In like a lion … a very confused lion at least

Plow Extra Grant, photo by amtrak_russ.

March roared into Michigan a (leap) day early, dumping up to 16 inches of snow in parts of the UP. The Lansing State Journal reports that while the UP was buried, southern Michigan was boiling:

The National Weather Service says 10 to 16 inches fell in the Iron Mountain area, while the Ironwood area got up to 14 inches and the Menominee area up to 13 inches.

Icy road conditions were reported in parts of the southern Lower Peninsula early Wednesday, but warm winds pushed highs to spring-like levels. The weather service says Three Rivers hit 64 degrees, Kalamazoo 63, and Coldwater and South Haven 62.

The rules of folk wisdom dictate that with such a ferocious beginning, the month will end lamb gentle … but is that only for folks in the UP?

About this photo from last year Russell writes Marquette Rail ran a plow extra after the 2011 blizzard that dropped over 2 feet of snow and 50+ MPH winds. Here it is seen busting through the crossing in downtown Grant. Check it out bigger and in his Trains 2011 slideshow.

There’s a yard-full of trains on Michigan in Pictures!

Durand Union Station & Durand Railroad Days

Durand Train Station, HDR, photo by friday1970.

This weekend (May 13-15) is Durand Railroad Days. This annual event is in its 36th year and was established in 1975 to pay tribute
to the rail industry that helped develop the nation and was responsible
for the settlement of Durand late in the 1870s. The Michigan Railroad History Museum at Durand Union Station says:

The village of Durand was built up around the railroads in the late 1870′s. Durand Union Station was designed by Spier and Rohms and originally built in 1903. Eighteen months thereafter it was almost completely destroyed by fire and was rebuilt in 1905.

This was a very busy station as the Grand Trunk Western and Ann Arbor Railroads crossed at grade there. During the early 1900′s when the railroad industry was at its peak, 42 passenger trains, 22 mail trains, and 78 freight trains passed through Durand daily. Durand Union Station handled approximately 3,000 passengers per day, making it a prospering hub of the industry.

Read about the event & museum using the links above and definitely put the museum on your list of places to visit!

Check Tim’s photo out bigger. He writes that he was inspired by an old black & white photo from nearly the same spot.

You can see a similar photo right here and learn a lot more about Michigan’s railroading heritage from the Michigan Internet Railroad History Museum. There’s also a cool wallpaper sized photo of the station in the Absolute Michigan pool and (of course) you can learn a lot more about Michigan Trains & Railroads on Michigan in Pictures!

Charlevoix Railroad Depot

Charlevoix Depot………, photo by smiles7.

The Charlevoix Railroad Station to the Charlevoix Historical Society in June 1992 on the 100th anniversary of the first train arriving in Charlevoix.

When I was a kid, a friend of mine’s dad shot dealership posters for car companies. I couldn’t find the one we were in (fog machines and white clothes made it look like England as I recall) but I did find a 1957 Dodge Royal Lancer at the station.

Check this out bigger and in Julie’s Charlevoix slideshow.

Shaytown

Shaytown, photo by joeldinda.

A few years ago we ran an old photo of a Shay Locomotive on Michigan in Pictures. The other day, I came across this photo in our Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr. Joel writes:

I was wandering around the local backroads a few days ago when I spotted this sprawling barn and these tall grasses; seemed like a possible photograph….

Further research about the location turned up an unexpected gem. Seems that Shaytown was named for Ephraim Shay, inventor of the classic narrow-gauge lumbering locomotive, who became famous after bestowing his name on this corner. Recovering railfan that I am, I knew who he was, but hadn’t recognized the local connection.

Near as I can tell, Shay owned this property for four years or so shortly after the Civil War, where he ran a sawmill and (probably) a general store. Those are gone, and to all appearances the existing barn and house were built by later owners.

Nonetheless, a delightful surprise. Unfortunately, and despite the truck parked in the yard, both the house and barn seem to be abandoned.

Check this out nearly lifesize and also in his The Showcase slideshow.

Michigan by Rail: How will we get from here to there?

Untitled, photo by Brooke Pennington.

There’s a great post over on Absolute Michigan about a series of Michigan Rail Forums that are seeking to develop a statewide vision for freight, passenger and commuter rail – click over and check it out! There’s also a great video about the history of railroads in Michigan.

