Re: Kalamazoo Interchange between LS&MS / GR&I / CK&S / C&KT (North/South) and Michigan Central (W/E)
I was gone away from Kalamazoo from 1964 until 1998. Somewhere during that time the wye leg by BO Tower was reversed. NYC trains heading south used to back westward out of Botsford Yard, then ran forward east to turn south. When the NYC just ran a local freight south 6 days a week it wasn't much of a problem. The trouble started when in the early 1960s the NYC started running a daily train to Elkhart. It also backed westward thru town, cutting the town in half, then started forward turning south cutting the rest of the town in half. These trains to Elkhart were big, well over 100 cars. The longest I saw was 179 cars. Some where in the 1980s they reversed the wye leg so they only cut the town in half once, not twice. The GTW had a small yard east of Mill Street. The LS&MS had a yard alongside the CK&S yard north of Paterson. The CK&S also ha d a wye leg east of BO so that a southboud train would turn west onto the MC. Then it would back into Botsford. One day I saw the afternoon switcher return from Parchment to Botsford with 42 cars. All this is from watching during the early 1960s, a liitle newer than you were asking about but I hope it helps.
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