Thursday, December 9, 2010

Today's Train of Thought- Swan Lake Creek, December 9, 2010


With the calendar turning to December (already? where did 2010 go?) today's train of through brings us back to a wintry scene on Michigan's lower peninsula.

Here, Railpictures.net contributor Jim Thias caught GMTX Leasing GP38-2 #2652 leading what's pretty much the entire Marquette Rail fleet northbound on Grand Rapids to Baldwin, MI train Z151 as it's getting ready to duck under Route 82 outside of Newaygo, MI on February 27, 2010.

With a fresh snowfall on the ground (as well as the trees and rails) and 100+ freight cars, the train needs all the traction it can get out of the mixed bag of leased GP38-2s and SD40-2s. The leading unit is still painted in Conrail blue with 'Conrail Quality' lettering still visible on the hood, while the trailing unit is identified as Marquette Rail SD40-2 #3001- the only unit to be painted in the railway's colors so far (some of the leased GP38-2s have a Marquette Rail logo applied to their front hood, but nothing as distinct as the 3001's paint scheme).

The swan in the creek to the right seems oblivious to the locomotives roaring past as it continues paddling away.

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