Grand Rapids Railyard

Location: Grand Rapids, OH

Date Visited: June 17, 2016

 

Every summer my friend and I take a trip to her grandparent's cottage on the Maumee River, just outside of the small town of Grand Rapids. I had heard from various sources online that there were numerous abandoned train cars on the now defunct tracks just outside of town, so we took the short drive into town in search of them.

After the fact, I did a little more research and found that the name of the railway is the Toledo Lake Erie & Western Railway. Apparently, there is even a museum for it somewhere in town. Now that I think of it, I do remember there being some trains on display in town. The trains I ended up photographing weren't on display, though. These trains were partially hidden by overgrowth, rusted and falling apart. 

What I thought was an abandoned bridge.

Nope, apparently it is still used for small tours using motor cars.

I thought it was pretty neat looking, though.

Tracks.

According to Wikipedia, it turns 100 years old this year!

The tracks just end right here.

Train cars.

I believe these used to be in a different location based off an older article I saw.

Up first, the green car.

Back of the car.

"OCCUPIED CAMP CAR- DO NOT MOVE"

Side view.

Wheel thing. I don't know my train terms very well. Sorry.

I believe this is called a coupling.

Steps.

Nickel

Plate

Road

466

Back of the car.

The one car we could actually get into.

Another wheel thing.

Inside the car.

This was the only hole, but the entire floor was unstable.

A nice window seat.

The whole interior was falling apart. My friend was convinced I was going to fall through the floor.

Closet.

Back door and another window seat. This must've been a passenger car of sorts.

A kitchen?

Either a fridge or a freezer.

I just really love the lighting here.

Window from the outside.

Side view of the red car.

Lots of foliage growing.

I wonder how long it's been sitting here.

Back door.

This car was my favorite, called the Nickel Plate Bay Window caboose.

The red car with the decaying interior. According to the TLEW website, it's called the Grand Trunk Western railroad transfer caboose.

We couldn't even see inside the green car due to the curtains.

The yellow car was on a pretty steep hill. According to the TLEW website, it's called the Milwaukee Road Refrigerator Car.

I tried to climb up, but ultimately failed.

Old tracks.

More old tracks.

I'm not sure what this sign means.

There was another train car on the other side of the road, away from the others.

It was probably the rustiest of them all.

Attached to it was this blue one, locked up tight. It's called the Norfolk Western 164401DF.

NO STEP

As I say about pretty much all my trips, I had a great time exploring the trains. I'm kicking myself a bit right now, though, because I checked Google Earth after the fact and saw that there were even more trains on the other side of the river. Gotta love satellite imagery.