From Coopersville, Elizabeth and I drove east to our first stop at Saranac, Michigan.
Grand Trunk Western station in Saranac built in 1917 and one of three "Witches Hat" depots on the Trunk. The others were in South Lyon and in Corunna.
Detroit, Toledo and Short Line wooden caboose 101 built in 1949 and painted as Grand Trunk.
Where the tracks once ran here. From here we went east to our next stop at Ionia.
The Ionia Grand Trunk Western station built in 1910 and operated until 1960.
Where the tracks once went in Ionia. From here we drove east to St Johns and stopped to visit Clinton Northern Railway Center.
The Clinton Northern Railway sign.
The train display in St Johns.
Detroit and Mackinac railway post office/baggage car built by Barney and Smith in 1903. It was stored in Tawas City roundhouse from 1964 to 2006 and is currently numbered W60.
Ann Arbor box car 1130 nee Wabash, built in 1926 and converted to a maintenance-of-way car and lettered Ann Arbor.
Grand Trunk Western caboose 77961 built by the railroad in 1927.
Milepost 282.
The Grand Trunk Western station in St Johns built in 1911 and operated until 1960.
Station scene.
Baggage cart. They have a very nice model railroad here.
Views of the model railroad. They wanted to show us their 1902 sleeping car so we drove to the north side of St Johns and they gave us a tour of it.
Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic sleeper "Sault Ste Marie" built by Barney and Smith in 1902. Retired in 1936, it was sold to a private owner in Mackinac City then later acquired by the Clinton Northern Railway in November 2005.
Views inside this beautiful car.
Nice wood working. From here we drove to Owosso for a pre-arranged tour to see Pere Marquette 2-8-4 1225. When we arrived there was no one in their offices so we decided to look around and try to find someone on the grounds.
The tender from Pere Marquette 1225.
United States Army troop sleeper 1701 built by Pullman in 1943. It was later sold to Pere Marquette, re-built to a baggage car, sold to the Chesapeake and Ohio who re-built to maintenance-of-way car.
Detroit and Mackinac one dome tank car X-128 built in the 1940's and lettered Dow Chemical Company MSTX 129.
Ann Arbor 40 foot box car 1314 built by Pullman-Standard in 1957.
Chesapeake and Ohio gondola 31527 built in 1939.
MSTX baggage/concession car 1363 "William Berkompas", ex. AMTK 1363, nee US Army Hospital Kitchen car 89639 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1953.
This left-over from Train Festival 2009 when the Milwaukee Road 261 group assisted the Steam Railroading Institute (owners of Pere Marquette 1225) made us both smile.
Chesapeake and Ohio 10-6 sleeper 2624 "City of Ashland" built by Pullman-Standard in 1950.
Wabash 40 foot box car 82583 built by the railroad in 1922 and re-built in 1941.
Wabash 40 foot box car 23xxxx built by the railroad in 1922, rebuilt in 1941 and acquired by Ann Arbor and currently numbered X4646.
Pere Marquette 50 foot box car 72332 built by Ralston Car in 1946.
Grand Trunk Western 40 foot boxcar converted to maintenance-of-way and painted as 584388.
Steam Railroading Instititue combine 462, ex. Chicago and North Western 462, exx. Chicago Great Western 462, nee Chesapeake and Ohio 462 built by Pressed Steel in 1931.
Steam Railroading Institute I-B2 25 ton switcher "Mighty Mouse", nee Shelby Grain and Feed built by General Electric in the 1940's, purchased at auction in August 2008 and is the Steam Railroading Institute's yard switcher.
Ann Arbor caboose 2838 built by the Wabash Railroad in 1952.
Flat car with load.
Steam Railroading Institute burro crane 15027 built by Cullen-Friestedt in the 1940's, lettered as Grand Trunk Western 15027.
Great Lakes Central GP35 385, ex. Tuscola and Saginaw Bay 385, nee Ann Arbor 385 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1964.
Great Lakes Central coach 5447, ex. VIA 5447 1978, exx. Canadian National 5447 1968, exxx. Canadian National 32352, nee Canadian National 5447 built by Canadian Car and Foundry in 1954.
