Q326/Q327 BEING ELIMINATED ON EAST END

[Bentrail]

Look like another hit for the csx guys in Gran Rapids.
Someone got a bright idea on saving money for the company and hurt the employee.
friday night will be the last night for y221 going out to elmdale and fox.

D708 is coming back to Grand Rapids yet again and will work from grand
Rapids to lansing turn.
D709 will work from plymouth to williamston turn.

So there goes more pool jobs being cut let the for the detroit side.

Hey Doc have you heard of this.

[AARR]

Can someone fill me in which train is Q326/327? Are those the Detroit-Grand Rapids trains?

I'm not so sure if changing D709's start from Lansing to Plymouth is a bad move. Seems like it's always had trouble completing its work when it started from Lansing.

[~Z~]

Bah.... wonder if cars for Lansing will be dropped off/picked up by Q334/Q335 now? Lansing yard job servicing around town?
Not too long ago, D708 would get recrewed frequently when it was stationed in GR and ran out towards Grand Ledge...now they may have to get/set off cars in Lansing as well...wow, that train will get recrewed daily I'm sure. Someone must have seen that Q326 and Q327 between GR and lansing doesn't have many cars on it most days....
Hope this is just a bad early April Fools joke.

And yes Don, Q326 runs Chicago/GR/Detroit and Q327 runs Detroit/GR/Chicago.

[KenB]

Any information on call time for D709 out of Plymouth and what days will it operate?

[BL2-1843]

I did hear two days ago that effective Saturday, the A-2? pool ( or something like that) out of Grand Rapids eastward would be cut off. Now that I hear about this, it could very easily be done. Q326 and Q327 between Detroit and Grand Rapids was nothing more than a shuttle for Ensel traffic more often than not, with 90% of the traffic on these trains being just that.

If D708 runs from GR to Ensel and return and and D709 works Plymouth to Williamston (Webberville grain) Any cars for these industries and GLC could still come into Detroit/Plmouth on Q-399 and anything from Ensel west could come on Q335, and without having to stop at Ensel for the cars could come back east on D708.

This would be great news for International Paper who would then be switched in the number two position after Ann Pere. Century Truss, on the few times they get cars anymore, would be last to be switched. However, with as many hours as it takes to switched Thermofil every night, it may be Ogihara that gets shafted as well.

All of this will prove very interesting, even if, as usual, the brain childs who thinks of these things did not plan beyond paper, that this would work. And perhaps working out of Plmouth, D709 would stand a better chance of a recrews to finish the work than they got when at Ensel. Actually, I can visualize nightly recrews on both D708 and D709.

[amtrak1007]

Look like another hit for the csx guys in Gran Rapids.
Someone got a bright idea on saving money for the company and hurt the employee.
friday night will be the last night for y221 going out to elmdale and fox.

D708 is coming back to Grand Rapids yet again and will work from grand
Rapids to lansing turn.
D709 will work from plymouth to williamston turn.

So there goes more pool jobs being cut let the for the detroit side.

Hey Doc have you heard of this.

Y221 or Y321? I didn't know Y221 went out east... Any idea what the call times for the new turns will be?

[CAT345C]

They have been putting cars in the old CTC track what is a westbound switch, the other day there was an ancient SCL gon with new rail on the siding I only knew it was SCL after staring at it, and doing some guess work. There was also a CSXT gon on the track before that, though it may have been the rail that they were using by th cantilever and out at Griswald. So I hope this change puts D709 on a day schedule, so lets see, not its: X500, Q334/334 and D709 thats three trains, I should just move to clyde.

[SD80MAC]

Watch, D708 will be night time, and the only thing I'll for sure see is Q335 and X500 on the days it runs. Maybe 327 will leave GR earliar in the day.....

[RailCanon]

I'm a bit confused by what Doc's posted and what everyone is saying. Are Q326 and Q327 both getting cut east of GR, or are they staying for now?

Lansing yard job servicing around town?

Ensel's job, Y102, services at least two customers in the vicinity of the yard, the NS interchange, and MPC Cashway Lumber, in the Cash block west of town. It also has the job of switching MSU's coal plant as required. So in short, I can't see Y102 going anywhere.
Auctually if you look at it, Lansing may end up looking like Holland. In Holland, Y121 does the local/yard work, and D700 comes in to make the pickups and setouts. That will probably be what happens here, with Y102 and D708.

[SD80MAC]

I'm a bit confused by what Doc's posted and what everyone is saying. Are Q326 and Q327 both getting cut east of GR, or are they staying for now?

Lansing yard job servicing around town?

