Eastern Railroad Discussion > Grand Rapids Subdivision

Hey folks,

I'm going to be in the Grand Rapids/Hudsonville Michigan area visiting family and I wanted to catch some trains along the way.

What trains other than the CSX Q326 and Q327 will I be able to see? Anyone know the times at which they run?

Many thanks for the info!

MikeRail

Posted from Android

D700 is (was?) a turn out of Grand Rpaids west as far as Sawyer, MI serving industries. In addition, the is an Amtrak each way along with BNSF coal trains to Holland the north to West Olive.

In addition to the two trains you mentioned, there are of course the Amtrak Pere Marquette trains between Grand Rapids and Chicago. The eastbound will be well after dark, though you might get time exposure images of it stopped at either the Holland or Grand Rapids depots during scheduled station stops. At Hudsonville you're about midway between those two points, so if you're not doing anything with those you're visiting in the evening, either of those might be an option. Probably both are tripod time exposure shots.

The morning departure from GR is 6:00 am, with a stop at Holland at 6:49. Sunrise this next week will be about 7:15, so at GR it will still be dark, with maybe a bit of pre-dawn light on the horizon. At Holland you will be in the "blue hour", which can be interesting light and can allow for a good shot or two if you know how to do it. I'd estimate that the westbound to Chicago will roll through Hudsonville about 6:25 am, again in the pre-dawn "blue hour".

As for Q326 and Q327, Q326 departs the Chicago area early morning before dawn, does some yard work at Wyoming Yard near GR midday, then heads on east to Rougemere Yard at Dearborn, Mich. near Detroit early-to-mid afternoon. I have caught it or a Q328 a couple of times recently out of GR after 1:00 pm ET, and during the morning hours at locations between Porter, Ind. and Grand Rapids during the morning hours. To help with tracking well before GR, if you have ATCS access, cue up one of the Chicago route templates, either Northwest Indiana or the NS Chicago Line. On either, you can see its movement from CSX ex-B&O trackage to NS ex-NYC tracks (which it uses by trackage rights to Porter Jct.) early in the morning at a point called Curtis E[ast], in Gary, Ind., which is part of the whole extremely busy Pine Jct. trackage complex.

I haven't checked it for a while, but a couple of months ago it would appear at the connection at Curtis E about 6:45 am, usually hold at the signal there for a bit, then get the route onto NS lined for it, and proceed onto NS there and run to Porter. There the route will be lined by the NS dispatcher for the CSX Grand Rapids Sub, which it will take. I know of no other CSX train which regularly makes that move at that time of day, although coal trains bound for the Campbell Generating Station at West Olive, Mich. (between Holland and Grand Haven) have been known to sometimes use that "slot". I expected a Q326 once last year based on that ATCS reading, and was surprised to find that the train I linked up with near St. Joseph was a West Olive coal train with BNSF power instead. He may have come through earlier, but it might have also used that "slot" that Q326 uses.

In addition to your own scanner radio, there is Broadcastify coverage of the Grand Rapids Sub which is pretty good. There isn't much traffic on the GR Sub, so there's a lot of silence between transmissions. But as the train gets within better range of the receiving antenna (which I believe is located near East Saugatuck), you will pick up signal calls by the train, detector transmissions, maybe chat with the drawbridge operator at St. Joseph, maybe DS calls for a meet with Amtrak, and calls for routing at Waverly Yard at Holland and into Wyoming Yard at GR. The GR Sub is all satellite dispatched. There is no ATCS coverage except as noted above for the Curtis E to Porter move on NS, and a small non-satellite territory "island" for which there is a profile that you can download for right at Waverly Yard at Holland, and the wye connections there to the line to GR, and northward to West Olive on CSX, and Grand Haven and Muskegon on the regional Michigan Shore. There is also another "island" territory and profile available for a short distance east of Grand Rapids.

Q327 is more of a mystery to me. I caught it recently coming into GR late afternoon (after 4:00 pm). Caught it again near Wyoming later. It did some yard work dropping and picking up blocks at Wyoming Yard, and departed early evening at 6:25 pm ET. Caught it then at Grandville at 6:51 pm and Zeeland at 7:17 pm. I have seen it further south near St. Joseph later in the evening.

I have caught a Q328 east of GR some weeks ago, going through East Lansing (Trowbridge Jct., crossing of the CN / GTW)  early afternoon. I followed it into the Detroit area, where I was headed anyway, catching it at Williamston at 2:50 pm and Howell at 3:21 pm, and into Rougemere Yard in Dearborn at about 6:00 pm. Missed it at Plymouth Jct. due to a traffic tie-up on I-96. A local fan whom I met at Howell said that I had just missed a westbound, which I am guessing might have been Q327.

As for the West Olive coal trains, there is no schedule that I can discern. I have seen them morning, afternoon, evening, and late at night driving back home from a roadtrip - I guess whatever the traffic and supply / coal burn rate at the Consumers Energy Campbell Power Station demands. I've caught them frequently enough during daylight hours to say that it's worthwhile to listen for them, maybe watch for them on the "island" of ATCS at Holland, and to photograph them. They run from West Olive (between Grand Haven and Holland), using CSX trackage down to the wye at the north end of Waverly Yard at Holland, and will take the northwest wye connection onto the Grand Rapids Sub there. That's visible on the ATCS "island" at Holland / Waverly Yard. They continue on to Chicago, and to the best of my knowledge use the same connection to the CSX ex-B&O main at Curtis E that I described above. If you have the time to catch one on the hill at both ends of the Kalamazoo River valley east of Saugatuck (East Saugatuck Hill, New Richmond Hill), it is quite a show. Good access at the river bridge and other points for photography from roads and public property. Several good posts here on TO will give you the details. Do a search by all dates, and you will find them. Well worth the trip! The two CSX Q's can be a good show on the hill, too.

If you have time to come over to Muskegon, the Michigan Shore (a G&W property) operates there. These days, the job out to Nugent Sand through the heart of town to drop and pick up hoppers of fracking sand, goes out to Nugent (which is just behind the Lake Michigan beachline) early morning on Thursdays, coming back into town a little later. I have also a few times heard it working on Monday, but not that often. It passes near my home, sounding its nice horn for all of the grade crossings, anytime between about 6:00 am and 7:00 am. I hear it while getting ready for work. I don't know at this time which days it goes out to Fremont to service the grain elevator there, out to North Muskegon for the BASF plant there (formerly Bayer), or down to CSX Waverly Yard to make interchange deliveries to CSX. In the past, I have caught it going to Fremont early in the week midafternoon, and down to Waverly Yard on a Friday late morning. Since I have a busy work schedule, I rarely get to see it or follow it during the week -- others will have to chime in on this operation in current state. Operation is weekdays only. But it is worthwhile to see and to photograph if operations and your schedule align. Climbing Henry Street Hill in Muskegon (almost street running in the blocks north of the Laketon Ave. grade crossing), and going over the Grand River swing bridge at Grand Haven are especially worthwhile to see and photograph if you can.

That's what I know. Though I live in the area, my local railfanning is weekend-only due to work, and with the limited CSX operations and weekday-only MS operations, I probably have a lot less knowledge than some other guys in the region who have experienced more and studied it in more detail. Anyone else in the area, feel free to chime in and add to or correct anything I've said.

Hope this helps. Good luck in your railfanning, and enjoy your visit in Hudsonville. And be sure you enjoy some Hudsonville Ice Cream while there -- it's the best!

MC
Muskegon, Michigan

There is no Q326-327  east of Grand Rapids.    Trains run as Q328 & Q329.