Michigan Railroading

We've moved

2009-07-15T22:24:00.000-04:00

Along with kick-starting this after a year I've decided to move platforms, spurred on mostly by my good friend and occasional co-conspirator over at Cartastrophe. The new site is at Wordpress. All zero regular readers, please update your feeds ;).

Final word on the Canton crash

2009-07-13T22:30:00.000-04:00

The emerging view on the Canton crash is that the driver of the car blundered, for reasons unknown. (See the accounts in the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press.)

The car was traveling north on Hannan Road in Canton Township, near Wayne. The Wolverine was traveling west and up to speed (~70 mph). Looking at the Google street view it seems possible that the driver couldn't see the train behind the trees (at right), but surely he heard the horn and saw the gates. At least one eyewitness saw the same, and Amtrak says the in-cab video proves the safety devices were working. The stretch is Norfolk Southern and sees plenty of freights; maybe the driver thought that he was trying to beat a slow freight. Certainly I've played tag with a Grand Elk slow freight in Kalamazoo before, but the difference there is (a) I don't run around crossings and (b) I've seen the freight and verified it's doing about 5-10 mph. Big difference.

New action on Greenville abandonment

2008-05-22T18:27:00.001-04:00

Greenville has formally protested Mid-Michigan Railroad's abandonment of the Greenville-Belding-Lowell line. ((story)

Study recommends light rail

2008-04-22T09:16:00.003-04:00

The proposed Woodward light rail project continues to move forward in Detroit, with the Detroit Transit Options for Growth Study recommending a $371 million line from the State Fairgrounds to the downtown. Next step: convincing the feds to help pay for it. (story)

Update on Lowell-Greenville abandonment

2008-04-19T08:13:00.002-04:00

The STB has released its environmental assessment of Mid-Michigan Railroad's proposed Lowell-Greenville abandonment (previous post). No surprises in the report, and the STB concludes that the full environmental impact process isn't necessary, just as it did for the Lowell-Ionia branch (post). They're still waiting on input from the State Historic Preservation Officer, but I can't imagine it'll amount to much. MMRR proposes to take up the rails and leave all the rest--bridges, culverts and the roadbed. Public comment is open until May 19, 2008. (full report).

WALLY study goes forward

2008-04-16T06:28:00.001-04:00

Livingston County has finally approved its piece-$15,000-of the feasbility study of the WALLY commuter line. (story)

News round-up 4/9/2008

2008-04-09T16:13:00.004-04:00

Not strictly Michigan news, nor even railroading, but CTA has finally partnered with Google Transit! (story)

The Detroit News has a photo essay about the Michigan Central depot in Detroit. (story)

More wrangling in Holland over the re-alignment of CSX's Kollen Park spur. (story)

EDIT: Of course, Google refuses to tell me how to get from downtown to Northwestern's campus. Even without Metra the Purple line goes there, Google. I'm looking at you!

Howell approves WALLY funding

2008-04-08T06:41:00.003-04:00

WHMI says that the city of Howell last night agreed to pony up $5,000 for the WALLY feasibility study, as will the downtown development authority. The county itself is expected to approve $15,000 next week. (story)

Previous coverage:

Livingstone County and WALLY

WALLY moving forward

Benzonia railroad tour

2008-04-06T13:12:00.003-04:00

The Benzie Area Historical Society is sponsoring a tour of old railroad grades and depots in the Benzie area on April 19. Tickets are $30 and include a book and lunch. (story)

The write-up doesn't go into details, but all that's really left in that county is the northwest end of the Ann Arbor, so figure the Manistee & Northeastern and the Pere Marquette will be on the tour.

STB approves Ionia-Lowell abandonment

2008-04-04T19:31:00.002-04:00

As noted here, Mid-Michigan Railroad is seeking to abandon its 16-mile line east of Lowell into Ionia County. Today the STB signed off on the proposed conversion to a rail trail, or failing that abandonment, subject to the usual limitations (full report).

Livingstone County and WALLY

2008-03-24T07:12:00.002-04:00

In a follow-up to last week's post about WALLY, the proposed Ann Arbor-Howell commuter rail, the Detroit News has a price tag-$150,000-for the feasibility study and a breakdown of who's paying what. The last holdout? Livingstone County, which would need to cough up $30,000 between itself and local business groups. Full story.

Easter excursion

2008-03-20T13:30:00.002-04:00

The Little River Railroad will run its annual Easter Bunny Express between Coldwater and Quincy March 21 & 22. Hat tip to Plugged In at the Citizen-Patriot.

