Category Archives: Along the Rail Line

I tend to consider my railfan tendencies an addiction.

A Passing Train

We were getting pictures of the Ken Boothe Sr/Lakes Contender tug/barge pair when we got distracted by this train, and its still painted Grand Trunk locomotive.

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Shadow

On This Date: Photo taken 11/15/2015 The CSX Bridge across the Grand River in Grand Ledge, near the ledges that give the town its name. Some folks call this the “High Bridge.” I take that to mean they’ve never seen … Continue reading

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Gate

This gate, on Bunker Highway north of Eaton Rapids, blocks access to the remnant right-of-way of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway (aka New York Central) branch that ran between Jonesville and North Lansing. It’s across the road from the factory/warehouse complex that was built by the Michigan Peat Company in, I think, 1904.

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Lake Odessa Depot

Lake O’s tiny little passenger depot used to live downtown, where it was dwarfed by the neighboring grain silos when I first saw it in the early 1980s. For most of the depot’s career it was on the Pere Marquette and C&O mainline through Michigan. In 1988 the community moved the building north to the edge of the local fairground, where it now serves as a historical museum.

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Tracks

There’s something about this photograph….

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Cory Yard

Shot from the Nixon Road end of the yard. Many of my friends are more familiar with the Windsor Highway end, which is near our (former) workplace and which we crossed on our way to and from work.

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Southbound Train

Took a late lunch on January 9, 2008, and evidently drove to Potterville, looking for photographs. This one found me at the Windsor Highway railroad crossing. Continue reading

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Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway by John Leopard: a short review

Excellent picture book, with a fine narrative history of the Missabe Road, its predecessors, and their clients. I know this material fairly well, but Leopard managed to occasionally surprise me.

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Dwgs and Spec of Mining Equipment: Hibbing District: a short review

Drawings of old mining–mostly railroad, actually–equipment. Really quite a wonderful thing. Seems to contain everything blue-print like they had around the office when it was compiled; a few of the pages really don’t fit.

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Railroad Fever

The entire nation had the Railroad Fever in 1869. Michigan was nursing two outbreaks: Promoters were raising money to build a more direct line (an “air line”) between Detroit and Chicago which would roughly follow the route of the Chicago Road, and actual construction was occurring for a line connecting Jackson and Grand Rapids. Both remain interesting, for different reasons.

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