Railfanning the Lake State Railway

I've been on vacation this week and my wife and I decided to go up north for a couple of days to my family's cottage in Harrisville, MI. While we were there we took a trip up to Alpena for a few hours and I drove by the Lake State Railway facilities and was lucky enough to get a quick look at a pair of locomotives recently repainted into LSRC's latest paint scheme. This was the first time I'd ever seen the new paint scheme in person.

Fast forward a few hours and as we were heading into Harrisville, I drove over one of the crossings with LSRC's mainline between Alpena and Bay City. There in the distance I saw some headlights coming my way so I stopped off on the side of the road and waited for the train to come through. I remember watching plenty of D&M / LSRC trains go by this exact same crossing when I was a kid, so it was kind of neat to to be there again.

I'm not sure of the train ID or anything like that, but I do know I was able to get some pictures of LSRC #'s 303 and 4303. After some searching around the internet, I learned that these two are the first GP40-3 Road/Slug set for LSRC and the first two four-axle locomotives to receive the new paint scheme. Click here for a link to what I found on RailPictures.net. Since this is a railfanning post, I'll let the pictures do the rest, here they are.

A look at the crossing where I watched plenty of trains go by as a kid.

A closer look at the actual grade crossing (the modeler in me was interested in this kind of detail)

You can just barely see the lights coming in this picture.

A little bit closer now, this was a full six minutes after the picture above. It was a pretty slow train.

Another shot for the modeler in me. This is the area just to the north of the crossing.

Finally, a train and we're only six pictures into this.

In the front was LSRC #303

Here is a look at the connection between the two locomotives.

Here is a good look at #303 after it crossed the road.

A look at #4303 running behind #303

Some patched hopper cars that look to be pretty old.

Not sure what exactly to call these with the platforms on each end, but they look cool.

This wasn't completely planned out, so it was kind of nice to be able to get some railfanning in during my vacation. This is the first time I've actually taken pictures of a moving train out in the real world  in at least 15 years. The last time I did I was probably around 10 years old and having my parents take the pictures for me in this exact same location. It definitely has me wanting to get out and do some more though. I'll have to see if I can set aside some time specifically for railfanning the LSRC again the next time I'm up north.

Detroit & Mackinac Stone Depot in Harrisville, MI

Harrisville, Michigan is a place that will always be a great memory from my childhood. In addition to it being my family's summer vacation spot, it was where I first encountered the Detroit & Mackinac. Harrisville is home to one of D&M's older passenger stations. I remember going to see it all the time to watch the trains go by and search the grounds for any little piece of discarded railroad equipment we could find. I know my dad has a nice collection of spikes and date nails hidden away somewhere. I'll have to see if I can get some of them to show off here one of these days. 

Back to the depot, according to the sign out front it was built in 1901 and that is backed up by the information I've been able to find on the internet. This link has some great background about the depot and a neat story from 1902 about how it ended up being constructed with stone donated by the townspeople of Harrisville. It would be in service for 50 years until passenger service on the D&M was stopped in 1951. 

It sat virtually unused since the 1960's until renovations were started sometime in the early 2000's, I'll have to do some more digging on that one as I don't have any details about the project. From the outside, you can tell the roof and windows have been replaced, while most of the original stone structure appears to be intact. It is not open to the public, so it was hard to get a good look at the inside, but from what I read it is still in decent shape.

This past weekend I was in Harrisville vacationing with my family and made sure I set aside some time for a trip to the old depot. It's nice than I remember because the last time I saw it was before any of the renovations took place. I still remember the roof being partially caved in and all of the windows broken out. It was nice to see it looking so much better. Here are some of the pictures I was able to get.

A look at the front of the stone depot in Harrisville, MI

A look at the sign out in front of the depot.

A look at the south end of the building.

A look at the southwest corner of the building.

A look at the west side of the building closest to the tracks.

A look at the north side of the building.

A close-up of the Harrisville sign above the door on the east side.

It is really an amazing piece of architecture, something you don't see everyday. Just the fact that it was built 113 years ago is impressive in itself. With a little bit more work, this would make for an excellent tourist attraction. It is marked as an Alcona County historical site, so hopefully it remains standing for the foreseeable future. Here are a few pictures of the current LSRC line that runs by the depot.

Current LSRC line headed south toward downtown Harrisville.

Current LSRC line headed north toward Alpena, MI.

That's all I have for right now. This has got me wanting to head back up there and get some more pictures of the old D&M line between Tawas and Alpena. This is the area I was around the most as a kid. On the plus side, I may even be able to capture some LSRC trains running this route.

Railfanning at Greenfield Village

This past weekend my family and I made it out to Greenfield Village and I was able to get some nice pictures of the various locomotives and rolling stock they have on the grounds. While I'm not big on steam, it was still pretty neat to see what they had to offer. Up first us a picture of the train that runs around the park. It pulls several open air passenger cars and makes several stops at different locations in the park.

LSMS 4-4-0 #1 passing through the farm section of Greenfield Village

While we were waiting for the train to arrive at the depot in the back of the park, I was able to get some pictures of some rolling stock they had stored on a siding next to the main line. Then there was also some stuff sitting just outside the turntable and roundhouse.

C&O Boxcar #491556 sitting on a siding in the back of the park.

C&O Boxcar #25038 sitting on a siding in the back of the park.

UTLX Tank Car #1328 sitting on a siding in the back of the park.

More rolling stock featuring some DT&I, C&O, and Cotton Belt on the same siding.

Here are some pictures of the turntable and roundhouse. Interesting that the turntable is man-powered. I wonder how many people it takes to get these items turned around on there. Inside there were some more steam locomotives to check out. It was really cool getting to see them up close like this.

A look at the man-powered turn table in front of the roundhouse.

A look at the front of the roundhouse.

Calumet & Hecla Mining Co. locomotive inside the roundhouse.

This one is a little blurry, but still a pretty nice looking locomotive.

A look at the caboose that was being worked on inside the roundhouse.

Another steam locomotive inside the roundhouse. This one you could walk underneath.

Last but not least was an interesting piece of equipment that I happened to find tucked away on the siding with all the extra rolling stock. It is a Detroit & Mackinac steam locomotive, at least what's left of it. There are no identifying numbers so I can't really say what it is other than the D&M painted on the side. 

I did some searching around online and came across this link that talks about additions to Greenfield Village from the D&M. All it says is that the D&M donated a 1914 Baldwin locomotive, so this has to be it. There is also a YouTube video about it, click here to see it. There are some great closeup shots.

Unknown Detroit & Mackinac steam locomotive sitting on a siding.

Not bad for my first real attempt at railfanning. Now I just need to get out and find some pictures that I can use for my layout projects. I'd really like to get out and get some good shots of the various industries and locations served by the railroads here in south east Michigan.