I for one love rail travel and I hope that Michigan can pull together a modern rail system that allows us all to sit back and enjoy the scenery as we ride the rails!

Check this out bigger in Brooke’s slideshow

Amtrak 23

Amtrak 23, photo by Jim Thias

Jim writes that this is Amtrak 23 at 50 MPH, blasting through a freshly plowed crossing in snowy west Michigan.

He’s got a lot more great train photos.

I love Michigan in Pictures

Holga_04_15.jpg, photo by Andy Tanguay

I think that Michigan in Pictures is the best web site that I have ever been involved with. Then again, my response to “You’ve won a trip to Milan!” would probably be “Milan, Michigan?”

One of the happiest parts of my life is that I get to spend some time every day looking at photos about Michigan from some amazing photographers and then learning about the subjects of the photographs and often times the people behind the lens. I’m very grateful for all that the photographers and readers contribute to make Michigan in Pictures what it is. Thanks!

The random background of the day on my computer is this photo from Andy’s Hardcore 313 set. This picture is of an abandoned train station station in Ypsilanti. It might be the same Ypsilanti train station where Presidents Ulysses S. Grant & Martin Van Buren delivered speeches and where Charles J. Guiteau, the assassin of President Garfield, was thrown off the train when the conductor found out he didn’t have a ticket.

Then again, it might be just an abandoned train station. You can view it bigger on white, or in Andy’s photostream.

Edit: Almost forgot! I did this post about Michigan in Pictures so I could link to it from the new Absolute Michigan group on Facebook.

A bridge for Obama

Untitled, photo by Jenny Murray.

So when I was looking through Michigan Obama photos I found this one by Jenny Murray.

It was one of two photos that was taken by photographers I know in Time Magazine’s Barack Obama on Flickr.

I thought that was pretty neat.

Happy Michigan Holidays

Holiday Train, photo by StormchaserMike Photography

The holiday season seems to too often become about things that I have no desire to celebrate – busy-ness, consumption and another excuse to fight about the fact that we are a country that is predicated on the acceptance of all religions and lack thereof.

Still, there’s a part of me that sat at the top of the stairs, waiting for the report as to whether or not Santa came, one that snuggled in bed with my grandmother listening to the radio announcer tracking that red and white clad superhero of wishes and dreams, who sang carols with my family around the tree on Christmas Eve.

That part wants – with much thanks to Samara and Paws of Roar of the Tigers – to wish all of you a Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa a belatedly Happy Eid al-Adha, a Happy Winter Solstice/Yule and a Happy Winter Season for those who prefer not to celebrate anything.

Be sure to check Mike’s Holiday Train out bigger and his whole Holidays slideshow.

Albion: History of The Forks

Destination, photo by Stephen K. Willi

In keeping with this blog’s tradition of “Well here I am, now where is that actually?” (as opposed to “Hey that looks cool, I wonder what’s up with that?”) I thought I’d take a look at the city of Albion. Although I come here once or twice a year, my knowledge has been confined to Albion College (which is always closed when I’m here), Albion’s world class sledding hill, the Bohm Theater, the “other” Cascarelli’s (cause Homer’s Cascarelli’s rocks), the Coca-Cola sign and one very cool bookstore. I suppose that could be enough to build a post on, but I have my reputation to think about. And so, with already far too much adieu…

Wikipedia’s entry for Albion, Michigan says that this city in Calhoun County had a population of 9,144 in 2000.

The first white settler, Tenney Peabody, arrived in 1833. As local legend goes, Peabody’s wife decided to name the city after Albion, Oswego County, New York where another prominent pioneer, Jesse Crowell, came from. The city was almost named Peabodyville, but Albion was the preferred choice.

….The forks of the Kalamazoo River provided power for mills and Albion quickly became a mill town as well as an agricultural market. A railroad line arrived in 1852, fostering the development of other industries.

From the time that the earliest English-speaking settlers arrived, the area has also been known as The Forks, because it is situated at the confluence of the north and south branches of the Kalamazoo River. The Festival of the Forks has been celebrated annually since 1967, celebrating Albion’s ethnic heritage.

If you want to really dive into the history, you’re in luck because the Albion Michigan website has an amazing amount of historical information courtesy of historian Frank Passic. The site is framed so it’s hard to link directly to stuff, but be sure to go to the Albion History section and click into the gallery of photographs.

See this photo larger in Stephen’s Black and White Photography slideshow (view set).