WALLY moving forward

2008-03-19T06:46:00.003-04:00

The Livingstone Press & Argus reports that the proposed Ann Arbor-Howell commuter rail ('WALLY' for Washtenaw-Livingstone counties) is still moving forward, if slowly. Trains would run over tracks owned by the Great Lakes Central Railroad.

New barrier crossing

2008-03-03T14:17:00.002-05:00

The Examiner reports that MDOT and the Federal Railroad Administration are testing out a new grade crossing barricade in Van Buren township. The barricades rise out of the ground when a train approaches; cameras will monitor the behavior of drivers, if any, at the crossing.

Detroit Street Railways for the win?

2008-03-03T09:40:00.003-05:00

Hat tip to National Railroad News for the exciting information that Detroit might be getting a light rail system. Crain's Detroit Business reports that there's private money behind a proposed 3.4-mile loop on Woodward between Hart Plaza and Grand Boulevard. The project is called the "Woodward Transit Catalyst Project." Local officials figure it'll give impetus to the proposed SEMCOG commuter rail project.

Proposed alignment change in Saginaw

2008-02-29T18:05:00.004-05:00

The Saginaw Newsreports a proposed alignment change in Saginaw. Details, including the owner of the track (!), are scanty. I'm staring at Meints' Michigan Railroad Lines and I'm trying to work out what this belonged to--probably the belt line or something like that.

UPDATE. Well, that's almost certainly the old Grand Trunk Western line which ran from Bay City down to Durand, now operated by the Saginaw Bay Southern. Don't know where they'd move it to.

Bay City, Michigan History: Video Search michigan

2008-02-23T19:48:00.002-05:00

Bay City, Michigan History: Video Search michigan

Neat video on Youtube about the Michigan Central's station in Detroit.

Man killed in Marinette

2008-02-23T08:34:00.002-05:00

The Escanaba Daily Press reports that a man was killed by a train early yesterday morning in Marinette, Wisconsin. Not strictly Michigan news but the spot (between US-41 and Ella Court St) is half a mile from the border, and along that part of the Canadian National which runs north to Powers.

Farm Lane project going forward

2008-02-22T16:17:00.003-05:00

MSU and MDOT will hold public meetings over the next two weeks to discuss the proposed elimination of two grade crossings on MSU's campus in East Lansing. According to MSU Today, "beginning mid-to-late March, Farm Lane will be closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic from Mount Hope Road north to Trowbridge Road in order to lower Farm Lane under two railroad crossings: The Canadian National Railroad line just north of Service Road and the CSX Line just north of Mount Hope Road." The project is expected to take about a year.

The crossings are located a little under a mile east of the Amtrak station in East Lansing.

Morning round-up for 2/21/2008

2008-02-21T06:49:00.003-05:00

HB 5766, currently under consideration by the state house, would add a section to PA 354 (1993):

Sec. 318. A railroad corporation shall place whistle post signs to the right of the main track in the direction of approach exactly 1/4 mile from the entrance to any grade crossings to notify locomotive engineers who blow a whistle and ring a bell as the locomotive approaches the grade crossing as a warning to the
public. The whistle post signs shall consist of a "W" identifiable on a square plate mounted on a post and shall be all of the following:
(a) Visible to a locomotive engineer within the locomotive cab.
(b) Kept in good repair.
(c) Replaced promptly when necessary.

The Bay City Times reports this morning on efforts to interconnect rail trails in Bay, Saginaw, Midland, Arenac and Gladwin counties. The current specific effort is a 6.2-mile path from Bay City to Zilwaukee on the left bank of the Saginaw River. This is intended to run along the H&E's tracks--no abandonment is proposed.

Transition at Norfolk Southern

2008-02-20T10:56:00.003-05:00

Norfolk Southern has a new assistant vice president for industrial development. Newell M. Baker replaces Larry R. Collingwood, who's retiring after a 36-year career.

Waymarking the Pere Marquette

2008-02-20T10:20:00.002-05:00

I ran across some posts on Waymarking from earlier this week--it looks like the poster, steveherrick, is making his way north along Amtrak's Pere Marquette. In his first post he's got some great pictures of the old Pere Marquette station in St. Joseph, now used by Amtrak. For his second post he's up in Holland with photographs of an old PM caboose built by the St. Louis Car Company. I've never used Waymarking before but it looks pretty cool; some quick searching turned up lots of pictures of trains stations, old cars etc.

