Trackdog's Railroad Page

Trackdog's Railroad Page

f7coa.gif (37090 bytes)

Welcome to my railroad page. Now, even though most of the pictures on this page were taken by me, I don't go around chasing trains to take pictures and listen to the hot box detectors and such. I don't have anything against the people who do, but that's just not my thing. Anyway, if you haven't guessed yet, as a lad of nineteen, I was hired by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company. I went to work as a trackman in Michigan which was most of the Northern Region, or the old Pere Marquette District. The C&O Railway at that time was part of the Chessie System. Now, of course, all that has become part of CSX Transportation. How do you like the way I seamlessly slipped that hyperlink in there?

chessie1.gif (2768 bytes) pmlogo2.gif (1421 bytes) ac4400.gif (15983 bytes) C&Ologo.gif (2273 bytes) chescat.gif (4190 bytes)

Thanks to Ken Houghton, Pere Marquette Historical Society and Max Hanley for use of logos.

Well, this being a railroad page, you would expect to see some pictures and stuff. I won't disappoint you. In my current incarnation, I help put together railroad grade crossing safety projects on local roadways for the Michigan Department of Transportation. In my job, I sometimes have to travel around the state and hang out around railroads. This gives me the opportunity to take a few pictures. For you taxpayers out there, I'm still working hard for ya! I'm not up on the details such as locomotive types, so if you want to complain or supply me with the information, you can email me at mleon@aol.com.

Dead Locomotive Society

The Pere Marquette 1223 in Grand Haven, preserved in non-running condition.

New York Central Alco in Adrian

Hillsdale County Railroad in Hillsdale

Sitting behind the engine house in Alpena, this Lake State Railway switcher is now used for parts.

Chicago South Shore & South Bend somewhere in Lenawee County

Michigan Interstate deader (Formerly Ann Arbor Railroad) also somewhere in Lenawee County

A Lake Superior and Ishpeming loco resting peacefully in an Escanaba salvage yard

semaup3.gif (3148 bytes) Alive, But Not Pretty

Missabe retread in the Upper Peninsula on Wisconsin Central, although I can't remember where.

The Escanaba and Lake Superior working in Iron Mountain.

Operation Lifesaver painted Grand Trunk Western running light in Woodhaven.

Lake State RailwayAlco crossing Matthews Street in Tawas (I know, it still has a Detroit and Mackinac paint job).

With a snowstorm raging in Hermansville, the snake* had to get out and try to unfreeze the horn on this Union Pacific engine, during the brief period the UP was operating in Michigan. * snake = trainman according to my engineer buddy.

As I was driving through Manistique on a lovely winter's day, I encountered this radio-controlled locomotive belonging to the Manistique Papers Inc.

A Lafarge switcher shoving cars at the big cement plant in Alpena.

Clean(er) Machines

A special treat for you. The Trackdog uncovered an old photo (pardon the quality) of his old section gang near Woodbury in the early to mid-80's unloading ballast.

The Huron and Eastern's City of Bad Axe shoving cars across Tom's grandmother's crossing in the Village of Reese. (Hi Tom)

A string of Central Michigan Railway locomotives ready for action in Bay City.

The beautiful Michigan Southern RS-1 ? that I was lucky enough to ride for a corridor grade crossing review. Here it is working across the diamond in Sturgis.

Very clean Mid-Michigan Railroad Locomotive sitting in the Grand Rapids Eastern yard in Grand Rapids. It's okay, they're Railtex cousins.

For sale are a couple of Leelanau Scenic Railroad locomotives. I guess they run and are for sale. This picture was supplied by my friend, Tom McNamara.

Sorry about the fence, but here is a Detroit Edison switcher in Trenton (I think)

How about another Wisconsin Central train near Kinross in the U.P.

Southbound CSX freight hammers across the NS diamond in Romulus. While you are in Romulus, Brett says to make sure you stop by the Landing Strip for a Tracy burger.

A Norfolk Southern train about to cross the Ann Arbor diamond in Milan.

swsyst.gif (2266 bytes) (Non)Classification Yard

Highway-Railroad grade seperation of a small railroad, located in Ann Arbor.

You know how people always complain about being held up by trains, well here's what it looks like when there's a little bit of fair play.

On a baking hot day in Panama, I took this picture of one of the locomotives that helped guide our cruise ship through the locks on the Pacific side.

While trying to figure out how to correctly place new warning devices at a crossing in Cadillac, I found that the city had already kept in mind low flying aircraft with the installation of this crossbuck.

I've always loved riding the streetcars in Toronto, so I had to include a photo.

Links to Trackdog's other RR related sites

Michigan Railroad Carferry Page
For other Carferries and RR Nautical stuff, visit the Railroad Nautical Page