A Rainy Annie

Last Thursday as I was heading into work, the train was blocking Textile Road.  I thought it was actually heading north, so I turned around and went over to Payeur Road.  It was raining pretty hard.

 I managed to get there in time, it turns out that it might have been switching some cars around, as it left the rest of cars behind to pick up some cars that were on the other track.

 Shortly after I took this picture, one of the people from the train got out.  I think he had to throw the switch.

 I think they are also doing some work on the tracks.

 I just wish I could have gotten the rest of the train in the picture.

 I also wish there were some puddles on the side.

 And it starts to pass the crossing.

And she makes the turn for the other siding.

At one time the Ann Arbor Railroad was called the Annie, hence the title.

A Brief Stop in Cadillac

After catching the three ships on that Saturday morning, I headed over to my dad's house to pick him up.  We then went up to Cadillac to see if there was anything we needed to do with his parents' graves.  Well before that, we went to a town called Jennings to look at his cousin's grave.  Jennings is a small town to the east of Cadillac.

 Cadillac is the county seat of Wexford County and is roughly in the center of the northern Lower Peninsula.  It is located at the intersection of M-55, M-115 and US-131.  The first sawmill was built in 1871.  In 1874, Cadillac was incorporated as a village.  The above railroad depot was built in 1915 by the Ann Arbor Railroad.  With the decline of passenger rail, the station fell into disrepair.  Recently it was renovated into a resaurant and Amvets building.

 At one time, Cadillac was home to the Michigan Iron Works which produced the Shay Locomotive pictured above.  The Shay was effective in its ability to climb steep grades, maneuver sharp turns and accommodate imperfections in railroad tracks.  This made it particular well suited to the lumber industry.

 This particular model was owned by the Cadillac-Soo Lumber Company and was restored to its current condition.

As Michigan was lumbered out, the fortunes of this railroad declined.

Catching Up With an Old Friend

It's been a while since I've posted a picture of the Ann Arbor Railroad.  Usually when I hear it, I'm at work and I can't get out to get pictures.  Lately, I haven't been taking my camera to work but with nicer weather and it staying light later, I will be changing that.

 As I was heading home from work last Tuesday night, I saw this guy sitting there.  I didn't have my camera with me, so I grabbed some pictures with my cell phone.  I wasn't happy with those pictures, so I went home to grab my proper camera.  And I was much happier.  I wouldn't have been able to get this picture with my cellphone.

 I pulled out the lens a bit to get both engines in this shot.

 I call this engine the "leet" engine.  This was term that carries over from my MMORPG days.  They would spell words using letters and numbers.  This one was for elite.

 Since the train was stopped and unoccupied, I decided to get some angles I wouldn't normally go for.  This was from the railroad crossing.

 I wasn't able to get much more of an angle though since it was tucked back a bit and there were trees and houses in the way.

 Got a couple cars.

 I think they were pulling these cars down to Toledo.  They've been using their track to store some cars.

 Another angle of that.

I wanted to get this in the picture.

A Stop at the Great Lakes Museum in Toledo

On Friday, I decided to head down to Ohio in order to catch some covered bridges that were in the Dayton area.  Before heading out,  I decided to check Marine Traffic and I saw that the Saginaw would be passing through Toledo.  So I decided to stop at the Great Lakes Museum.

 I ended up getting a new membership because I would like to tour the ship and tugboat they have.  While I was there, I thought I would wander through the museum.  There's not alot to see in the museum itself but they have some pretty nice models.  This is a model of the Ann Arbor No. 3.  She was built in 1898 in Cleveland at the Globe Iron Works.  She served as a car ferry for the Ann Arbor Railroad until 1965 when she served as a cross straits ferry under the name Manistee.  In 1974 she was sold to be a dock face in Peoria, Illinois.

 This is a model of the Huron Lightship.  One of these years, I'll have to tour the real one.

 A nice scale model of the James R. Barker.

I can't quite make out what ship this is.

I will go back to the museum one of these days.

Seeing the Annie

It has been a while since I've seen a train belonging to the Ann Arbor Railroad.  I've heard it a few times but it was while I was in the office so I couldn't really catch pictures of it.

 Imagine my excitement as I saw the Ann Arbor engine as I headed into work.  It was a nice enough morning to boot.

 Even though it looks close, it isn't.  I was using my big lens.  But I think it made for a cool picture.

 Another angle.

 This is probably a more accurate picture of it. 

And one more before heading to work.

Watching the Ann Arbor Railroad Pass By

As I was heading home Tuesday night, I went by the spot where I usually see the Ann Arbor Railroad because I was hearing it all day.  Well I did end up seeing it but it was a ways down.

 Well I did end up seeing it but it was a ways down the track, so I went to the spot where it crosses Morgan Road.

 I was about to give up because it was getting rainy and miserable but I figured with the color, it would make for a cool picture.

 Well as it turns out, I was correct except I wasn't happy with the engine running backwards but you take what you can get.

 It wasn't that bad, I guess.

 I'm not sure where it was taking the hoppers though.

And this should be a familiar logo.

The Frankfort Welcome Sign

It has been a while since I've been up to the Frankfort area.  Based on the entries on here, it has been over four years.  I didn't realize it's been that long.  Anyway, I have to make sure I don't stay away as long next time.

 I remember this sign from when I was a kid.  I think they've restored it recently because it looks much nicer than I remember.

 What I didn't realize is that this is an Ann Arbor car ferry.

 It's kind of neat and I'm glad they've taken the opportunity to clean it up a bit.

One more view of the sign.

The Ann Arbor Railroad at Work Tonight

Today at work, I heard the train horns all day long and that was an indication that the Ann Arbor Railroad was doing stuff.  Unfortunately, I can't just drop what I'm doing and go out to catch pictures.

 As I was getting ready to leave, I heard the train horn again and I was hoping that it wasn't a case the train getting ready to go back home.  So I headed down Textile to be greeted by the sight of an Ann Arbor Railroad engine headed my way.

 Only it didn't continue, it just sort of waited there.  I was fine with that because it meant that I could get more pictures than I would have otherwise gotten.

 If you look in the background, you can see some tank cars.  These were being stored in the area and I think they may be moving them out.  This engine was waiting for a group of them to get moved down.

 I kind of like the lurking in the cornfield look.

 I like this lurking in the cornfield look even more.

 I decided to head to another spot to see if I could see them moving the tank cars and sure enough, here it was.  I think they had to move a certain number forward so that they could move them down the main line.

 Which is just as well because it gave me more opportunities to get pictures.

 Her cab.

 And she moves by.

 The engine backing up to move the cars down the line, they were going to connect them to the first engine I showed.

 And she ducks back around the corner.

 BAcking the cars up.

 A better shot of the first engine.

 After that, I went down Morgan Road and saw the train again.  It was waiting again.

 But that gave some opportunities for pictures.

 My favorite shot from the night.

And one more shot before heading home.