Eastern Railroad Discussion > Lucking into the Michigan Shore Railroad

We were driving to Grand Haven, Michigan, during a vacation trip to the Lake Michigan shore of Western Michigan. Railfanning was not on my agenda, but I did notice there was a railroad track running parallel to U.S. 31. Somewhere along the way I noticed saw the headlight of a train stopped at a rural grade crossing, I swung over there and got this short manifest freight of the Michigan Shore Railroad, a Genesee & Wyoming property. Some quick research found that this is a former Pere Marquette line. The railroad's website showed that the MS operates between Fremont to Port Sheldon, Michigan, via Muskegon and Grand Haven. It interchanges with CSX near Holland. 

All three images shown here were made along U.S. 31. Note that the lead locomotive is lettered for the Mid-Michigan Railroad, another G&W property in Michigan.I don't know why the train was stopped, but there was a company pickup truck at the crossing attending to the train.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/16 02:40 by SDP40F600.

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It turned out I was not yet done with the Michigan Shore Railroad. After spending some time at a beach in Grand Haven and photographing a pair of lighthouses, I then sought to find the former Pere Marquette passenger station, which is now a professional office building. As I was photographing the depot, my wife said she heard a train horn in the distance. A few minutes later that same set of motive power I had seen earlier in the day showed up and is seen in Photos 4 and 5. It must have turned because the same unit is leading. I am guessing that this train interchanged with CSX. Note that the consist of the second sighting of the Michigan Shore train is similar to the first with tank cars and boxcars although fewer of them.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/16 03:50 by SDP40F600.

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The final three images of this series are all going away photographs. In Photos 6 and 7 you can see a portion of the former Pere Marquette passenger station. Perhaps these cars are bound for shippers in Muskegon, but I don't know for sure.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/16 02:43 by SDP40F600.

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I looked up the Mid-Michigan Railroad and found that it operates east of where I saw this train. There is a website for the Michigan Shore that shows the route on which I saw this train. You can find it here. 

https://www.gwrr.com/operations/railroads/north_america/michigan_shore_railroad


 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/16 03:10 by SDP40F600.

SDP40F600 Wrote:
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I don't know why the train was stopped,
> but there was a company pickup truck at the
> crossing attending to the train.
They were stopped at the south end of the Michigan Shore-leased trackage awaiting authority to proceed south on the CSX to Holland's Waverly (Holland) yard, the place of interchange.  The conductor follows along in the truck to operate the swing bridge at Ferrysburg and also the switch to the Consumers Energy power plant, a mile or so south of where you saw them.  (The power plant switch is normally lined for the plant.)

This movement operates M-W-F and the consist is typically from five to 25 cars.  They usually wye the power at Waverly, so each unit leads every other trip.    

Nice pictures of rural America.

Jim
​Hatboro, PA

Chooch Wrote:
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> Nice pictures of rural America.
>
> Jim
> ​Hatboro, PA

Not exactly rural America, in the sense of being substantially rural and non-urbanized. The triangular Grand Rapids - Muskegon - Holland Combined Statistical Area (CSA), which is basically delineated by those three cities (with Grand Haven in the middle on the Lake Michigan shore between Muskegon and Holland) has a population of 1.32 million people. It is the second largest CSA in Michigan, exceeded only by the Detroit metro area. Considering the fact that none of the three named cities in the CSA are more than about 40 miles apart, that actually makes it a fairly populous area. And yet, there are many rural areas, and the marvelous Lake Michigan shore, with lots of access to the lake.

​Wonderful shots, Craig. And hope you enjoyed your time on the Lakeshore and in Grand Haven. You got to catch a movement that I hear regularly (nice horns on those GP38s), and occasionally see on my way to and from work. But it's only a weekday operation, which is unfortunate from a railfanning perspective.

​MC
​Muskegon, Michigan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/16 09:44 by ironmtn.