Since it was going to get up near 70 degrees for the first time in a while, I figured it would be a great day to spend at Durand Union Station and do some rail fanning! Getting there about 9:15am, it didn't take long for my first train to show up. CN Q149 (Montreal to Chicago) came through with a good sized train:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LPv6_7Aucc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
After that was a little bit of a break, but thanks to the ATCS monitor that the station has up in the window facing the main outdoor sitting area, I was able to keep an eye on the approaching traffic out near Lansing (about an hour west of Durand). Q149 came to a stop not far west of Durand and met an eastbound manifest who showed up at Durand at 11:52am:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2w47qp-ISQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
In the meantime, two more eastbounds showed up on the monitor, one coming straight towards Durand, the other, L502 (Battle Creek, MI to Toledo, OH), stopping at Cory Yard just west of Lansing. The second eastbound came through at 12:58pm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viM6al7FZas" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
After another break in traffic, the Huron and Eastern 701 from Bay City came into town with somewhere between 40 and 50 cars at 1:43pm to drop off in the yard before heading north back to Bay City. While the H&E put together it's northbound train (702), the Great Lakes Central's Osmer Turn (Owosso, MI to Osmer Siding north of Ann Arbor) came into the yard from the north. Also, 502, who had for sometime finished switching Cory Yard and was on it's way, had stopped just west of town to disconnect from part of it's train, bringing 21 cars east across the diamonds and past the depot, eventually stopping on the east side of town to wait for clearance to back around the Port Huron wye and into the yard. In order for this to happen, GLC had to get out of the way, so GLC was lined up south out of Durand and onto their own tracks. Here's a combined video of the HESR coming through the Port Huron Wye before backing into the yard, and the GLC leaving town:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmyGqdB3564" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
After GLC left, 502 backed into the yard with it's 21 cars, and after working the yard a bit, came out with 17 cars. After rounding the Port Huron Wye, then backing past the depot and across the diamonds again, it connected to the other 50 cars of it's train, and waited for northbound CN 451 (Flat Rock, MI to Hammond, IN) to come through before heading south down the Holly Subdivision to Pontiac and eventually Toledo. Meanwhile, HESR 702 backed around the Port Huron Wye, and then departed heading north back to Bay City with a shorter train than they had come into town with. Not long after 702 left, 451 came past the depot, entering the Flint Subdivision via the Chicago Wye at 3:45pm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jjk8x-UpoY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
A few minutes after 451, 502 came around the Chicago Wye and continued south on it's journey into SE Michigan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl-PEYBRFoY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Then, finally, after another break, an eastbound proceeded through town at 4:57pm after stopping briefly on the west side of town:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lp6RCA4VT0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Overall, not a bad day for rail fanning at Durand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LPv6_7Aucc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
After that was a little bit of a break, but thanks to the ATCS monitor that the station has up in the window facing the main outdoor sitting area, I was able to keep an eye on the approaching traffic out near Lansing (about an hour west of Durand). Q149 came to a stop not far west of Durand and met an eastbound manifest who showed up at Durand at 11:52am:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2w47qp-ISQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
In the meantime, two more eastbounds showed up on the monitor, one coming straight towards Durand, the other, L502 (Battle Creek, MI to Toledo, OH), stopping at Cory Yard just west of Lansing. The second eastbound came through at 12:58pm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viM6al7FZas" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
After another break in traffic, the Huron and Eastern 701 from Bay City came into town with somewhere between 40 and 50 cars at 1:43pm to drop off in the yard before heading north back to Bay City. While the H&E put together it's northbound train (702), the Great Lakes Central's Osmer Turn (Owosso, MI to Osmer Siding north of Ann Arbor) came into the yard from the north. Also, 502, who had for sometime finished switching Cory Yard and was on it's way, had stopped just west of town to disconnect from part of it's train, bringing 21 cars east across the diamonds and past the depot, eventually stopping on the east side of town to wait for clearance to back around the Port Huron wye and into the yard. In order for this to happen, GLC had to get out of the way, so GLC was lined up south out of Durand and onto their own tracks. Here's a combined video of the HESR coming through the Port Huron Wye before backing into the yard, and the GLC leaving town:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmyGqdB3564" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
After GLC left, 502 backed into the yard with it's 21 cars, and after working the yard a bit, came out with 17 cars. After rounding the Port Huron Wye, then backing past the depot and across the diamonds again, it connected to the other 50 cars of it's train, and waited for northbound CN 451 (Flat Rock, MI to Hammond, IN) to come through before heading south down the Holly Subdivision to Pontiac and eventually Toledo. Meanwhile, HESR 702 backed around the Port Huron Wye, and then departed heading north back to Bay City with a shorter train than they had come into town with. Not long after 702 left, 451 came past the depot, entering the Flint Subdivision via the Chicago Wye at 3:45pm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jjk8x-UpoY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
A few minutes after 451, 502 came around the Chicago Wye and continued south on it's journey into SE Michigan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl-PEYBRFoY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Then, finally, after another break, an eastbound proceeded through town at 4:57pm after stopping briefly on the west side of town:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lp6RCA4VT0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Overall, not a bad day for rail fanning at Durand.
Michigan Trains Youtube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc5AC6 ... E7wQUw-reQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
