Livingstone County and WALLY

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

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

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

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?

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

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

Bay City, Michigan History: Video Search michigan

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

Man killed in Marinette

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

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

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.