A Patton Tank on M-46

As I continued east on M-46, I ran across this tank.  I don't remember exactly where it was but it was east of another town that had a P-80 for a gate guardian.

 In 1950, a requirement came to replace the tanks used in World War II.  The tank would be heavier and better armored than the tanks it was replacing.

 the M-48 first entered service in 1951 and was a replacement to the M-47 (which was plagued with problems).  It was built by Chrysler Defense Systems but other companies would end up building them under contract.

 By the time, production ended there would be 12,000 produced and they would serve in many armies across the world.  It would also fight in many of the brush wars that marked the Cold War.

An improved design was called the M-60.

A Barn On M-46

After catching the train yesterday, I thought that I would head over to Grand Haven but then changed my mind because my mom said that there might be snowy owls at Fish Point.  So after heading west on M-57 from Carland, I headed north on US-131 to catch M-46 for the eastbound trip.

 My mom saw this barn and had me pull over.  I will admit, it was a pretty good scene.

 The lighting was just about right.

 She thinks the building on the right might be an ice house.  At any rate, it is part of one of many farms in Michigan that are known as Centennial Farms.  It has been in the same family for over 100 years.

One more shot of the barn before moving on.

Wandering Down M-46

I continued down M-46 because I wanted to catch pictures of lighthouses again.  As it would turn out, I would capture two of the lighthouses I captured last time but that's okay.  They are cool looking lighthouses and the trip is pretty cool.

 One of the things I wanted to stop to take pictures of was some of the military vehicles that are parked in front of the various veteran halls.  There was one that I missed, so I will have to catch that again at some point.

 This particular tank is an M-48 Patton Tank.  It is named after General George S. Patton and is considered as a medium tank.  It was first built in 1952 and production ended in 1959 but it saw service through the 1990's.  12,000 of these were built by Chrysler, Fisher Body and Ford Motor Company.

It has a 90mm gun and the armor is 4.7" thick.  Later variants were equipped with a 105mm gun.

 Next up is a Higgins Boat.  This was one of the landing craft that was used in the Normany invasion (and many others).  It's main advantage was that it had a ramp that opened in the front, so soldiers didn't have to jump over the sides to leave.

 Of course one of the main disadvantages what that it gave enemy machine gunners a nice spot to aim for.  One of these could carry up to 36 soldiers and was crewed by 4.  Some of them were equipped with two 0.30" cal machine guns.  20,000 of these were produced.

 Another standard Midwestern town is Edmore.  It is pretty close to the spot where M-66 crosses M-46.  It was founded in 1878 by Edwin Moore who was a real estate man.  The town had a station on the Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad called Edmore Junction.  In 1879, it was incorporated as a village.

 According to current census numbers, there is a population of 1,201 (I'm not sure if the 1 person is for Edwin Moore ala Fielding Yost though).

 As I said in other posts, I'm pretty sure there is a set of blueprints somewhere that says, "Standard Midwestern Town" but each of these towns have some unique flavor to them.

Looking down the street.  I kind of like the street views.