Mississippian Railway 2-8-0 76 built by Baldwin in 1920 as Jonesboro, Lake City & Eastern Railroad Company 40. It was re-numbered 76 when leased to the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway in 1925. In 1947, it was sold to the Mississippian Railway in Amory, Mississippi. Twenty years later it was sold to Sloan Cornell to operate on the Penn View Mountain Railroad at Blairsville, Pennsylvania. Then in 1976, it moved along with Sloan Cornell's operation to the Gettysburg Railway in Gettysburg, Pennyslvania.
The Mississippian Railway was established in 1923 to haul lumber products from Fulton to an interchange with the Frisco in Amory. In 1944 a bentonite plant was built in Smithville to take advantage of a deposits discovered there which lead to a surge in business and gave the line its nickname the "Bentonite Road". By 1968 the Smithville bentonite deposits had been depleted and the plant was closed, although several Fulton industries continued to provide traffic for the railroad.
The tender from Mississippian 2-8-0 76.
Great Lakes Central GP35 2681, ex. Tuscola and Saginaw Bay 2681, nee Southern 2681 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1965.
Two of the six former Metra (originally Chicago, Burlington and Quincy) bi-level cars in the Great Lakes Central yard for the proposed Detroit to Ann Arbor service.
A piece of Pere Marquette 1225. This volunteer told us that everyone else had to leave due to a family emergency and that he did not have the keys to the building. I told him that was alright and that we were still enjoying our time here. It bought back all of our Train Festival 2009 memories.
Former Rock Island 4-8-4 tender built by American Locomotive Company in 1929 which serves as a spare tender and is used for longer excursions behind Pere Marquette 1225.
Ann Arbor caboose 2839 built by the Wabash Railroad in 1952.
BOMX coach 147, ex. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum {long-term lease since 2005}, exx. MARC 147, exxx. SEMTA 107, exxxx. Penn Central 1513, nee Pennsylvania Railroad streamlined sleeper "Norristown Inn" 8275 built by Budd in 1949. It was built into a coach in the 1960s.
Steam Railroading Institute coach 5581, nee Canadian National 5581 built by Canadian Car and Foundry in 1954.
Steam Railroading Institute 76-seat coach 5646, ex. VIA 5646, nee Canadian National 5646 built by Canadian Car and Foundry in 1954.
United States Army troop sleeper built by Pullman in 1943, sold to Detroit and Mackinac and re-built to a power car.
The 7.5 gauge miniature railroad which ended our visit to the grounds of the Steam Railroading Institute. From Owosso we drove to Durand and parked across from Durand Union Station.
Durand Union Station built in 1903. Eighteen months afterward, it was almost completely destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1905.
BC Rail 4603 East with Canadian National 2701 came through while we were here.
Santa Fe caboose 1647 built by American Car and Foundry in 1927. It was rebuilt twice by the ATSF before the Grand Trunk Western purchased it in 1969. Upon delivery, it was re-numbered to 75003 to match the local standard. This caboose was used around the Durand area until 1988, when it was sent to Port Huron’s yard and retired in August 1989. Shortly thereafter, it was purchased by Jim and Laurie Kapp and donated to Durand Union Station.
Grand Trunk Western 4-6-2 5632 built by Baldwin in 1929. 5632 worked into the 1950's and was donated to the City of Durand in 1961 and is on display on West Clinton Street near Durand City Hall on the old Ann Arbor Railroad right-of-way and the current Canadian National line.
Canadian National Colonist Sleeper 2791 built by Pullman in 19191. It was re-built into a baggage car and acquired by Grand Trunk Western and is currently numbered 8812.
Grand Trunk Western interlocking tower.
The Railroad Park.
The train then reversed into the yard around one leg of the wye here.
Grand Trunk Werstern 5632 West came through Durand.
The units then returned light before heading west. We drove into Lansing to have dinner before going to our hotel.
The Michigan Central station built in 1910 is Clara's Lansing Station where I had an excellent steak dinner. Unfortunately it closed in 2016 after 38 years of operation.
Michigan Central coach 5310, ex. Grand Trunk Western 5310, ex. Canadian National 62-seat coach 5310, nee Pullman parlour-drawing room "Wilmington". This was part of Clara's Restaurant.
The historical marker at the station. As we drove out to the Super 8 I took one last picture of the day.
The Michigan State Capitol in Lansing built in 1879. From here we checked into the Super 8 for the night.
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