Chasing trains: the 2102 in Michigan, 1967

Scenes of the ex-Reading Co. Northern #2102 operating in excursion service in Michigan on the Grand Trunk Western in October and November 1967 by its new owner Steam Tours, Inc. out of Akron, Ohio.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• 2102
• 4-8-4
• Detroit
• Durand
• Grand_Trunk_Western
• Michigan
• railfan
• railroad
• railway
• steam_locomotive
• trains

[rwk360]

This was in a world BEFORE Amtrak! Nice to see non-Amtrak trains on here, like GT. Younger people only know Amtrak as the nation's intercity rail carrier, but people who were born at least prior to 1960's knew a world before Amtrak. I was born Jan 1974 so I only grew up in the Amtrak era. I wasn't even born yet when Amtrak started May 1971.

[gothpapa]

Don't know if you have a chance to explore my channel, but many of my videos scenes from pre-AMTRAK days. See especially the playlists "Railroad Music Videos" and "Trains and More Trains."

[RDG484]

5:18 - First time I've ever seen a GT F-unit.

7:20 - Must be AWESOME to ride in an all-stainless steel consist behind steam!

Great video, 5 stars and favorited.

[gothpapa]

Glad you enjoyed it. I think those stainless steel cars were commuter cars from Chicago. Benson used them more than once.

[trainboy94]

Do you have any Freedom Train footage????

[gothpapa]

I actually thought that I did, but so far all I have found are slides that I took between El Paso and Tucson and of the Preamble Express in Albuquerque.

[dearbornerik]

4.18 mark is bad asssss

[iamademocratic]

@rwk360 But for Amtrak would we have an intercity rail carrier at all?

[pianolover55]

I have been nostalgic the last 6 months about trains and Durand. I live 3 1/2 hours away now. We lived about 4 blocks from the depot and just 2 blocks from the closest train tracks.I wonder if I put your video on if it would put me to sleep like the trains did when I was growing up?

[pianolover55]

Thank you for posting this video. I grew up in Durand and was 17 when you filed this. My grandfather lied about his age in the early 1900's and started to work for GTW at the age of 15 and retired when he was 65. A full 50 years of work for them.

[Fietser1225]

Scene at 8:28 is Trowbridge Junction, where the GTW crosses the former Pere Marquette mainline from Detroit to Chicago (via Grand Rapids). The tower was torn down about six years after this was shot (manned up to that point), but the crossing still remains and plays host to present day CN and CSX traffic.

[rwk360]

2102 pulled a lot of excursions, and I rode behind it from Hamburg to Temple in 1988 on the Blue Mountain and Reading, now the Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern which was formed in 1990 when they bought ex-Reading track from Conrail north of Reading. Also from Emmaus to Pennsburg Sept. 1991 it's final year of service.