Morning round-up for 2/20/2008

2008-02-20T09:08:00.000-05:00

The Royal Oak Daily Tribune is running a story about local reactions to Amtrak's institution of random passenger screening on the Northeast Corridor. Response is positive--provided the new methods don't cause any (more) delays. Still no word on when Amtrak will expand beyond the Northeast--if it mucks up the Acela it could be quite a while before it gets here.

The Saginaw News reports that Bridgeport may abandon a side street which crosses the Saginaw Bay Southern just north of the downtown. Town officials cited the cost of repairing the road and safety concerns. I've driven through there and it makes for a really tight intersection--there's two grade crossings right next to each other.

Ionia-Lowell abandonment continues

2008-02-19T21:54:00.000-05:00

The STB has released its Environmental Assessment for Mid-Michigan's proposed abandonment of the Lowell-Ionia line. Although nominally concerned with the environmental impact, the document gives a good summary of the line's history and why the MMR wants to abandon it. This one's an oldie--the Detroit & Milwaukee laid it in 1857--but the line is only moving 22 railcars a year. No surprises in the report--MMR wants to salvage the rails but leave everything else. Like the Lowell-Greenville line, they're looking to turn it over to the West Michigan Trails and Greenway Coalition to be redeveloped as a rail trail.

STB is taking public comment on the environmental assessment through March 17.

ADBF derailment

2008-02-19T21:17:00.000-05:00

The Adrian & Blissfield suffered a minor derailment on Monday which is being blamed on the weather.

That's a safe call these days. Hat tip to National Railroad News.

H&E labor contract

2008-02-19T19:47:00.000-05:00

The Huron & Eastern's workers have joined the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. The agreement includes profit-sharing, a small pay hike, some employmeent guarantees, and a day off. Good news for them.

Quibble with the press release, which I've seen repeated elsewhere: RailAmerica combined the H&E with the Central Michigan Railway in 2004, "creating a combined railroad with approximately 250 miles of track." The same para, however, asserts that the H&E operates 174 miles of track. Is there some leasing arrangement or sale that I'm missing? I know that the Saginaw Bay Southern has (or had) an operating agreement for the branch out to Plaines, but that's only 6-7 miles. The last annual report available online, for 2005 (link) puts the H&E's mileage at 328, but this includes leases and running rights. The devil's in whether something is owned or operated, and it isn't at all clear.

MTU gets on board

2008-02-19T18:37:00.000-05:00

Michigan Tech is establishing a "Rail Transportation Program" as part of the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute. CSX has donated $33,000 and will help develop the program. This comes a month after Michigan State's announcement of the "Certificate Program in Railway Management", which sounds even more ambitious and includes an endowed chair.

Farewell to Lowell-Greenville?

2008-02-19T15:57:00.000-05:00

Mid-Michigan Railroad is looking to abandon its line from Lowell to Greenville. They took a real hit when Electrolux closed its plant in Greenville; no trains have run on the stretch in some time. This 24-mile line is the last operational railway serving Greenville and Belding. The tracks are to be pulled up and the grade converted to a rail trail under the West Michigan Trails and Greenways Coalition.

The Patterson Railroad built the 1.67-mile section from Belding across the Flat River in 1872. That same year the Detroit, Lansing & Lake Michigan took ownership of the line and merged it with that of the recently acquired Ionia & Lansing, which had built north all the way to Greenville from Lansing. The final stretch, Lowell—Belding, was built in 1899 by the Grand Rapids, Belding & Saginaw. The first two segments passed to the Pere Marquette on its formation in 1899; the last in 1903. This line passed to the Cheaspeake & Ohio, then CSX, and finally Mid-Michigan sometime in the late 1990s. There are three stations (Lowell, Belding and Greenville), plus four bridges over the Flat River.

It's a pity to see this happen, but not surprising. The abandonment in Lowell is short of the Grand River (I think), so the Grand Rapids-Lowell link will remain. STB threw out the previous petition this January (link) after MDOT alleged various inaccuracies in MMRR's petition.

And we're off...

2008-02-19T15:32:00.000-05:00

I've started this blog because I couldn't find any blogs which dealt specifically with railroads in Michigan, past or present. Whether this is a one-week wonder or an enduring project remains to be seen, but I'm looking to do a little of everything--recent changes in Michigan's railroad infrastructure, future plans, and historical retrospectives.

All aboard!