Bay City Northern (BCN)
Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 1:30 pm
Bay City Northern (BCN) started service in 2016 on former LSRC/nee D&M lines from Bay City to Gaylord (approx. 120 miles) and Pinconning Jct. to Alpena (approx. 108 miles). After the passing of LSRC owner in 2011 these lines didn't receive the attention needed to sustain and grow traffic and LSRC hadn't established the dynamic Team in place now. I took advantage of the opportunity to acquire the lines while traffic and track conditions were poor.
The original engines at the start up included:
- 1 SD40
- 2 GP40's
- 1 GP40X
Owner: Bay City Northern 6300
Model: EMD SD40 Built As: GTW 5921 (SD40)
Serial Number: 36887 Order No: 7289
Frame Number: 7289-1 Built: 8/1970
Notes: Acquired from LSRC at start up
Other locos with this serial: LSRC 5921(SD40) GTW 5921(SD40)
Owner: Bay City Northern 4300
Model: EMD GP40X Built As: SP 7230 (GP40X)
Serial Number: 766016-3 Order No: 766016
Frame Number: 766016-3 Built: 2/1978
Notes: Acquired from LSRC at start up
Other locos with this serial: LSRC 4300(GP40X) HLCX 4300(GP40X) HATX 4300(GP40X)SP 7230(GP40X)
Owner: Bay City Northern 4301
Model: EMD GP40 Built As: DRGW 3065 (GP40)
Serial Number: 32171 Order No: 7921
Frame Number: 7921-2 Built: 9/1966
Notes: Acquired from LSRC at start-up
Other locos with this serial: LSRC 4301(GP40) HLCX 4301(GP40) DRGW 3065(GP40)
Owner: Bay City Northern 4302
Model: EMD GP40 Built As: NYC 3095 (GP40)
Serial Number: 33506 Order No: 7064
Frame Number: 7064-16 Built: 10/1967
Notes: Acquired from LSRC at start-up
Other locos with this serial: LSRC 4302(GP40) KYLE 3114(GP40) HLCX 4302(GP40) AMTK 653(GP40) CR 3095(GP40) PC 3095(GP40) NYC 3095(GP40)
An engine house and shops are in Bay City. An engine shed and light maintenance is performed in Alpena.
The operations at the start-up included:
• Bay City: The weekday yard job will dog-catch the overnight road job from Alpena at Pinconning Jct. returning to Bay City Yard where it breaks it up and makes up the overnight road train. Twice a week (sometimes three) they run to Pinconning Jct. to meet the Grayling Job where they exchange trains. They interchange cars with HESR and LSRC. They also switch local Bay City customers and several times a week will run to Kawkawlin to switch the stone yard. At the end of their shift, they take the Alpena Job to Pinconning Jct. where the night crew takes over.
• Grayling: A weekday job handles all switching from Grayling to Gaylord. Twice a week (sometimes three) they run to Pinconning Jct. where they will meet the Bay City crew and exchange trains. They handle any switching at Standish enroute.
• Alpena: A weekday crew may have to dog catch the Tawas Road Job and bring it back to Alpena. They switch Alpena customers and build the night road train to Tawas.
Road Train Operations:
• Bay City hosts a weeknight road train to Tawas. The Bay City crew will take it as far as Pinconning Jct. where the night crew takes over, runs to Tawas, switching local customers enroute, swaps trains with the Alpena night train then returns to Pinconning Jct. where the Bay City crew will take it back to Bay City.
• Alpena has a weeknight road train to Tawas. They run to Tawas, switching local customers enroute, exchange trains with the Bay City weeknight crew and return to Alpena.
Customers at the 2016 start-up included:
• Edward C. Levy operates the limestone plant in Alpena and ships around 5,000 cars annually, mostly to Flint and Kawkawlin.
• Lafarge in Alpena receives 900-1,350 carloads a year of fly-ash and ships out 1,600-2,400 cars a year of cement.
• Georgia-Pacific Resin Plant receives 9-12 cars a week of feed stock and ships out 9-12 cars a week of resin and wood glue. In addition, they ship another 3-5 cars a week to other BCN customers like Michigan Panel and Weyerhaeuser.
• Weyerhaeuser in Grayling receives 2-3 cars a week of resin (from G-P next door, about a half mile movement) and ships out 6-10 cars a week of Oriented Strand Board.
• The Anderson’s in Standish ships 430-570 cars a year of grain including 85 & 90 car unit trains.
• LC Redimix in Grayling receives 350-500 cars a year of mostly limestone but other aggregates too. They arrive in up to 20-car blocks when busy and half to a third of that when slower.
• SC Johnson in Bay City receives 4-6 car loads of resin per week.
• A&L in Gaylord ships 2-3 cars a week of metal scrap.
