Grand Trunk Western Railroad (South Bend Sub) - January/February 1990
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ธ.ค. 2024
- Grand Trunk freights, locals, and CN Laser trains in Indiana and southwest Michigan with hotbox detector transmissions. Video notes below.
00:00
January 19, 1990 - Schoolcraft, Michigan (HBD MP 142.9)
This is near the 6th St. crossing about 4 miles from US 131. Remnants of the old eastbound track are still evident. The GTW did away with the directional running in this area and converted it to CTC in Fall/Winter 1987-88. I think at this time the CTC went as far west as Penn. A parade of 3 westbounds begins with a CN Laser train led by CN 9513. For these trains CN put the trailers in well cars to meet the low clearance of the old St. Clair River tunnel in Sarnia. The 2nd westbound is a trio of GP9Rs (led by GTW 4607) with 292 axles with a caboose. GTW 5912 leads the last westbound in the parade with 250 axles - also with a caboose.
02:22
January 22, 1990 - Crumstown, Indiana (HBD MP 93.3)
At Quince Rd. the GTW was still jointed rail on both mains at this time. An eastbound comes by at track speed in decent lighting led by GTW 6417 (GP40-2) with 356 axles and a caboose - a pretty long train for GTW back then. After the detector finishes talking, the train calls Bend Tower to transition through the shared Conrail trackage in South Bend.
04:10
January 26, 1990 - Cassopolis, Michigan (HBD MP 119.2)
This location is just a few hundred yards from Goose Lake in Cass County. At first you see a grab shot in my truck of an eastbound as I pulled up to the crossing (Evan St.) led by GTW 5912. Next, GTW 5853 leads a westbound manifest and still has its Nathan P5A horn from its days with the Rock Island. A quick shot of the detector shed and its ground plane antenna and then a pair of light engines head west. When the light power is going away in the distance I turned the volume down on my radio so I could get the horns echoing. Next the CN Laser comes west at a pretty good clip with CN 9649 (GP40-2W) in the lead with 236 axles. The 2nd trailer is a Denver & Rio Grande Western. After the detector transmission ends, the distant noise from the containers bouncing reminds me of a sea lion barking! Next, the local from Battle Creek (# 511), heads to Edwardsburg and then comes back east. Notice the wood cars were swapped out (loads vs. empties). GTW 5858 heads east with an empty coil steel train with 172 axles. Lastly, an eastbound manifest follows the previous train with GTW 5829 moving along at speed with 197 axles.
12:49
February 9, 1990 - Cassopolis, Michigan (HBD MP 119.2)
Returning back 2 weeks later on a dreary day, an eastbound CN Laser speeds along with CN 5357 (SD40-2W) with 174 axles. Next is GTW 5705 leading a westbound manifest. My battery was starting to die here, so I didn't record the end of the train or the detector and the rest of the clips are short. Next is a westbound CN Laser then an eastbound GTW meet with a westbound. The battery finally died here.
This was all filmed with a Sony BMC-110. Radio transmissions are from a Yaesu FT-23R.
Thanks for watching!
~Zeke
I was in Schoolcraft today, and your footage inspired me to stop by the 6th Street crossing. There's still a defect detector there at MP 142.9. Alas, of course it announces CN instead of Grand Trunk Railroad. There's a signal immediately west of the crossing now.
Oh nice. It's pretty amazing that the detector is still in that same spot after all those years.
This video reminds me to keep my Nathan M3H horn. Thanks for sharing this!
I'd like to see the Nathan M3H horns on the Light Rail Trolleys throughout the country that has Light Rail Trolleys.
Randy Slikkers
Nicely put together. I really miss GT days! This was a great time capsule!
Thanks!
What a cool video! My father was a long time engineer for the Grand Trunk Western in Chicago for many years, brings back some great memories! I really miss the GTW!
Thank you!
Always a pleasure watching this channel! Such awesome footage, amazing audio! A treasure trove of the 80’s and 90’s.
Loving the defect detectors too!
Thank you!
You know what's kind cool GTW 4602 which was the third engine on the 2nd train in this video, can be found on the Wheeling and Lake Erie today, still numbered 4602 but painted black.
Really cool footage!
Appreciate it, thanks!
Nice the best horns and vintage times 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
This is so great. I was lucky enough to start videoing in the mid 90's and catch the tail end of when the GTW was still good. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks. Glad you were able to catch it back then and looking at your videos, I think we visited many of the same spots. That NS 083 footage on the PRR brought back some memories!
Perfect Video!!! It’s a good thing you posted it because For me especially because I’m working on the Elsdon,South Bend,And Battle Creek Subdivision in the early 90’s this tell me exactly what is needed for my layout in N scale Thanks for posting. -JG
Thanks. Glad it helped!
Your footage from that era is great, especially with the radio transmissions included. I'm a big fan of that old railroad radio audio.
Thanks!
I can still remember seeing grand trunk steam in south bend. This was around 1956-8. Just freight only. They were pretty scarce by this time. I was born in 1949. My paternal grandfather helped lay the first gt tracks in south bend. Not sure of exact dates but I believe between 1906 and 1912. $3.OO a day for 10 hours! He worked 6 days a week. He was paid in cash which included gold coins. No deductions for taxes. The gt tracks passed singer factory near olive st. crossing. The NYC tracks were south of there.
That is amazing. I kind of remember seeing remnants of the Singer plant on Western Ave. when I was a kid.
Wow! Good to hear the hot box detector at 142.9 once again! Great footage! Subbed.
Thank you. I enjoy your channel, as well.
Absolutely awesome and a great tribute to the glory days of railroading!
Thanks!
Im from Battle Creek and this is awesome
I miss the GTW. Won’t be long before the Canadian railroads will own the entire North American rail system.
Any railway footage shot in Ontario including London & Sault Ste Marie?
No, sorry I don't have anything in that area.