Messing With the Drone in Durand

 So on Saturday I decided to head up to Shiawassee again but then I decided to make a stop in Durand first.  I wanted to give my drone a shot there.

It was a little tougher this time because there were some stuff that I needed to worry about.  Across the tracks from where I launched was some power lines.  I don't think I want to find out what happens if my drone runs into though.   Fortunately, the train was pretty close and I snapped this shot.  From this angle, the train station almost looks like it is laughing.

The train got a little closer.  I might end up cropping this picture as there is too much dead space.

And the train almost passes the depot.

 I wanted to catch the depot from a different angle and I kind of like it from here.  Next time, I'll have to try to get the engine in the picture.

Catching the "Polar Express"

So I went up to Owosso yesterday in the hopes of catching the Pere Marquette 1225 as it does the North Pole Express.  Apparently, they can't call it the Polar Express anymore (even though it's the train the movie train is based on).  Anyway, it was a nice enough day.

 Unfortunately, when I got there I found out that the Pere Marquette 1225 wouldn't be pulling the train.  They had an issue with the boiler.  I'm glad I just drove up there to get pictures and not pay to ride the train.

 Oh well.  I figured it still be a good chance to practice when I go back to catch the Pere Marquette.

 I found a pretty nice spot where I could catch it as it pulled out of the yard.  I just wish there was more in the background.

 Another angle of the train.

 Unfortunately, shortly after this picture, I was shooting into the sun.

 One of two cabooses that used to belong to the Ann Arbor Railroad.  I think it costs $1000 to ride on one of these but apparently, it is first class service.

 The trailing engine.  I stuck around to catch the whole train because I was hoping that the Pere Marquette may have been trailing.

 Despite not catching the Pere Marquette, I still headed over to Carland because I wanted the practice.  I was able to get a spot that I don't normally get.  It wasn't too long before the train appeared.

 Not  quite as cool as a train puffing a cloud of steam but still not too bad.  I think yesterday would have been a good day for steam as it was pretty cold.

 And the train passing the grain elevator.

 Kind of a shot I like.

One more shot of the train before moving on.  I will definitely got back up to get pictures of the steam engine.  Those shots are too cool pass up on.

Catching a Train in Clare

We decided to have lunch in Clare.

 As I was having lunch, I could swear that I heard a train.  As I approached Clare, I saw lights flashing, so I was sure that I heard it.

 It think it was picking up cars, because it would pull forward and then go backwards.

 It did this a couple times while I was taking pictures.

 I didn't stay around much longer after that.

A shot of the trio, of sorts.

A Whistle Stop in Clare, Michigan

As I said in the last post, my dad lives near Lansing which means we end up taking US-127 to get back to I-75.  We ended up using a rental car again this year because it keeps miles off either of our cars.  We had to pick up the car in Mt. Pleasant and as I was there I heard a train horn.  I tried to see if I could catch up to but that wasn't happening.

 As we got to Clare and parked the car to grab lunch, I heard the distinctive sound of a train horn again.  So I ended up walking a few blocks to get over to the train tracks and it wasn't long before I saw the train coming up.  It belonged to the Great Lakes Central.

 The Great Lakes Central has been on this blog before as it is usually pulling or trailing the Pere Marquette 1225.  It detached the rest of its load to bring some stuff in to the yard (I think).

 And it started to cross the road.

 And then another pair of engines appeared from the other side of the road.

 And these guys proceeded into the yard to pull out a couple of cars.

 And then they went to drop this load off.

 Based on the fact that this was built in the 30's and the architectural style, I'm going to guess that this was a WPA built building. 

 And there was some neat artwork on the building.

We ended up eating at the Whitehouse Restaurant for lunch.  This is one of those places that you could end up missing especially with the more famous Cops and Doughnuts down the street.  If you are looking for good burgers, come here.  I also tried a beef dumpling soup and that was pretty good too.  The prices are fairly reasonable too.  So this place comes highly recommended.

The New Michigan Commuter Rail

A woman at work told me on Friday that they would be showing off the train that would be part of the new Commuter Rail system.  I knew about the proposed route going from Ann Arbor to Detroit but this one was highlighting the route that would go from Ann Arbor to Howell.

 The railroad itself would be operated by the Great Lakes Central Railroad and from the displays on the train itself, there would be trains leaving every half hour (or maybe every hour).   The lines would be leased from CSX.

 I was expecting to see something more akin to one of the Metra trains I see in Chicago but this will do I guess.

 There is also a proposal to run the train from Ann Arbor to Detroit with stops along the way.  I'm really hoping that this one will get off the ground because I would love to ride the train on that track (but I don't really want to do the Amtrak with its two times per day that I would do).

 I think it is pretty cool that commuter rail is getting a look in Michigan because I think it is something that is long overdue.  I guess my concern is that this area doesn't have enough population density to make a viable commuter service but I'm hoping that I get proven wrong.

 The cars themselves have two decks.  The upper deck has a single row of chairs and the bottom row looks like the picture above.  It looks like standard commuter rail fare.

 A sort of shot of the outside of the car.  As you can see it is split level (but not like what I experience out west).

 Another shot of the engine.

 Another angle of the engine.

 And as I was heading back to my car.

One more shot for good measure.