The new grand elk railroad

[Super Chief]

Tonights 700 train awaiting a crew at Frankies has 4002,3829,4125 and 4206 as power with a good size train. It came into Three Rivers at 3:00PM.

[ThreeRiversChris]

Wow, 4 units?

[GTW]

Wow, were they all running !!

[Bulby]

Wow, were they all running !!

They were hoping one was still running by the time they tied up.

[Saturnalia]

Wow, 4 units?

That is impressive...I wonder how many elk-power that is?

[Standard Railfan]

Thanks Pat just what I meant. Gearhart needed some TLC anyway. Traffic flowing from the east added to the pattern Watco uses for their own road trains handing off to each other they just were at capacity for what tracks were available. They do occasionally go out to Kilgore to wye an engine but it is out of the way. Watco likes to use Hughart for the revenue car storage brings in. Fans have to realize the flow of the traffic customers actively shipping has to go the shortest distance and to the hump in Elkhart. This new agreement helps customers eastward save a little time by heading west and south. Elkhart will send it east and west. This is why the airline from Jackson to Elkhart was put back in upon the completion and dedication of the new hump in 1957. This basically is the new airline. The old airline between Three Rivers and Jackson was taken out in 1979 by Stanley Crane to save Conrail money. It will be an interesting next year on new traffic and how it's handled?

By routing traffic west through Kalamazoo, NS will also take a little traffic off the Toledo to Elkhart line. I believe that NS is looking at anything that will help reduce congestion along this corridor.

[Super Chief]

NS is calling out all engineers to run as much as they can before Christmas break. Probably a quota thing for the balance sheet before year end. My friend who is one and qualified on the entire system has been gone a week. He has texted me from Toledo,Cleveland and Pittsburgh just this past week and just got home to Elkhart yesterday. Being called out again as I am typing this. The stockholders should be happy. Remember BNSF means Buy Norfolk Southern First!!!! So even if Christmas break is only a day for him he will appreciate it. Grand Elk as the above post says will be a relief valve of sort to help starting next month

[NSSD70ACe]

By routing traffic west through Kalamazoo, NS will also take a little traffic off the Toledo to Elkhart line. I believe that NS is looking at anything that will help reduce congestion along this corridor.

Whoa, what?

If I'm reading this right, it sounds like NS wants to route as much traffic as possible off of the Toledo-Elkhart and onto the GDLK via Kalamazoo and then the Amtrak line east to Detroit? Or is this just the plan we've heard before with the interchange between NS and GDLK with just one or two trains instead of the several thru-trains it sounds like in the quoted post?

Thanks!

[SD80MAC]

This is just going to be some Elkhart-Detroit area traffic from the sounds of it. I don't think you'll be seeing any NS run through trains.

[Standard Railfan]

By routing traffic west through Kalamazoo, NS will also take a little traffic off the Toledo to Elkhart line. I believe that NS is looking at anything that will help reduce congestion along this corridor.

Whoa, what?

If I'm reading this right, it sounds like NS wants to route as much traffic as possible off of the Toledo-Elkhart and onto the GDLK via Kalamazoo and then the Amtrak line east to Detroit? Or is this just the plan we've heard before with the interchange between NS and GDLK with just one or two trains instead of the several thru-trains it sounds like in the quoted post?

Thanks!

I apologize, I was stating an opinion. I would not expect Detroit traffic to be routed via the Grand Elk. I am suggesting that NS will move traffic that originates or terminates west of Detroit through K-zoo. That strategy will cause an incremental drop in the number of cars moving between Toledo and Elkhart.

[PatAzo]

If I'm reading this right, it sounds like NS wants to route as much traffic as possible off of the Toledo-Elkhart and onto the GDLK

No, they just want to move local traffic for places like Battle Creek and Augusta through Kalamazoo. Aside from the Detroit area, NS has wanted off the Michigan line for quite a while. I suspect NS's next step will be to unload the freight service east of Kalamazoo all together. They know Watco would like to have it.

[Super Chief]

Since Watco owns the AA and has an agreement with GLC plus the JAIL traffic to Jackson who knows? Does HSER have to hand off to CN? Could they go south on the GLC and hand off to Watco? A mind is a terrible thing to waste need more caffeine.

[Ben Higdon]

Botsford has 18 tracks if you count 19 lead. 18 track was removed sometime after the late-90s.

Stopped by there yesterday and 11 or 12 track through 17 looked completely rehabbed. There were still several track maintenance vehicles scattered on those tracks though. Definitely a great sight to see!