Does anyone know when the siding going to Standard Lumber (Boston Square Kalamazoo, Fuller area) was removed?
Also was this the same siding that went to Reed's Lake in East Grand Rapids?
I live near there and just was curious.
Standard Lumber Siding Grand Rapids MI.
- amtrak1007
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Re: Standard Lumber Siding Grand Rapids MI.
I wanna say it was gone by the mid 90's. I want to say I have a map from 95 that showed it, but it could have been gone before that and my map was just never updated.
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- Roadmaster
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Re: Standard Lumber Siding Grand Rapids MI.
The track was pulled a few days after Glen VanWinkle's C&O horse car was delivered to the C&M via the GRE. Don't know how Glen got the car moved but it was a surprise on the GRE's CSX inbound track. I'm guessing mid 90's (could probably look it up in the "files"). It was what was left of the Reeds Lake branch.
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Re: Standard Lumber Siding Grand Rapids MI.
Thanks for the information.
Re: Standard Lumber Siding Grand Rapids MI.
During the 1950's the siding extended eastward, past Standard Lumber, across Fuller Ave. and terminated at an old brick factory which remained in business until the early 1960's. I don't think I ever knew the name of it.
In the early 1960's the brick factory ceased to operate and was torn down. That part of the siding was removed, (east of Fuller Ave.) and a subsidized apartment building was built there.
Yes, this siding was part of what was at one time called the Reeds Lake dummy line. That ran into the 1920's, about the time that the Ottawa Hills subdivision was started.
In the early 1960's the brick factory ceased to operate and was torn down. That part of the siding was removed, (east of Fuller Ave.) and a subsidized apartment building was built there.
Yes, this siding was part of what was at one time called the Reeds Lake dummy line. That ran into the 1920's, about the time that the Ottawa Hills subdivision was started.
Re: Standard Lumber Siding Grand Rapids MI.
It was in early October, 1997, according to my yellow slide box. I happened to hear the "Kroger Job" (Y106, I think) on the scanner talking about Reeds Lake, so I hurried over. It was a Friday afternoon, and turns out they couldn't take the car back to the yard in their train that night because it didn't have operating brakes. So, they chocked the wheels with a chain, and they must have sent a separate loco later to pick it up; the next day I saw it in the Yard. They didn't waste any time ripping up the track either--the very next day the siding and the turnout were was gone. Van Winkle's cabooses stayed behind, since they could be trucked away.