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How long has Twin City Foods in Lake Odessa been a rail customer? I always thought they were a regular user going back many years, even before Twin City Foods but looking at a few profiles there is a gap in service. A track profile updated to 1974 shows a track into an unnamed industry on the north side of the track in Lake Odessa. Beavers' maps from 1995 show 2 tracks into Twin City Foods. A profile from 1991 shows no track to an industry north of the track. Also, an Inspection Trip booklet from 1985 lists customers along the Plymouth Subdivision and carloadings and there is no mention of anything in Lake Odessa. Anyone know the history?

Life Long resident of Lake Odessa here:

Twin City built a very large freezer warehouse and freezing/packing plant in the mid 80's. As long as I can remember (back to the 70's) they have been a rail customer. There may have been a few small gaps in service but I always recall tracks to the plant. There is another rail spur to the older portion of the plant further north north/west of the current loading spur. It didn't become Twin City foods until the mid 80's. Before then the locals always just referred to it as "The Canning Factory" even though they have been freezing and not canning since the 70's. I don't remember it's official name other than "The Canning Factory." It has also always been on that site. The other industry on the north side of the tracks is now APEC, formerly Spartan Engineered Products, and I don't recall what before then (I want to say it was affiliated with motor wheel somehow but that memory is fuzzy). The team track was also in that area if I recall. I'll do some asking around town. If I learn anything new different or got anything wrong I'll try to post it here.

Thank you for the good info Jetlink

How often do they get switched and how many cars do they usually receive/ship?

Usually 4-9 cars there at any one time. Lately I think about 2 times a week. The most I have ever counted at the plant was 9 cars. Seems they usually come and go 4 at a time. Usually stage them on and pick them up from what I would call the old team track. This is all casual observation. I don't track car names/numbers or record trains and switch dates.

Thanks Jetlink. When I moved to Ionia in 1972 it was the Lake Odessa Canning Company. I remember that because there was a derailment in front of the facility in the early-mid 70’s. I remember an article with photos in The Ionia paper.

A few years ago (2017), I was called on an extra D907 out of Lansing to re-rail the D707 that had derailed at Twin City Foods. The crew had attempted to take an SD50 and an ES44AH into the west spur at Twin City Foods and promptly rolled the rail right over. That track had probably not seen anything heavier than a loaded reefer and their track mobile in over 25 years.