under the bright LED lights at the Amtrak Station. The Amtrak made train two in Ann Arbor, and the AA road freight was the third. After a short time the 30mph power move headed west at the station with a solo SD70M. Train 4 while anticlimactic was neat.
We headed to Osmer to watch switching, then headed home, but not before checking that 354 would be around 12:30. This would also be about when the AA would head south making there be a total of 6 trains in Ann Arbor in a decently short amount of time. It is always good to have a hot night in a classic railroad town. THe videos from this night are probably a month or more out so I wanted to relay this experience to you guys before those are out.