Ensel's job, Y102, services at least two customers in the vicinity of the yard, the NS interchange, and MPC Cashway Lumber, in the Cash block west of town. It also has the job of switching MSU's coal plant as required. So in short, I can't see Y102 going anywhere.

From what I gather, Q326 is only going as far GR, and Q327 will now originate in GR. D708 will shuttle the GR-Lansing cars and switch the industries they switch now, and maybe Alto and Fox? (is Y320/321 getting abolished?)

[RailCanon]

Cutting Q326 east of Grand Rapids is a good move, I think, but Q327 usually has a decent sized train out of Detroit. Granted, they do loose some of it at Lansing, but they gain a lot more again at Grand Rapids. I think Q327 should remain running as is.

[EJE Dispatcher]

The last few week west of Ensel it has been about on average only 12-20 cars and more power than what should have been on the train. Q326/Q327 west of GR are sometimes landbarges.. Meaning it would be a good move to consolidate Q326/27 with Q334/35 making the crews work ENSEL and drop cars in Plymouth on the way to and from Toledo. Bad news is less trains...

[CAT345C]

What train does the MSU coal take to Detroit, how does it get to Rouge for 327? Does CSX take it, or does CN bring it up or NS?

[sd70accsxt700]

Well if this is true, it looks like Q335/334 will handle everything that needs to go from Lansing proper to GR. Q392 for detroit, will insted of taking the lansing cars into detroit for 327 will now just hand them off to the local at plymouth. That could get real intresting some night we set off 40 or more as it is, I cant imagine setting off 60 or more every night.

Mike as of right now, all Lansing cars comming from the east, move via Q392 out of stanley to Rouge, for 327 to take to Lansing. Then later 326 brings them to Rouge for Q399 to take back to Stanley.

[GP30M4216]

Well, I caught Q326-22 today, departing Grand Rapids east perhaps on one of its last runs! They got the light to leave from Track 9 of Wyoming at 1PM, and I saw them at Godfrey at 1:15.

CSXT 7513
CSXT 7620
CSXT 6133
CSXT 2738
6 cars.

Bummer that they are being abolished east of Grand Rapids, but especially with Q326, I can see why. Hopefully the local boys on the "new" D709 and D708 will be able to good work and get all the customers switched out in a decent manner. I also wonder if Y321 (Or 320, or 221, or whatever it is that goes to Alto now) will be abolished, or if they will continue to switch to Fox, and D708 will handle everything from there to Lansing. At least in regards to Lansing, the work should be easy. Drop off all Lansing traffic, pick up the cut from Lansing, be on their way back to GR. But if the cars for Lansing come from GR and travel on D708, will Q334/Q335 have to do any Lansing work at all? What time does the Lansing yard local go on duty now, anyways?

D709 coming from Plymouth may present some new opportunities for photos and the like going west from the diamond at MP24.5 IF they run during the daylight. Hopefully, they'll at least grace us with a daylight D708 and D709 call time. Of course, if they do need daily recrews, we'll probably see them under the sun anyhow, just on a less predictable schedule. It would also be nice if they moves Q327's WB GR departure to a convenient morning time like 10am..... or anytime in the afternoon

Doc, did you mean that the BNSF ESSEXVILLE coal via GR will be starting in force soon again, or West Olive coal coming from CSX coal fields?

Thanks for all your reports and updates guys. I'll update the Chessie Chapter accordingly over the next few days to reflect the new changes.

[SD80MAC]

I think Doc means the West Olive coal avalanche from BNSF, which we've all been told is going to happen any day now....... for 2 years.

[Racer]

......I should just move to clyde.

Or to Plymouth!

[Racer]

I think Doc means the West Olive coal avalanche from BNSF, which we've all been told is going to happen any day now....... for 2 years.

What's that exactly?

[AARR]

Chrisracer8903, for several years we've been hearing that consumer's West Olive plant would begin receiving 2-3 unit trains per day, like DTE's in Monroe. But from what I've read it hasn't happened yet.

I'd like to see North Muskegon's plant get some rail service. You guys on MS think it will ever happen?

[sd70accsxt700]

Word on the street (dont ask the address, heck I dont even know what street ) is that along with the stoppage of Q326/327, Q392 & Q399 will no longer work Plymouth. They want them to run all the way to and from Detroit and Stanley. D717 will make a daily turn between Plymouth and Rouge, to move the Plymouth (and points west) cars. Only thing is it will now take a day longer to move those cars, as I have serious doughts that Stanly will continue to block plymouths for a train that does not stop there. So cars more than likeley will have to be switched out at Rouge first.