We’re in Clinton on May 21, 1996, to see something a little out of the ordinary. This eastbound CSX train is led by former Grand Trunk Western GP38-2 No. 5715 still wearing its original livery. Note that the trailing unit is a Canadian National locomotive.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
A pair of Grand Trunk Western locomotives sporting a different type of livery are working in Toledo on July 20, 1982.
Photograph by Robert Farks
The wayback machine is set for Toledo, Ohio, Grand Trunk Western Railroad. We’ve landed in the summer of 1977 in front of GTW SD40 No. 5913 working in Lang Yard. The locomotive was built by EMD in January 1970.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
A Michigan appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit against the Grand Trunk Western Railroad stemming from a 2012 incident in which a teenager was struck by a train.
The case was brought by Jacob Marion who was 14 at the time he was hit. A court summary of the case indicated that Marion was walking down the tracks in Wyandotte in suburban Detroit while wearing headphones and listening to music.
A trial court judge had dismissed the case in 1989, citing evidence that the train crew sought to warn Marion but he didn’t respond.
In the appeals court decision, Judge Elizabeth Gleicher wrote that “a reasonable jury could conclude that [the] defendants had Jacob in plain sight and recognized his peril for a period of time sufficient to react so as not to strike him.”
The appeals court noted that although the train crew sounded the locomotive horn it did not activate the train’s emergency braking system in time to avoid striking Marion.
It also said trial judge Annette Berry in 1989 incorrectly interpreted a nineteenth century precedent as authority for dismissing the Marion’s case. The appeals court said tort law has come a long way since that case involving a deaf person struck by a hand car was decided in 1899.
The case was remanded to a Wayne County court for further consideration.
Back on July 25 Jeff Troutman and I photographed Canadian National 8952, the Grand Trunk Western heritage unit, leading eastbound CSX train K614.
We caught it in Perry just after 7 p.m. The sun angles at that time of the early evening were not ideal.
Last Sunday, Marty Surdyk and I drove to the Mahoning Valley to visit the Cornerfield Model Railroad in Huntsburg, and watch a Mahoning Valley Scrappers ballgame in Niles.
We also did some railfanning, but the only train we photographed was the local sitting in Perry (bottom photo above) that was probably getting its crew the next day.
We were hoping that we might get lucky and the GTW heritage unit would be returning. But it turned out to be not that day.
Two days later Heritage Units.com showed that westbound CSX train K615 had the GTW heritage unit leading.
What would be the chance it would get into my neighborhood in time before dark? With tons of luck it showed up near the same time as it had on July 25.
It was about 6:30 p.m. and the sun was nearly at the same angle as it had been on July 25th making it absolutely perfect for westbounds. I’m happy.
Photographs by Edward Ribinskas
I met Jeff Troutman in Perry on Sunday evening to catch CSX ethanol train K614. There were three other railfans there as well. What was special about his train is that it was led by Canadian National 8952, the Grand Trunk Western heritage unit. It passed through just after 7 p.m.
Photograph by Edward Ribinskas
The late Mike Ondecker and I found Grand Trunk Western GP9 4544 in Port Huron, Michigan, on April 20, 1976, at the locomotive service facility. It is teamed up with SD40 No. 5917.
Built in March 1957, the 4533 would be retired by GTW in 1991 but go on to serve such short line operations as the Kansas Southeastern Railway, Northern Plains Railway and the Renville Elevator Company.
A former Grand Trunk Western steam locomotive that has been on display in Michigan has been sold to a Pennsylvania short line railroad.
The locomotive, 4-6-2 No. 5030, has been on static display for more than 60 years in North Lawn Park in Jackson, Michigan.
The Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust has agreed to pay $50,000 over five years for the locomotive, a light Pacific type built in 1912 by Montreal Locomotive Works.
The trust represents a 9-mile short line railroad, the Colebrookdale Railroad in Boyertown, Pennsylvania.
The locomotive had been donated to Jackson in in 1957. City officials said they agreed to sell it after concluding they lacked the money needed to continue to maintain it.
Colebrooke officials said they have been looking to acquire a steam locomotive for their tourist operations
Moving and rebuilding the locomotive is expected to cost $2 million.
With the recent debut of the Canadian National Heritage schemes, I looked back in my photo collection knowing I had examples from years ago.
I found from several photographs of Grand Trunk Western motive power that I made while railfanning with Marty Surdyk in Toledo and Durand, Michigan.
There are, of course several locomotives still wearing Grand Trunk and Illinois Central liveries that are in pretty good condition.
In this post are some photographs from 1984 and 1985, including images made during a railfan outing on April 29, 1984, to Toledo.
Also shown are excursions sponsored by the Bluewater Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society from Toledo to Durand for the May 5, 1985, Durand Railroad Days.
During that event a caboose train offered train rides.
In addition to Toledo and Durand, some photographs were made in Michigan at Luna, Monroe, Wyandotte and Corunna.
Flat Rock, Michigan, was the home of the classification yard of the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton.
It became a key terminal for the Grand Trunk Western after it acquired the DT&I in 1980.
GTW was known for its colorful red and blue locomotives with white stripes, numbers and herald.
In the image above SD40 No. 5918 is in Flat Rock on Aug. 11, 1982. This unit was built for the GTW in January 1970.
akronrrclub.wordpress.com 