• Michigan Panel Board ships from Team tracks in Alpena 2-3 outbound cars of panel board, receives 1-2 cars of resin, etc. and ships out a car of week of wood ethanol.
Other commodities handled includes fertilizer, lubricants, lumber, military vehicles (including unit trains to Grayling), petroleum products, plastic pellets and windmills.
The original engines at the start up included:
- 1 SD40
- 2 GP40's
- 1 GP40X
Owner: Bay City Northern 6300
Model: EMD SD40 Built As: GTW 5921 (SD40)
Serial Number: 36887 Order No: 7289
Frame Number: 7289-1 Built: 8/1970
Notes: Acquired from LSRC at start up
Other locos with this serial: LSRC 5921(SD40) GTW 5921(SD40)
Owner: Bay City Northern 4300
Model: EMD GP40X Built As: SP 7230 (GP40X)
Serial Number: 766016-3 Order No: 766016
Frame Number: 766016-3 Built: 2/1978
Notes: Acquired from LSRC at start up
Other locos with this serial: LSRC 4300(GP40X) HLCX 4300(GP40X) HATX 4300(GP40X)SP 7230(GP40X)
Owner: Bay City Northern 4301
Model: EMD GP40 Built As: DRGW 3065 (GP40)
Serial Number: 32171 Order No: 7921
Frame Number: 7921-2 Built: 9/1966
Notes: Acquired from LSRC at start-up
Other locos with this serial: LSRC 4301(GP40) HLCX 4301(GP40) DRGW 3065(GP40)
Owner: Bay City Northern 4302
Model: EMD GP40 Built As: NYC 3095 (GP40)
Serial Number: 33506 Order No: 7064
Frame Number: 7064-16 Built: 10/1967
Notes: Acquired from LSRC at start-up
Other locos with this serial: LSRC 4302(GP40) KYLE 3114(GP40) HLCX 4302(GP40) AMTK 653(GP40) CR 3095(GP40) PC 3095(GP40) NYC 3095(GP40)
An engine house and shops are in Bay City. An engine shed and light maintenance is performed in Alpena.
The operations at the start-up included:
• Bay City: The weekday yard job will dog-catch the overnight road job from Alpena at Pinconning Jct. returning to Bay City Yard where it breaks it up and makes up the overnight road train. Twice a week (sometimes three) they run to Pinconning Jct. to meet the Grayling Job where they exchange trains. They interchange cars with HESR and LSRC. They also switch local Bay City customers and several times a week will run to Kawkawlin to switch the stone yard. At the end of their shift, they take the Alpena Job to Pinconning Jct. where the night crew takes over.
• Grayling: A weekday job handles all switching from Grayling to Gaylord. Twice a week (sometimes three) they run to Pinconning Jct. where they will meet the Bay City crew and exchange trains. They handle any switching at Standish enroute.
• Alpena: A weekday crew may have to dog catch the Tawas Road Job and bring it back to Alpena. They switch Alpena customers and build the night road train to Tawas.
Road Train Operations:
• Bay City hosts a weeknight road train to Tawas. The Bay City crew will take it as far as Pinconning Jct. where the night crew takes over, runs to Tawas, switching local customers enroute, swaps trains with the Alpena night train then returns to Pinconning Jct. where the Bay City crew will take it back to Bay City.
• Alpena has a weeknight road train to Tawas. They run to Tawas, switching local customers enroute, exchange trains with the Bay City weeknight crew and return to Alpena.
Customers at the 2016 start-up included:
• Edward C. Levy operates the limestone plant in Alpena and ships around 5,000 cars annually, mostly to Flint and Kawkawlin.
• Lafarge in Alpena receives 900-1,350 carloads a year of fly-ash and ships out 1,600-2,400 cars a year of cement.
• Georgia-Pacific Resin Plant receives 9-12 cars a week of feed stock and ships out 9-12 cars a week of resin and wood glue. In addition, they ship another 3-5 cars a week to other BCN customers like Michigan Panel and Weyerhaeuser.
• Weyerhaeuser in Grayling receives 2-3 cars a week of resin (from G-P next door, about a half mile movement) and ships out 6-10 cars a week of Oriented Strand Board.
• The Anderson’s in Standish ships 430-570 cars a year of grain including 85 & 90 car unit trains.
• LC Redimix in Grayling receives 350-500 cars a year of mostly limestone but other aggregates too. They arrive in up to 20-car blocks when busy and half to a third of that when slower.
• SC Johnson in Bay City receives 4-6 car loads of resin per week.
• A&L in Gaylord ships 2-3 cars a week of metal scrap.
• Michigan Panel Board ships from Team tracks in Alpena 2-3 outbound cars of panel board, receives 1-2 cars of resin, etc. and ships out a car of week of wood ethanol.
Other commodities handled includes fertilizer, lubricants, lumber, military vehicles (including unit trains to Grayling), petroleum products, plastic pellets and windmills.