I have a lot of things on my railfanning bucket list for this summer before I head off to college, and one of them was to finally catch L513 switching on the Lake Orion branch and shoot pics/video of it. So me and my friend blocked out an evening to attempt to shoot the somewhat elusive local.
We started out in Pontiac yard where we ran into fellow RRFan user GTW6401, where we watched L513 with a former GTW GP38-2 putting blocks of pickups together for trains L507 and L508. Most of the cars being switched were from CN local L515.
IMG_4078 by David R. Collins, on Flickr
Block swapping is a pretty cool concept if you ask me, and I like watching the locals putting huge cuts of cars together.
About 20 minutes later, L513 hooked onto his 3 scrap gons and started making his way toward the lake orion branch. I decided to shoot the L513 over at the Walton Road Railroad Crossing. However, to my surprise, they turned south on the wye toward GM stamping, not toward ferrous (I always thought trains went in locomotive first there). They then reversed down the branch down toward FP, and started their work.
L513 shoving by the Walton signal case by David R. Collins, on Flickr
On the branch by David R. Collins, on Flickr
Not much more than 20 minutes later, L513 returned back to Pontiac Yard. While me and my friend were eating dinner, I received word that Amtrak 352 had one of the companies’ observation/theater cars, the American View on the rear. We ended up catching it at Opdyke Road.
L513 returning to Pontiac over Walton by David R. Collins, on Flickr
https://youtu.be/BHw0kwAeWqs (Amtrak 352 with the American View obs car)
That’s all for this trip report, more to some soon!
CN L513 on the Lake Orion branch + A surprise on Amtrak
- David Collins
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CN L513 on the Lake Orion branch + A surprise on Amtrak
Last edited by David Collins on Fri Jun 16, 2023 12:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ferris State University’s Train Guy
Youtube: Michigan Railfan Films
Flickr: David R. Collins
SC: daveeed1k
Youtube: Michigan Railfan Films
Flickr: David R. Collins
SC: daveeed1k
Re: CN L513 on the Lake Orion branch + A surprise on Amtrak
Thank you for posting your chase. It’s an enjoyable read and you took some very nice pictures.
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...