I’ll be travelling to Ann Arbor, MI this coming winter to see a hockey game, spend some dough on Michigan souveniers, and do some railroad sightseeing. I’ll be travelling there by train as well (the Empire Builder to Chicago, and the Wolverine to Ann Arbor), with the Wolverine being a new experience for me.
I’m interested in the Norfolk Southern operating over the former CR/PC/NYC through town, and the Tuscola & Saginaw Bay and Ann Arbor railroads, all of which operate there (at least according to my RR Atlas which is a few years old).
If anyone has ideas on good places to railfan in the Ann Arbor area, and/or information on the levels of freight operations there, I’d appreciate your input. I’m well aware of NS’ reputation regarding trespassing, so I’ll be careful to remain on public property (the Amtrak depot in Ann Arbor sounds like a good place).
Don’t know if you’ll have a car or not, but a visit to Durand would be well worth your time. It’s probably an hour or so north of Ann Arbor and west of Flint. Two CN lines cross there and you’re likely to see some CN action along with some yard action. Tuscola and Saginaw Bay ususally runs a couple of trains a day from the Ann Arbor area up to the yard in Durand. There’s a beautifully restored station there with a museum and gift shop and lots of historical info on GTW/CN. You might venture southeast to Plymouth as well where there is a CSX diamond. Have fun!
There have been a couple of articles on Detroit area railfanning in the past couple of years.
Durand is good - Take US23 north to I69 W (unless you’re into back roads). Plymouth is just a short distance from Ann Arbor up M14. There isn’t real good access to the diamond itself, but there is a restaurant there with a pretty good view of the tracks.
I-94 east (toward Detroit) will take you toward Dearborn and the Henry Ford - the Museum is worth the visit (even without the Allegheny - and it’s still there), and Greenfield Village (with it’s operating steam) may be open - check the website.
Can’t speak to points immediately south and west.
Two hours south on US23/I75 and you’re close to Fostoria and Deshler.
Do you get the feeling from the previous responses that Ann Arbor itself has little to offer?
When I was in college, our family had to go to Ann Arbor to attend a function that involved my sister, but was admittedly of little importance to me. So they let me use the car for a while. I went south on U.S. 23 down to Milan, where the then Norfolk & Western crossed the then (and now) Ann Arbor. Saw absolutely nothing in the time I was there (except for the tower at the crossing and a couple of STDX tank cars at a local industry). But that still might be a good place to see NS action, on one of their busiest main lines.
Plymouth is closer to Ann Arbor, and not a bad spot to watch CSX weave and wobble through (sometimes I think they just aren’t interested in these tracks any more!). There are a few good trackside restaurants there; I’ll vouch for Bode’s (south of the diamond), and another one to the east, by the old freight house, whose name I can’t remember.
And everyone has mentioned Durand, which is great for CN action. The only thing I can add is: just go there! All will be explained.
The only problem with the CN options for me is I’ve seen plenty of their operations in Minnesota. I see the Amtrak on-schedule performance for the Michigan service trains is abyssmal, due mostly to NS freight operations blocking. Does this offer me any hope that I might at least see some NS action through Ann Arbor on say a Friday morning/afternoon?