Event: Warm April Evening When: April 15, 2000 Where: Lapeer, MI

     What could possibly be more appealing than sitting by a historic depot watching trains roll by on a pleasant spring evening? The Lapeer depot, built in 1900, is positioned between Port Huron and Flint on GT/CN's Flint Sub. The depot sees a great deal of traffic on it's single line main going to or coming from Canada. The city even has its own railroad -- the Lapeer Industrial Railroad -- owned and operated by the Adrian & Blissfield Railroad. When the depot is open (serving as the waiting room for the International) there are convenient restrooms and a place to warm up in the winter. Lapeer has become a favorite location for rail fans due to the high volume of traffic, and the fact that it is more quiet than places like Durand.

The Lapeer Industrial is a small railroad serving the industries in Lapeer. What makes this an interesting short line is their power. The most appealing to me is the old 30-ton Plymouth switcher. The railroad also operates a 65-ton GE center cab switcher that works along side the Plymouth. Using the spur off the main, these two engine interchange with CN/GT right off the main. Today, both engines were out near the station. The Plymouth was next to the main while GE was back by the grain silos. Neither one was operating, but it was still a treat to see them and made it worth the hour trip from my home near the Birmingham station.

     Unfortunately it was not a good day for Grand Trunk. Reports were that they were having trouble with CTC and a coal train with a couple wheels of the last car on the ground. As a result Amtrak was delayed, and fewer trains were able to pass through than normal. Just before Amtrak, a few local families showed up to watch the trains go through. By the end of the evening (we were there from about 5:00pm to 9:00pm), we were able to see only four trains. Sadly there weren't more trains, but at least the few they did see were good ones (a CSX powered Edison coal train east bound, Amtrak's International east bound, and later one, a CN powered mixed freight west bound).