Morning round-up

Bah, this whole updating a blog thing is hard . Anyway, news and happenings around the state:

• Overview in the Dearborn Press & Guide about the prospects of passenger rail, with a specific emphasis on a new intermodal station in Dearborn.
• Press release from MDOT about celebrations taking place along the route of the Pere Marquette commemorating 25 years of operation. May it last another 25!

Morning round-up

A busy weekend in the Kalamazoo area for trains! The CK&S rail festival in Delton on Saturday, and yesterday the Southern Pacific 4449 passed through town on the way to Owosso via Durand and Battle Creek. I hope to have pictures up later today. In the news:

• Coverage in the Battle Creek Enquirer and Kalamazoo Gazette about the 4449’s trip through yesterday.
• An interesting item in the Detroit News about an abandoned stretch of railway (the “Dequindre Cut“) being turned into a greenway. From the description it sounds like old Grand Trunk. More information here.

Morning round-up

News and happenings for July 17, 2009:

• The Grand Rapids Press reports that Holland’s train station will be closed for the next two weeks because of construction at Lincoln and 7th.
• Police have recovered the black box from the Ford Fusion involved in last week’s accident in Canton.

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the first annual CK&S rail festival in Delton, which I previously blogged about yesterday.

Morning round-up

News and happenings for July 16, 2009:

• Mlive reports that an illicit campfire in the Flint area damaged tracks  owned by the Canadian National. No injuries reported. In other fire-related news in Flint, a homeowner set his garage afire attempting to disperse unwanted rats with a smoke bomb.
• The Kalamazoo Gazette has a good write-up of events happening this week to commemorate the Chicago, Kalamazoo & Saginaw Railway. Yesterday a memorial was held in Delton on the 100th anniversary of a fatal rail crash, and on Saturday will occur the first annual CK&S Railfan Festival in Barry Township Park, noon to 5. Yours truly will be on hand to see what’s up.
• Two stories on hometownlife.com about the Canton crash: one about efforts to find the Fusion’s “black box” to determine whether the driver attempted to stop and one about the first responders on the scene.
• Hometownlife.com also reports that the U.S. House Appropriations committee approved $1.3 million for a new multi-modal transportation center in Birmingham. You can read more about this project at 15 Mile Transit.

We’ve moved

Along with kick-starting this after a year I’ve decided to move platforms, spurred on mostly by my good friend and occasional co-conspirator over at Cartastrophe. The old site is at blogspot for now. All zero regular readers, please update your feeds .

Final word on the Canton crash

The emerging view on the Canton crash is that the driver of the car blundered, for reasons unknown. (See the accounts in the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press.)

The car was traveling north on Hannan Road in Canton Township, near Wayne. The Wolverine was traveling west and up to speed (~70 mph). Looking at the Google street view it seems possible that the driver couldn’t see the train behind the trees (at right), but surely he heard the horn and saw the gates. At least one eyewitness saw the same, and Amtrak says the in-cab video proves the safety devices were working. The stretch is Norfolk Southern and sees plenty of freights; maybe the driver thought that he was trying to beat a slow freight. Certainly I’ve played tag with a Grand Elk slow freight in Kalamazoo before, but the difference there is (a) I don’t run around crossings and (b) I’ve seen the freight and verified it’s doing about 5-10 mph. Big difference.

New action on Greenville abandonment

Greenville has formally protested Mid-Michigan Railroad’s abandonment of the Greenville-Belding-Lowell line. ((story)

Study recommends light rail

The proposed Woodward light rail project continues to move forward in Detroit, with the Detroit Transit Options for Growth Study recommending a $371 million line from the State Fairgrounds to the downtown. Next step: convincing the feds to help pay for it. (story)

Update on Lowell-Greenville abandonment

The STB has released its environmental assessment of Mid-Michigan Railroad’s proposed Lowell-Greenville abandonment (previous post). No surprises in the report, and the STB concludes that the full environmental impact process isn’t necessary, just as it did for the Lowell-Ionia branch (post). They’re still waiting on input from the State Historic Preservation Officer, but I can’t imagine it’ll amount to much. MMRR proposes to take up the rails and leave all the rest–bridges, culverts and the roadbed. Public comment is open until May 19, 2008. (full report).

WALLY study goes forward

Livingston County has finally approved its piece-$15,000-of the feasbility study of the WALLY commuter line. (story)