Steam & Excursion > About that Wye in Cadillac

PM 1225 and NKP 765 ran a double header from Alma, Michigan to Cadillac and return.  I rode this trip, so I didn't get any track side photos of the chase.  After we unloaded at Cadillac, I wandered with the rest of the die-hard crew up to the wye to watch the operations there.  By the time I got to the wye, NKP 765 had already swapped ends, but I did catch PM 1225 walking very slowly around the wye.  Not seen in this photo was the gang of two or three guys with big buckets of oil and nasty looking mop rags.  They were greasing up the sides of the rail in hopes that the slow going and slippery sides of the rail would keep the engine on the tracks.  In this photo, we're almost free of the wye's restrictions.  Maybe a sunnier day would have given a better picture, but I like the wicked looking clouds and saturated greenery which help with the drama of the shot.

---

Very dramatic shot!  Would also look great in B&W.

Oliver Barrett

Modern railroaders at work - Great view.
Bob

More than one big steamer walked off the rails on wye tracks. Great slow motion photo.
Gonut

I remember a few years later when 765, which was filling in for 1225 during its 1472-day inspection, went on the ground on this very same wye. Makes it clear why there's a need to have a healthy supply of eyes watching the steamer like here.

EDIT: Never mind. 765 did NOT derail on the wye; it was left behind in Cadillac on that trip because of a broken spring hangar.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/26 11:13 by DRGWMark.

1522 rolled a rail on the wye in N. St, Louis between Luther Ave and Humboldt (NS and BNSF) and was all over the ground. It had about 35 miles on an overhaul and was headed for Galesburg,IL.
Lot of hidden damage to trailing truck roller bearing and crown brass. We went to Galesburg and back. 20MPH and stop every 10 miles or so to dope the brass. It was awful. Needed to make new drawbars and the pilot got garfed up.
Horrible trip.

Was this wye installed during the days of steam?  If so, why so tight??