The Holly Union Depot

 I had to take the afternoon off to take my mom to a doctor's appointment.  It was early enough in the afternoon that I decided to head up to Durand to possibly catch some trains.  I didn't see any trains there but I saw one that was heading towards Holly.  I thought I could catch a train there but I didn't leave soon enough nor could I drive fast enough to catch it.  While I still had some light, I decided to take a picture of the depot.

Holly was originally established with the presence of saw and grist mills in 1844.  In 1855, the Detroit and Milwaukee railroad arrived and they constructed a small depot.  In 1864, the Flint and Holly railroad came into Holly.  The two railroads built a wooden depot at the current site but it burned down in 1884.  In 1886, the current depot was completed.  It served passengers until 1964 when the Grand Trunk Railroad ceased passenger service.  In 1998, the building was bought by Holly and may be moved.

Catching a Canadian Pacific Train

 I was actually hoping to get drone shots of this one.

But there were high voltage wires on the side.  I didn't really want to find out how drones behaved around wires.

It was pretty neat to catch the train anyway.

Because it was standing still, I was able to get multiple angles of it.

It was carrying a long load of cars.

Probably my favorite angle.

Another.

Moving a little bit.

 And one more.

Next Stop Durand

So after heading east on M-46, I thought that maybe I could go through Shiawasee.   So I headed to M-13 and then headed south to get to the Shiawasee Game Reserve.  When I got there, I found out that it was still closed for flooding and I turned around.  I continued south on M-13 to get to Durand.  Even though I got a picture of train in St. Louis, I was hoping that I could get some in Durand.  If I did, that would be great.  If I didn't, I had some pictures so the day wasn't a total bust.

 As I was getting ready to leave, I heard the sound of a train leaving the yard that is close to the station.  I think this particular train is a local train.  It was pulling some cars out of that yard.

 It turned to head east on the main line.  I thought it was going to do what they usually do when they leave this yard.  Head down the track a little bit and back in to pick up some new cars.

 Sadly, I was almost shooting into the sun, so the light wasn't the most ideal.  I still think I got some decent pictures of this engine.

 One thing nice about this spot, is the ability to get different angles.

 Like with other vehicles, I like the quarter shot.

 It continued down the track.

 This is the new color scheme for the Huron and Eastern trains.  Like I said, I think they are owned by a different company but I'm not sure of its name.

 So anyway, the train headed east on the track and got past the signal and started to back in.  It was backing in on the track that crosses to the front of the station (kind of).  It makes for a picturesque shot, so I headed over there.  It helped that it was way out.

 the lighting was better for me over here.

 And always remember that when you see one of these signs, there might be a train in the area.

 So it was backing into the other track.  I'm not sure if it was taking these cars to store over there.

 The light was just about perfect for this.

 So  I got a few different angles.

 And it looks like it about to jump out and attack.

 As I was leaving, I saw a train approaching the area, so I turned around to head back to the station.  I barely was able to get some pictures because it was moving at a pretty decent clip.

 I wish the wires weren't above.

Like everything else, I'm not a face of stern shots but I do like this one.

An Engine in St. Louis

My mom and I were going to head up to Traverse City today but we got a pretty late start.  We also took a very indirect route before heading north.  This route took us by Embury Road  but all of the trillium were gone and pretty much what was left was wild geranium.  Then I took a circuitous route to get to M-52 in order to head north.
So then I got on I-96 to continue west until I reached US 131.  I turned north on 131 and then headed to Lakeview because I heard there was an eagle's nest there.  I wasn't exactly sure where it was.  It was almost four in the afternoon when we got there.  So we decided to head east on M-46 to head home.

 After I passed through St. Louis, I saw a chunk of track heading south and I saw this engine on it.  The engine belongs to the Huron and Eastern railroad but it looks like it's been there a while.

 I got out of the car and walked over to get some angles that I wouldn't get with a moving train.  As I looked at the track, it looked like this section of track hasn't been used in a while.

 I also think this may be an older paint scheme as the newer engines that belong to this company are an orange (because they were bought by a different company).

 Looking up at the cab.  I kind of liked the different angle.

 This is an angle I don't normally get.

One more picture before moving on.

Saturday With the Trains

It was a nice sunny day and I decided that I didn't want to spend it inside.  I was thinking about going down to Ohio and catching trains there but then I decided to head up to Durand instead.  While there are not as many trains there, it is a nice spot for trainwatching.  They also have a nice train board set up, so you can kind of see when the trains are coming.

 As the first train passed, I left my cameras on the settings that I use for basketball games and all the pictures were way overexposed.  I caught it and was able to get some pictures of the cars.

 It took a while before the next train passed, but it was pretty cool.  There were quite a few people at the station.  Even though it was sunny, it was still pretty cold.

 I kind of like this shot.

 As it got closer.

 I wanted to get a picture of the signal bridge.

 A picture of the station itself.  There is a nice little museum on the inside.

 A piece of graffiti.

 This train was coming up the main line and took this line to go to the line that was heading south.  I wish I had realized it.

 I kind of like the livery on this one.

 I saw that there was an eastbound train, so I decided to wait for it.

 The lighting wasn't the greatest though but at least I wasn't shooting directly into it.

 The signal bridge.

 The train gets closer.

 I think this is my favorite shot.

 I was trying to get a picture through the windows of the station.  I'm not sure about this one.

I really like this one though.

A Stop at the Jackson Yard

I decided to make a brief stop in Jackson since I had a little time to use.

 I rarely see these trains in action.  I think that might be a function of the fact that I only visit the yard on weekends.  I have to believe they work on weekends though.

 It is still pretty neat to see the engines and I usually get to take several angles while still staying on the right side of the tracks.

 An engine pair.  I think they use these as switcher engines.

 I used my bigger lens for this.

 Also this.

 Another shot of that one engine.

 A more or less side shot of the first engine I posted.

The lighting was just about perfect.