Trip to Alma

Anything pertaining to railfanning in Michigan.
chapmaja
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 1261
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 2:02 pm

Trip to Alma

Unread post by chapmaja »

I had to go to Alma again today for work (ok yesterday since it is after midnight).

The MMRR line had 6 boxcars on the siding near the old refinery site. These appear to be storage cars as I think they were there in January and October when I was up there previously.

I took some detours as I returned south. ZFS in Ithaca had a ton of cars on the property, but it appears right now they are storage. Two types of cars were present. Covered hoppers (3 bay) mainly with CBFX reporting marks and tank cars mainly in the CBTX reporting marks. All cars appeared new, and the tank cars did not have placards on them, which to me indicates they are likely new and as of now unused.

After Ithaca I went to Middleton. A decent cut of cars were at the elevator with more towards the "end" of the line. No sign of power left on the branch by the elevator and not enough cars for a unit train.

I decided to park for awhile in the lot by Amtrak in E. Lansing as well. Soon after arriving A CN WB headed by the depot. It was lead by CN 5745 pointed WB, then had WB facing BNSF 7881, EB facing BNSF 6886, 14 autoracks (MT I think), 2 4 bay covered hoppers, and 1 white tank car, and 5 black tank cars.

What train would this have been at about 5:15 pm through East Lansing?

David Lang
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 985
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:43 am

Re: Trip to Alma

Unread post by David Lang »

Thanks chapmaja for the report.

I have a question. The ZFS facility in Ithaca, that is on the old Ethanol property that never made a go of it correct?

What does ZFS do now? Seems like I heard a while back something (i.e. ZFS) was going to redevelop the site and use rail service. What is the situation?

Thanks.

David Lang

User avatar
AARR
Ann Arbor RR Nerd
Posts: 37905
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 7:39 pm
Location: Washington, MI

Re: Trip to Alma

Unread post by AARR »

Correct DAve. ZFS is the old ethanol plant and ZFS processes soybeans there.
David Lang wrote:Thanks chapmaja for the report.

I have a question. The ZFS facility in Ithaca, that is on the old Ethanol property that never made a go of it correct?

What does ZFS do now? Seems like I heard a while back something (i.e. ZFS) was going to redevelop the site and use rail service. What is the situation?

Thanks.

David Lang
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

blueheron13
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 531
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2017 4:01 pm
Location: All over Southeast Michigan

Re: Trip to Alma

Unread post by blueheron13 »

The CN train was L501, Flint to Battle Creek.
Amateur railfan trying to become a real railfan since 2017.

User avatar
HESR3868
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 96
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 7:25 am
Location: Alma, MI

Re: Trip to Alma

Unread post by HESR3868 »

chapmaja wrote:The MMRR line had 6 boxcars on the siding near the old refinery site. These appear to be storage cars as I think they were there in January and October when I was up there previously.
Those should be edible bean boxes indeed in storage. Slowly but surely they get ordered, but those have been sitting there for nearly a year.

chapmaja
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 1261
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 2:02 pm

Re: Trip to Alma

Unread post by chapmaja »

blueheron13 wrote:The CN train was L501, Flint to Battle Creek.
Would the autoracks on the head end have been destined for the yard on the SW side of Lansing then? I can't think of any other reason a Flint-BC train would have autoracks.

GTW6401
how bout no
Posts: 8741
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:07 pm

Re: Trip to Alma

Unread post by GTW6401 »

CN sorts autoracks into blocks at Battle Creek.

Cars from Flint would make those connections at Battle Creek for western destinations.

chapmaja
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 1261
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 2:02 pm

Re: Trip to Alma

Unread post by chapmaja »

I didn't include this, but the racks I saw on the train appeared empty. That is something that might make a difference.

Post Reply